Panchayati Raj Update July 2012 - Institute of Social Sciences

NINETEENTH YEAR OF PUBLICATION

PANCHAYATI RAJ UPDATE

Institute of Social Sciences

Vol. XIXInstitute of Social Sciences

Our Panchayats - Our Future JULY 2012

No. 7

A landmark judgement of Supreme Court

Panchayats can challenge government’s decision in High Court

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n a recent significant judgment, the Supreme Court has held that the Goa’s panchayats have the right to challenge government authority decisions before the high court, as the grassroots-level bodies represent the will of the people. The apex court verdict thus overruled the High Court of Bombay at Goa’s judgment which had declined relief to the Calangute panchayat. The panchayat had questioned before the high court an order of the additional director of panchayats. The government authority had favoured a hotel company allegedly involved in the illegal construction of a wall blocking public access to a well and a chapel. In August 2010, the high court ordered that the panchayat cannot be allowed to challenge the decision of the additional director of panchayats as it would certainly amount to insubordination and subversion of administrative discipline. In 2009, the Calangute panchayat had issued notices to Kay Jay Constructions Company Pvt. Ltd. and had directed it to stop further construction of the wall. Local residents had complained against the illegal construction and the panchayat had passed separate resolutions for revocation of occupancy certificate and permission. In February 2010, the additional director of panchayats directed the Calangute panchyat to reconsider the application made by the company for grant of permission to use the property for running a guest house. The panchyat’s petition challenging the additional director’s order was subsequently rejected by the High Court. The panchayat then filed an appeal before the Supreme Court in 2011. During the hearing in the Supreme Court, senior counsel Shyam Divan appearing for the panchayat argued that the illegal construction has the effect of preventing the public from having access to the well and the chapel. He further stated that the appellant being a representative body of the people of the village, it had the right to question the orders passed by the additional director of panchayats and the block development officer. “It is thus evident that while the appellant and the sarpanch had exercised their respective powers in public interest, respondent No. 1 (additional director of panchayats) nullified that exercise because he felt that the resolution/

action was contrary to law and was unjustified,” a division bench of Justices G S Singhvi and Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya observed. The bench stated that it is reasonable to infer that the additional director of panchayats had exercised powers under Section 178 (1) of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994. But instead of suspending the execution of the resolutions passed by the appellant or the notice issued by the sarpanch and sending the matter to the state government for confirmation, the officer concerned suo motu-annulled the resolutions and the notice by assuming that he had the power to do so, the Supreme Court observed. It further held that while exercising the power under the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, the panchayat was not acting as a subordinate to the additional director of panchayats but as a body representing the will of the people and also a body corporate in terms of Section 8 of the Act. Therefore, it had the locus to challenge the orders passed by additional director of panchayats and the High Court was clearly in error in holding that the writ petition filed by the panchayat was not maintainable, the Court said. The SC judgement has come as a shot in the arm for Goa activists who have been asserting their rights as gram sabha members. ‘Curtorkarancho Ekvott,’ a group of villagers, has now called upon all panchayats and gram sabhas to take resolutions and write to the director of panchayats, minister for Panchayat Raj, the Chief Secretary and the Chief Minister demanding that the resolutions adopted by the gram sabhas be accorded due sanctity in keeping with the apex court judgement. “By recognizing that the panchayats are units of self governance and have powers to determine issues of economic development and social justice within their respective panchayat areas, the Supreme Court has made it clear that the director of panchayats has committed grave injustice by quashing panchayat and gram sabha resolutions on grounds that they do not have necessary powers. The legislators also have erred in approving legislative changes that have diluted powers of the people and their elected members, since these changes go against the very reason the Panchayat Raj was conceived,” Curtorkarancho Ekvott said.

