Central Control over Local Authorities: Investigate of Sri Lankan Practices
Dr.T.Krishnamohan,
Department of Social Sciences,Eastern University, Sri Lanka,Chenkalady,Sri Lanka
Abstract
The post-war era is witnessing a distinct shift in the attitude and mechanism of administrative control, particularly in the developed countries. The struggle of the local authorities against negative contents of control has met with success in several liberal democracies. Literature survey of the central government and local authority relationship, however, reveals that there is a global trend towards centralisation. There are social, economic, political, administrative and financial factors contribute to this scenario. The welfare state concept has brought about a revolutionary change in the division of powers by blurring the areas of jurisdiction of the different levels of government on the one hand and consequently, introducing the element of their interdependence, on the other. Centralised planning, which is increasingly the current scenario, has made the lower levels of government integrated with the national government in respect of national economic policy. Increasing sophistication in the delivery of services resulted in the dependence of the local authorities on the higher level of government for obtaining technical and financial assistance. Further, technology has improved modern means of transport and communication, making the supervision and control closer and rigid. Indeed, the history of local authority in Sri Lanka particularly the nineteenth century, might be described from one angle as the steady invasion by the central government of a sphere formerly left entirely to local authorities. On the other hand, the local authorities in developing countries are a direct control of the government.
Keywords: Legislative Control, Executive Control, Judicial Control, Administrative Control and Financial Control
1. Introduction
of such control. The control over local authorities can be examined in two ways; one is that internal control second one is that external control. In all democratic countries, the legislative, executive and judicial organs have different forms of the control mechanism. The legislature has primary over others, for all local authorities are the creatures of law. In this way the concept of centralisation to foster a close relationship between central government and local authorities. The control measures may assume different forms, depending on their scope and mode of enactment and on the varying practices of the countries. The local authorities derive a general framework of organisation and powers from the local government act. This research examines central control over local authority functions, sources of revenue of local authorities and central control, and administrative control over local authorities. These are some of the main issues that shape the relationship between central government and local authorities. The existence of government ministries and local authorities, each having statutory powers, often dealing with the same matters, results inevitably in both co-operation and conflict.
2. External controls over local authority in Sri Lanka
The external controls operate upon the administration from the outside. They work within the general constitutional structure and may differ from country to country. In Sri Lanka the external controls over the local authority flow from the people themselves and its outcome de-concentration can be classified into three main types namely; the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.
i. Legislative control
The central government and provincial council legislative surveillance of local authority activity is possible on a number of occasions. Before in 1987, By-laws passed by local bodies have to be placed before the legislature which provides an opportunity for any of its members to focus attention on the functioning of local government. Questions relating to local authorities can be asked of the minister of local government. The most significant are, however, the discussion of the annual votes of the department of local government, when different aspects of local authority functioning can be brought under central review. The power to take action against the local authorities’ management is provided in local government laws. The grounds for action under these sections are incompetence, mismanagement, default of performance, refusal or neglect to comply with provisions of law and only a few business transactions (Section 277 of the Municipal Council Ordinance, section 184 of the Urban Council Ordinance and section 185 of the Pradeshiya Sabhas Act.).
government activities.
The demarcation of power and authority, although clear, is not totally adhered to between the center and the provincial councils, due to other legal provisions. For example, the central minister is authorized to curtail or extend the term of office of the members of these local authorities by one year. This authority has been exercised by the minister of local government on several occasions in the past and his authority has not been challenged so far (Municipal Council Ordinance Section10, Urban Council Ordinance Section 10 and the Pradeshiya Sabhas Act Section 5.
).
The commissioner of elections conducts local government elections and maintains the appointment of membership in local authorities. However, throughout history, the national political parties have been influencing the process by making national political issues the mainstay of canvassing votes for local authorities’ election. Moreover, in addition to their own electorate and the provincial councils, local authorities are answerable to parliament through the auditor general and the public accounts committee (The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Chapter XVII, 1978:92). This is particularly so for funds made available to local authorities by the parliament through the provincial councils. The national government agrees on a national local government policy and determines the form, structure and constitution of local authorities. The supervision of the management of local authorities is the responsibility of the provincial councils.
