Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have left behind their northern counterparts as far as the devolution of power from the state to the panchayat is concerned.

The panchayati raj ministry’s latest report on Panchayat Empowerment & Accountability Incentive Scheme (PEAIS) ranks Kerala and Karnataka as the joint winner of the first prize followed by Tamil Nadu and West Bengal on the second, Maharastra on third and Sikkim as the best performing northeast state.

While the state of devolution in other states does not figure in the report, with only six best states chosen, ministry officials say most northern states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana and Rajasthan have not done enough on the devolution front.

Under PEIAS the ministry allocates Rs 10 crore for the states who win the first, second and third prizes. Prime Minister Manmoham Singh will give away the prizes in the capital on Saturday, April 24, that is celebrated as national panchayati raj day every year. The PM will also release the state of the panchayat report 2008-09 on the occasion.

The PEAIS winners are selected on variety of criteria including; whether the states have conducted panchayat elections, number of panchayats dissolved before completion of five years and the number of by-election conducted; constitution and function of district planning commission; core functions assigned to panchayats; implementation of central government’s welfare schemes. PEAIS was launched in 2005-06 to encourage states in empowering the panchayati raj institution and putting in place mechanism for their transparency and accountability. April 24 is celebrated as the national panchayati raj day as on this day in 1993, the 73rd amendment of the constitution was enacted, giving constitutional status to the panchayati raj institutions.