financial year, each member of the NGZP got ` 6.30 lakh each. Last year, for the corresponding period, each member had got `7.5 lakh, said Salgaocar, adding that each member has to utilize that amount for three months to satisfy between five to eight villages. “Now with the increase in GSR rates, we have to do the same work in phases,” Salgaocar said. As chairman of the NGZP, Salgaocar has also been nominated chairman of the government-constituted district planning committee (DPC), which has to collect plans from the village panchayats, compile one comprehensive plan and present it to the government by enlisting the priorities. Salgaocar also said that as NGZP chairman, he is also the chairman of the district rural development agency (RDA). While in other states the RDA comes under the zilla panchayat, in Goa it is only on paper. Salgaocar said that no functions of the RDA are given to the NGZP but he is required to sign the annual audit of the district rural development agency. “This year, the members and I have decided not to sign any RDA papers. People have voted for us and expect us to do development. But we cannot perform,” Salgaocar said. South Goa Zilla Panchayat President likely to change: A group of south Goa zilla Panchayat members who have come together to oust the chairperson Maria Rebello is likely to submit the no-confidence motion (NCM) against her. That is, if Rebello fails to step down until then. It may be recalled that following the zilla panchayat elections in March 2010, Rebello was elected unopposed as the chairperson of the South Goa zilla panchayat, riding on the support extended to her by the then PWD minister Churchill Alemao. Following Alemao’s defeat in the last assembly elections and BJP coming to power in the state, a group of ZP members are favouring the ‘parivartan’ plan in the ZP body, too. Significantly, supporting the ouster moves is BJP’s Sanguem MLA Subhash Phaldesai who was spotted at a meeting of the ZP members held at a city hotel recently. Though Aparna Naik, is learnt to be the frontrunner to be the next chairperson, the possibility of Nelly Rodrigues replacing Rebello cannot be ruled out. Sources said that Rodrigues has the support of at least four ZP members. If Nelly is assured of the chairperson’s post, the five-member group is likely to join hands with Gaonkar’s group to move the NCM, sources pointed out.

FROM THE STATES ANDHRA PRADESH Municipalities across State owe huge power dues: Municipalities across the State owe mindboggling amounts to the power sector. Unable to recover the arrears even after a high-level meeting held in mid-May, the AP Transmission Corporation (APTransco) has served a notice to the Department of Municipal Administration recently, asking the latter to clear the Current Consumption (CC) charges of `335.5 crore outstanding by the end of April this year. If the payment is not released, the Corporation said, the services will get disconnected as per the rules. The four municipalities of Mahabubnagar, Narayanpet, Wanaparthi and Gadwal in the Mahabubnagar Circle of CPDCL need to clear nearly `32 crore, while the payables by Sangareddy, Sadasivapet, Zaheerabad, Medak and Siddipet municipalities in the Medak Circle amount to `24 crore. However, surpassing everybody to top the charts is the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board, with `160 crore dues payable to the company by virtue of its pumping station located in Nalgonda. Owing almost double the amount is the Panchayat Raj Department with `644 crore payable by the end of April. After recent upgradation of major panchayats into municipalities, corresponding dues from the Panchayat Raj Department have also been transferred to the Municipal Administration. However, the fund-starved municipalities have no means of clearing the enormous dues, officials from the department reveal. B O O K GOA

Zilla panchayats almost non-entities: A sense of frustration and helplessness has come over the North Goa zilla panchayat (NGZP) members due to the old problem of lack of powers and funds and while some members are reluctant to attend meetings, quite a few are even considering quitting from the ZP, says NGZP chairperson Jayant Salgaocar. “The members’ reluctance to attend meetings is justified by their sentiments. What can we discuss? There is no work to do, or every time we make the same old hue and cry about no powers and funds,” he said. Michael Lobo, former NGZP member who won the assembly elections and became an MLA, Lobo openly said that he had planned to quit the NGZP if he had not won the elections because he could not do any work in the zilla body.” Other members are also thinking of quitting. They know they won’t get a second chance. How can we go back to the voters and ask for votes when we have done nothing?” Salgaocar asked. The chairperson also revealed that MLAs are not allowing grants or functions to be given to the zilla bodies. “They (MLAs) are scared that if we do work, we will become popular,” Salgaocar said. In the first quarter of the present PANCHAYATI RAJ UPDATE

JAMMU AND KASHMIR 400 panchayat members quit after threats from militants: More than 400 panchayat members in south Kashmir have resigned in the last recent weeks after militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad, through posters, told panches and sarpanches to do so and publish their resignations in newspapers. Their warning: “Those who don’t listen to our diktats will do so at their own peril.” “In these posters they have asked them to resign in a week’s time. They have been asked to publish their resignation in newspapers and carry those newspapers with them,” 2

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True panchayati raj will raise all human development indicators

