The Karnataka government has given all gram panchayats and urban wards 15 days to complete the formation of guarantee scheme committees intended to improve the delivery of the state’s guarantee programmes to beneficiaries. The order was issued by the Department of Public Service, according to a report by Prajavani.
The directive covers both rural and urban local administrative units. In cities, district commissioners have been assigned responsibility for forming committees at ward level. At the gram panchayat level, the task has been entrusted to the chief executive officers of the respective zilla panchayats.
The officials have been instructed to complete the appointment of committee chairpersons and members within the specified period. If appointment orders are not issued within 15 days, the chairperson of the Karnataka State Guarantee Schemes Implementation Committee will have the authority to appoint the members, the circular states.
Each committee will have six members. The proposed composition includes one member from the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, one minority representative, two women, one member from the Other Backward Classes and one member from the general category. The representation structure was outlined by Dinesh Gooligowda, vice-chairperson of the State Guarantee Schemes Implementation Authority.
The committee formation follows a direction from Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who called for guarantee scheme committees at gram panchayat and urban ward levels. The stated objective is to create a local-level mechanism for making the schemes more effective for beneficiaries.
For urban residents, the order places district administrations at the centre of the ward-level implementation process. The directive does not provide details in the supplied report on the committees’ specific powers, meeting procedures, monitoring responsibilities or the indicators that will be used to assess their performance. It also does not specify whether the committees will handle complaints, verify beneficiary access or coordinate with existing municipal departments.
The 15-day deadline therefore establishes the immediate administrative milestone: district commissioners and zilla panchayat chief executive officers must complete the appointments, failing which the state-level implementation authority can intervene. The next step is the issuance of appointment orders for the six-member committees across the covered urban wards and gram panchayats.