Hence, the parliamentary commissioner for administration is appointed under act 156 of the constitution to investigate complaints against state organizations and state officials. The commissioner can investigate complaints against local authorities and it is mandatory for local authorities to comply with his directives (The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Chapter XIX, 1978: 100).
In addition, committees and commissions of inquiry appointed from time to time also provide a method by which attention can be focused on the deficiencies of local authorities. The Choksy commission after an exhaustive study put forward a proposal for structural reform in the form of an upper tier of regional committees in 1955 (Report of the Commission on Local Government 33 of 1955). In 1972, the committee of inquiry into local government made a special study of the financial weaknesses of local authorities (Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Local Government 7 of 1972). The local governments reforms commission which was established in 1999 with the mandate to study the prevailing local government system in Sri Lanka has recommended several measures to be adopted to make local self-government meaningful. It strongly highlighted the importance of having a new development vision for the local government system in order to serve the community at the local level efficiently and effectively. The commission recommends that the new vision encompasses the following key elements; greater degree of local autonomy, peoples' participation in the affairs of local government, public accountability, self-reliance and equity, greater responsiveness to the needs of the local constituents, development role of local government, Efficiency, effectiveness and productivity, development of a new local development culture, and ratepayers’ charter (Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Local Government Reforms, 1999).
ii. Executive control
municipal council with the approval of the president and by section 36 thereof the transfer of property also requires the approval of the president. The power of appointing a special commissioner or special commissioners is also vested with the president (Municipal Councils Ordinance, 1987:12).
Under the thirteenth amendment to the constitution while local authority is a subject fully devolved to the provincial councils, the determination of the composition form and structure of local authorities is vested in the ministry in charge of local authority in the central government (Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, 1987:6.) Accordingly powers and responsibilities relating to the establishment, amalgamation, change, determination or revision of boundaries, upgrading of authorities and change of form, determination of the number of representatives etc., are vested in that ministry.
The process of dissolution of a local authority has to be done through a legally accepted procedure. Basically, the minister in the provincial council should be satisfied that sufficient proof is available to take action against the local authority on the above counts. He has to appoint a retired judicial officer to report to him within three months on the allegations made by the local authority. This inquiry has the power of a commission of inquiry appointed to the commission of inquiry act. Depending on the circumstances, the minister has the power to suspend the Mayor or the Chairperson and direct the deputy to carry on with the business of the council (Municipal Councils Ordinance, 1987:160-161, Urban Council Ordinance, 1987:120-121, Pradeshiya Sabhas Act, 1987:117.) If the deputy mayor or vice-chairperson also has been suspended, the municipal commissioner or provincial commissioner of the local authority of the area in which the municipal council, the urban council or the pradeshiya sabhas is located will be appointed to perform the functions of the chief executive. The power to suspend the respective councils and sabhas is also provided for in law. When a mayor is removed, the minister has to appoint a special commissioner to manage the affairs of the municipal council (Municipal Councils Ordinance, 1987:162, Urban Council Ordinance, 1987:123, Pradeshiya Sabhas Act, 1987:118.)
The powers given to the minister of the local authority in provincial councils on local authorities have to be exercised in a lawful manner. The provincial commissioner of local government becomes the key official in advising the minister to effect his/her powers. While before the process of devolution of power there was only one commissioner of local government, there are eight of them now with a large number of officials, who inquire the affairs of the local authorities and make recommendations for action. However, although local authorities are supposed to be democratic administrative units, they are not fully autonomous; provincial councils can pass powers, functions and responsibilities on to local authorities under various statutes but cannot reduce constitutional powers of local authorities.
iii. Judicial control
A characteristic feature local authorities in Sri Lanka from British times is that judicial authority was closely associated with local authorities. For instance three of the councilors of the Colombo municipal council at its inception were appointed as a panel of municipal magistrates. Under the village committee system to there were judicial tribunals at village committee levels. The public is thus in a position to take action through courts against a local authority on its actions or decisions and therefore, the Judiciary exercises a form of control. This control exists up to the levels of the provincial high courts. The jurisdiction of the courts is very relevant in the issuance of writs for which authority has been conferred on the provincial high court (34 of the Municipal Council Ordinance, section 31 of the Urban Council Ordinance and section 2(2) of the Pradeshiya Sabha Act).