“Despite continually increasing budgets for poverty alleviation, why do we fare so poorly on human development? The central budgetary outlay for poverty alleviation and social sector activities was `7,600 crore in 1994. For 201112, it has gone up to `1,85,000 crore. Despite a 24-time increase in central budgetary outlays over 18 years, the money spent is not commensurate with outcomes. In 1990, India ranked 134 on UNDP’s Human Development Index. Over two decades later, we’re still at the same rank. The reason there seems to be no connection between outlays and outcomes has to do with the large sums spent on administration - a Planning Commission study estimates that for every rupee spent on development, 83 paise goes on administration. This is largely because programmes intended for the same set of beneficiaries are sub-divided among approximately 140 centrally-sponsored schemes, each delivered by a separate silo. So, while we provide the poorest of the poor with houses under the Indira Awas Yojana run by the ministry of rural development, these houses are without toilets - that’s

because there is a separate programme run by the same ministry under a different department called ‘the total sanitation campaign’. There’ve been several attempts to converge these two schemes but they haven’t succeeded because the secretary for sanitation does not want money from his department to go on to a scheme run by a different department, and vice-versa. This sort of nonsense is replicated across the board. What can the government do to improve how funds reach the people they’re meant for? If we can improve last-mile delivery to the panchayat and municipal system, we’ll get much bigger bang for our buck. The bulk of the money should be sent directly from the state governments to the local governments and tracked electronically. Within 15 days of the money reaching a state capital, it should be in the bank account of local bodies at different levels. We have to return to the Gandhian concept of using local bodies as the most important instrument for delivery of public goods and services. Even if 25 paise in one rupee are lost to inefficiency and corruption at the local body level, 75 paise will reach the people, instead of the other way around. Currently, gram sabhas are ineffective because resources and decision-making are concentrated with the bureaucracy. But when people at the local level become stakeholders, there’ll be a sea-change - without a single rupee increase in outlays over the next five years, i guarantee true panchayati raj will raise India like a missile on all human development indicators.” (Excerpts from an interview by Rajya Sabha MP and former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, Times of India, 20 June 2012)

said Ghulam Ahmad Wani, village elder, Shopian. The threats had an immediate effect - paid advertisements on resignations appeared in several newspapers in Srinagar. The posters appear in the wake of heightened militant activity in south Kashmir. In the past couple of months, militants have attacked three police pickets and taken away arms and ammunition from policemen. The government says though they have not officially received any resignation, they have taken steps to ensure the security of Panchayat members following the threats. “Some four people have been arrested who are suspected to have issued threats and they have attacked one sarpanch who is admitted in the hospital. This (panchayat) has a massive mandate from public, they (militants) can’t go against the sentiment of people,” said Ali Mohammad Sagar, Minister for Law & Panchayat Raj.

in time. Deputy commissioner Pooja Singhal said that if a mukhiya failed in the MGNREG scheme in his panchayat, it was the DC’s failure. She said the 117 mukhiyas could not have the liberty to hold the MGNREG schemes to ransom by first not spending the funds in their panchayats and secondly by not surrendering them to the block offices. Return the unspent fund at the earliest, she told the mukhiyas. Asked what would be done once these 117 mukhiyas return the unspent MGNREG funds, she said the money would go to those panchayats in Palamu where there were no funds for the schemes. These panchayats will get then a fresh lease of funds. The administration, she said, is avoiding taking any harsh measure against the 117 mukhiyas for doing nothing and keeping the funds unspent and so they have been given a chance to mend their ways.

JHARKHAND

KARNATAKA

Mukhiyas told to return unspent funds: The Palamu administration has asked mukhiyas of 117 of the 283 panchayats to surrender the unspent funds under the MGNREGA to their block offices. The mukhiyas have been assured that no action will be taken against them for keeping the unused money. Section 30 of the MGNREG Act stipulates action for not spending the funds

ZP provides aid to student: Members and officials of the Chitradurga Zilla Panchayat on 28 June provided financial assistance of `60,000 to T.P. Anupama of Kurumaradikere village in Chitradurga taluk for her medical college admission fees. The student had scored 95 percent marks in the II PUC examination and also secured the 800th rank in the CET, but was unable to

A downgraded economy isn’t all we have to worry about. As India fares poorly on international human development rankings, Rajya Sabha MP and former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar spoke with Anahita Mukherji on what exactly ails Indian growth, the best ways to generate local development — and how high and deep corruption runs in India:

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continue her studies owing to financial constraints. The issue came to the notice of zilla panchayat member Babureddy recently. He brought the panchayat’s attention to the problem and sought financial assistance for the student. Based on the request, all the officers and zilla panchayat members donated generously to the cause. The amount was handed over to Anupama in the presence of her family members, zilla panchayat president T. Ravi Kumar, vice-president Bharati Kallesh and other members of the zilla panchayat. Ombudsman unearths misuse of funds in MGNREGS: Ombudsman Sheena Shetty has unearthed misappropriation of funds to the tune of `2,81,104, in the work taken up at Andinje Gram Panchayat in Belthangday taluk. The ombudsman has ordered for recovery of `2,68,979 in his order dated June 26 and has directed the defaulters to repay the amount within 15 days. The defaulters had already repaid a sum of `12,125. It was Rajesh, a resident of Andinje and other labourers who had complained to the Ombudsman on the misappropriation of funds during the work undertaken in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12, under MGNREGS in the Gram panchayat limits. They said that the authorities were unnecessarily delaying the payment of the wages. As per the rules, the wages should be paid within 15 days, but in the gram panchayat, it was not paid even after six months. Many a time, the implementing authorities were not engaged in providing job to the small farmers and actual beneficiaries. The Ombudsman said that during the probe, it was revealed that there was total violation of the scheme in 82 works taken up under the scheme. The Ombudsman also noticed that 78 works taken up were not certified by the technical officer before making the payment. Even the measurement book were not maintained well by the authorities. At many places, there was correction in the measurement book using whitener and even the payment and the estimate was not tallying.

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The wages for the Udyoga Mitra and computer operator was not paid as per the rules. The Ombudsman has ordered for the departmental inquiry a the officials concerned.

KERALA Five-year plan for panchayats: The Cabinet gave its formal approval for introducing five-year plan in the three tiers of panchayats in the State and for abolishing technical advisory groups involved in approval of the plans. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that the advisory groups were abolished to simplify the plan approval procedure and reduce delays. From now, the panchayats themselves would draw up their plan on the basis of proposals from grama sabhas. Technical hands in the panchayat should obtain the clearance of higher authority for the plan. Expert groups need be consulted only if technical hands are not available in the panchayats. If anyone has complaints about the technical approval thus granted, they could approach an appellate authority chaired by the Collector. The authority would have the district planning officer, deputy director of the Local Self-government Department, and a town planning officer as members. The Chief Minister said the State Planning Board had earlier recommended introduction of five-year plans on the lines of the Plan being prepared at the national and State levels to streamline the planning process. The annual plans of the panchayats would have to be approved by the District Planning Committees within 20 days of receipt of the plan. Once the approval is received, the panchayats themselves could undertake preparation of detailed projects and implementation. Chandy said the Cabinet decided to abandon the sectoral plan allocations for local self-government institutions. However, grama and block panchayats should spent 45 percent of their total allocation for infrastructure development. In the case of municipal bodies, this would

Kerala gram panchayat slams doors on city trash

he waste of Thiruvananthpuram is a sore point for Vilappilsala panchayat, 16 km from Thiruvananthapuram. This city generates 300 tonnes of waste every day. None of the waste is disposed of within city limits. It is transported to the treatment plant set up in 2001 at the village. In December 2011, Vilappilsala panchayat forced the authorities to shut down the plant. Since then, the Kerala High Court has directed the panchayat to reopen the plant The Supreme Court has ratified the high court decision. Villagers say the 54-acre plant turned their neighbourhood into a stink yard. Water - leaks from the plant contaminated drinking water sources. Children developed breathing disorders. “If the plant had the best technology, how do you explain the stench? When garbage trucks came at night, we couldn’t have dinner. Children still suffer from breathing disorders,” say angry Vilappilsala residents. The plant used to process waste using windrow composting. The waste was dumped in heaps and turned


over weekly for aerobic composting. After a two-step process, the manure produced was packed and sold. The process took 15-30 days depending on volume of trash. A corporation official concedes the plant was processing more waste than its capacity. “The plant can handle only 150 tonnes. The daily intake shot up to 300 tonnes. Also, the plant was designed to process only biodegradable waste. But there has always been a huge influx of plastic,” a project official says. Since the closure of the factory, Thiruvananthapuram residents have tried all possible options to deal with the crisis. Waste was burnt in public or buried on premises. “We’ve now introduced decentralized waste management so we can reduce the amount of waste to 90 tonnes per day as stipulated by the high court. But Vilappilsala villagers and its panchayat remain adamant,” says city mayor K Chandrika. The panchayat justifies its stance. “It’s the city’s responsibility. Let them manage it themselves,” says Shobhana Kumari, president, Vilappilsala panchayat. 4