3. Internal controls over local authority in Sri Lanka
administrative structure and work automatically as the administration move. In Sri Lanka, the internal controls over the local authority flow from the people themselves and its outcome de-concentration can be classified into two main types namely; administrative control, and financial control.
i. Administrative control
By the beginning of the twentieth-century administrative system in Sri Lanka was it anything over centralized. The Donoughmore commission in 1931, the was created by the department of local government and the executive committee of local administration both of which were to constitute a new central authority to guide and control all local government authorities in the country (Kanesalingan V, 1971:46 ). The central authority and power relating to the control of local government authorities which were thus for vested in the Governor in executive council were under the new constitution transferred to an executive committee of the state council most of whose members were popularly elected (Kanesalingan V, 1971:47). The Donoughmore commissioners felt the need for a central authority in whom all the duties connected with the control and development of local self- government were to be concentrated, its role was to guide and advise the various authorities to be able to carry out its duties, this central authority (Kanesalingan V, 1971:50-51). It was further strengthened by two different ordinances. Under section 4 of the local authority ordinance of 1946, many of the powers of the commissioner of local government (C.L.G) over these authorities have been delegated to the departmental district officials, and the assistant commissioners of local government (A.C.L.G) (Leitan Tressie, G.R, 1979:111). The local government administrative regions ordinance No 57 of 1946 in terms of which the powers of supervision and control of village committees were transferred from the government agents and assistant government agents to regional assistant commissioners of local government (Kanesalingan V, 1971:71).
The term central control is also used in the principal ordinances on local authorities. According to these enactments controlling powers are vested directly in the provincial minister in charge of the subject of local authority, the provincial commissioner of local government (PCLG), assistant commissioner of local government (ACLG) and the auditor general. However, in addition to the above, there are several other institutions both statutory and conventional at the central, provincial and district levels which directly or indirectly wield authority over local authorities. The secretary of the ministry local government of the provincial council is vested with certain powers and responsibilities on local authority matters. He holds the authority to call for special reports from local authorities on appeals against audit surcharges. Powers relating to the provincial public service commission, disciplinary control and transfer of institutional staff grades of local authorities are also exercised by the secretary to the provincial minister of local government. The central government too has a commissioner of local government under the ministry of local government although no formal powers have been vested in such post. The present arrangement is that the holder of this position assists the secretary of the ministry in the performance of the above tasks. The post, however, remains a nominal one.
relevant laws and subsidiary legislation and administrative direction by the CLG. These posts of divisional assistant commissioners were established under ordinance No 56 of 1946, replacing the supervisory function carried out by the government agent up to that time (Kanesalingan V, 1971:71). The ACLG’ are not conferred any powers under the municipal council ordinance but have powers conferred by urban council ordinance and the pradeshiya sabha act. The closest supervision and regulation in respect of local authorities is expected from these officers of the ACLG.
In 1992 under a programme of strengthening the divisional secretary’s offices the ACLG’s offices in most provinces were discontinued and the functions transferred to the divisional secretary’s offices. Some provinces like southern province where this arrangement was not put into effect continued the previous arrangement of the ACLG’s offices. Other provinces after having effected the change by appointing the DS as ACLG soon realized its failure and reverted to the original system of district ACLG offices like a western province. In other provinces having effected the change by appointing the DS as ACLG and realizing that the DS was not functioning effectively in local government administration, the provincial CLG took over the responsibility of overall supervision in a centralised fashion in a central province. In addition to this rules and regulations and by-laws under these enactments and circulars issued from time to time, confer on the CLG powers and responsibilities which make him the principal supervisory officer in local government. The power of the enactments is confirmed by the provincial councils act no 12 of 1989 (Development Council Act in 1987).
ii. Financial control
Local authorities heavily depend on resources provided by the center. The total establishment cost, including the remuneration of local elected officials, is borne by finance commission grants disbursed through provincial councils. The central salaries and cadre committee are responsible for the re-enrolment of local government staff and their salaries. As the provision for salaries is based on the approved carder for 1981, the salary reimbursement is only for part of the currently approved carder (Report of the Commission of inquiry on Local Government Reforms, 1999:330). From the government's point of view, this kind of action is necessary to restrict uncontrolled recruitment. Moreover, the central government is under constant pressure to reduce public and local government service cadres. Therefore, the salaries and cadres committee has restricted its work to determine the salary of local authorities in keeping with national policies. While some provincial councils supplement the deficit out of their own funds, thereby making financial provision for the total approved carder, other councils transfer to the local authorities only the funds provided by the finance commission. However, these financial are a great relief to the local authorities as their own funds could be utilized for purposes of development works and delivery of services. The auditor general is vested with authority to audit accounts of local authorities (Articles 154 (1) of the constitution). His responsibility includes the conduct of regular annual audits of local authorities expressing his opinion review the activities of the institutions and make his recommendation for reference to parliament. The auditor general accordingly bears responsibility for the maintenance of financial discipline of these authorities, to expose irregularities and to impose surcharges on persons responsible for such irregularities national system.
authorities were studied by a financial relation commission. The problem of local government finance was the subject of a study by an official committee in 1948. In 1955, the Choksy commission made detailed recommendations on additional sources of revenue. The report of the official committee on local government finance 1962 (Mahatantila Committee) recommended the updating of the existing sources of revenue and those recommended by the earlier committees. The V.C Jeyasuriya report of the committee of inquiry on local government, 1970 recommended ways and means of increasing the sources of revenue of local authorities. The Sittampalam committee in 1973, submitted an on the proposals made by the earlier inquiries on additional sources of revenue. An official committee appointed by the deputy minister of local government (Imbulana Committee) in1977, made further suggestions for improving the finances of local authorities.
4. In Conclusion
The outstanding feature of the present scenario is that government control is no longer absolute, either in theory or in practice. Both the law and methods have been changed commensurately. The local authority right to make a representation against unjustified control is increasingly institutionalised in current states. Accordingly, it is a usual scenario in almost every country that the local authorities are organising themselves nationally and making themselves less dependent on the government. They render service of varied nature to the affiliated members. It has given them not only a sense of responsibility but has served as an effective channel of communication to the government. All this development has revolutionised the attitude of control. The government control is qualified as prescriptive control while the local autonomy is re-.designated as canalised liberty. As the United Nations study has suggested that supervision and control should not acquire a negative content so as to restrict the initiate, discretion of responsibility but should be given a positive content, helping the local authorities to avoid pitfalls and mistakes, strengthening their self-confidence and enabling them to assume growing responsibility.
In Sri Lanka, like several of the other developing countries are taking the cue from the developed countries, and are making a conscious attempt to guide and assist the local authorities to improve their ability to carry out their tasks. However, the developing countries with authoritarian orientations have not shown any change in their rigid control mechanism.
Although control of local authorities is a global scenario, local authorities in Sri Lanka exists in varying degree of control, depending on beside history, the stage of development, nature of polity and culture. This is more imminent in developing countries. The local authority may be circumscribed by whatever parameters the government chooses to adopt in the absence of any social sanction. In Sri Lanka has been a serious setback in this regard. The local authorities witnessed their maximum involvement in nation building activities. On charges of corruption and misuse of authority, not held an election on time. Like other developing countries, in the absence of strong local traditions and public opinion, the government of Sri Lanka does not seem to bother much about their improvement.
References
1. Development Council Act in 1987
2. Kanesalingam, V, 1971, A Hundred Years of Local Government in Ceylon (1865-1965), Modern Plastic Works, Colombo.
3. Leitan Tressie, G.R, 1979, Local Government and Decentralized Administration in Sri Lanka, Lake House Investments Ltd, Colombo
6. Pradeshiya Sabhas Act, Section 2(2)Section 5 and Section 185, 7. Report of the Commission on Local Government 33 of 1955
8. Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Local Government 7 of 1972 9. Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Local Government Reforms, 1999
10. The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Chapter XVII, 1978 11. The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Chapter XIX, 1978 12. The Commission of inquiry on Local Government Reforms, 1999
13. Urban Council Ordinance, Section 10 , Section 31 and Section 184