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water and sewer lines. They do not have money to provide basic amenities in the existing areas. How can you expect them to cater to new areas,” he said. Woman sarpanch caught taking bribe: The anticorruption bureau caught a woman sarpanch red-handed while taking bribe of `6,000 from a contractor on 3 June afternoon. Kusum Khadse, sarpanch of Porgavhan village in Morshi tehsil of Amravati district demanded the bribe to clear a cheque of Bandu Kadu, contractor of Tirupati Associates. Kadu has been assigned to construct a water tank at Porgavhan. Work is going on at good pace. Kadu submitted a bill of `2.90 lakh to gram panchayat. The water supply department okayed the bills and signed the cheque. Signature of the sarpanch was also required. But, Khadse refused to sign. Instead she demanded 5 per cent commission on the amount, alleged contractor in the complaint given to ACB. Despite several requests by the contractor Khadse did not budge. Then the contractor approached the ACB which laid a trap and caught Khadse red-handed while accepting ` 6,000 on 3 June.

A five-star hotel on Gram Sabha land

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riminal cases have been lodged against six persons in connection with the construction of a five-star hotel on a gram sabha land in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The land worth `11 crore was fraudulently occupied and sold using forged documents. The case pertains to a 533.43 square metre gram sabha land at village Chhalera, Dadri tehsil in Gautam Budh Nagar district. The construction of ‘Golf View Hotel’ started on this land on March 26, 2010, while its blueprint was approved by the zila panchayat in July 23, 2010 only. On 3 June, the district administration in Gautam Budh Nagar lodged an FIR against two directors of the construction company — Golf Link Hospitality Private Limited — and four others. Charges of fraud, forgery and conspiracy were lodged against Devendra Kumar Gangal and Vidya Devi. The land was fraudulently sold several times by one party to another. According to a government press release, though the land was reacquired by the state, the re-acquisition was cancelled illegally on August 25, 2010, by the land mafia in collusion with ‘influential persons. The construction of the hotel was illegal because the land actually belonged to the gram sabha. Originally, the land was sold by one Kishan Lal and his associate Sukhpal to Ravindra Kumar, a resident of New Delhi, on September 6, 1986. In 2006, Ravindra Kumar sold the land to one Amarjeet Singh Nangloo. The latter then sold the land to Rajpal Singh, a resident of Mahamayanagar, on June 9, 2006. In 2009, the land was sold again by Singh to Devendra Kumar Gangal, the director of Golf Hospitality Private Limited. All these transactions were done illegally.

MANIPUR Slur cast over Pradhan: Job card holders of MGNREGS under Keirao Makting gram panchayat have warned the Pradhan that they would complain the authorities regarding alleged payment of MGNREGS wages to some people who did not work for the Central Government scheme. President of JAC of Job Card Holders, Habibur Rahman said that Keirao Makting gram panchayat Pradhan Ranjina Begum had paid wages to some people who did not work for MGNERGS from the amount meant for job card holders. He said that JAC, in a meeting held on November 15 last year, demanded the Pradhan to hand over account pass books to respective job card holders so that they could personally withdraw their wages from their accounts. The job card holders also asked the Pradhan to pay the wages which had been already withdrawn by her from the bank. Alleging that Pradhan’s husband Abdul Salam not only abused some job card holders but also bashed them up when they complained about these irregularities. Nearly `43 lakhs pocketed by pradhan and members: Job card holders of MGNREGS of Sangai Yumpham Gram Panchayat-II in Thoubal district on 24 June alleged that `42,45,942 meant for them has been siphoned off by the concerned Pradhan and Members. They said that Pradhan and the Members deceitfully drew money even by attaching others’ photographs on their cards. This came to light when the job card holders entered the website http://www.nregs.nic.in/ and enquired on their case. There is no provision to issue job cards to government employees and dead persons. However, the Pradhan and the members have provided job cards to such people. For instance, a police constable of the Ward No-I was found withdrawing `1764 for repairing work of

be 55 percent. Besides, the three-tier panchayats should set apart ten per cent of their allocations for fulfilling the needs of the weak and disabled and older persons.

MAHARASHTRA Sub-registrars won’t accept gram panchayat sanctioned building plans: A public interest litigation (PIL) filed in the Nagpur High Court has pointed out many developers and builders had illegally constructed many buildings in the rural areas of the Nagpur district, without having permission from the competent authorities. The panchayats do not have any qualified person to sanction building plans. There are hundreds of cases of floor to space index (FSI) violation in the peri-urban areas. Expressing grave concern over large scale defrauding of buyers purchasing property in rural areas, Stamps and registration department has directed sub-registrar offices not to accept any document or building plan sanctioned by gram panchayats for registration of properties. The department has also asked the property buyers to verify all the documents before purchasing any property. An official said that He pointed out that while builders tell the buyers that their flat schemes or layouts will have all the necessary civic amenities, the reality was that gram panchayat were practically bankrupt. “There is negligible chance that the panchayats will be able to construct roads, install streetlights and lay JULY 2012

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Idika drainage, they alleged. At the same time, the Post Master at the Wangjing Post office asked one hundred rupees from the job card holders of the said wards when they went to update their cards, they said. They appealed the government to give their wages at the earliest possible or else they will take the help of RTI. They also called upon the state Rural Development and Panchayat Minister, Francis Ngajokpa to look after the matter. The Pradhan and Ward members involved in the misappropriation of NERGS money are Md. Wahidur Rehman, Khumanthem Bina, Member, Ward No-I, Ningthoujam Nungshilata, Member, Ward No-II, Sanasam Sorojini, Member, Ward No-III and Thounajam Santoshini, Member, Ward No-IV.

ODISHA Maoists kill former tribal ward member: Maoists killed a former tribal ward member in Odisha’s Koraput District suspecting him to be on a police informer. Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Y.J. Rao said that they struck at the house of Pidika Sarbo at Gumaroput village late night on 25 June and took him away. They slit Pidika Sarbo’s throat and dumped his body on the outskirts of the village before disappearing into dense forest. The body of 55year-old Pidika was later found by the villagers.

TAMIL NADU Collector slaps notice on panchayat president: The Madurai district collectorate has served a chargesheet notice on the panchayat president of Silaiman village

Ex-panchayat president refuses to part with panchayat records

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alalasundaram panchayat in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu has a strange problem. Its expresident S. Ravi is not handing over the works registers and books of accounts, despite several requests and directives from various government agencies. Replies to RTI petitions indicate misappropriation of large sums. An RTI petitioner, A. Illayaraja, has received a bagful of audit reports that point to swindling of about ‘6 lakh form 2006 to 2011, when Ravi was the president. “Though the block development officials, the district collector and the rural development department told him to pay back the panchyat, he is yet to remit the money. Strangely, the officials concerned did not pursue the matter,” Illayaraja said, adding that Ravi had not even maintained the attendance registers relating to the panchayat staff. According to the RTI replies, Ravi did not even hand over the cashbook, which should have been done before the elections for the next term. He did not maintain the records properly for the electronic items he had bought using the panchayat funds. Also, no documents were made available for the revenue out of auctioning of 16 ponds belonging to the panchayat. PANCHAYATI RAJ UPDATE

panchayat coming under Thiruparankundram union in Madurai district. As per the sources, recent investigations by the assistant director of audits revealed misappropriation of funds to a tune of `14.85 lakh. The majority of the works executed by the panchayat headed S. Syed Ali Fathima were not governed as per the rules prescribed under the local administration procedures. Tenders were not floated and civic works worth several lakhs had been carried out without proper documentations. Even bills were not produced for the executed works and registry detailing the works executed were not maintained. As investigation has confirmed large-scale violations, legal action would be taken.

UTTAR PRADESH Zilla panchayat chairman evades arrest: Ramadhir Singh, the chairman of the Balia zilla panchayat who is wanted in the murder case of senior Congress leader Suresh Singh since December last year, succeeded to evade arrest at the Dhanbad district and sessions court despite heavy police presence on the court premises on 15 June. Ramadhir along with his brother Bachcha Singh, a former irrigation minister, had appeared before the additional district and session’s judge, Dhanbad, in connection with another murder case of Katras. On 15 June, police had made preparations for his arrest in the Suresh Singh murder case. But, soon after recording the statement, Ramadhir disappeared.

WEST BENGAL Guardian officers for panchayats: The East Midnapore administration has decided to appoint “guardian officers” for the district’s 223 gram panchayats to monitor central schemes and the performance of the rural bodies The guardian officers — those of the ranks of additional district magistrates, subdivisional officers, deputy magistrates and block development officers — will also guide panchayat employees on how to address problems and handle complaints of tardy implementation of schemes. District magistrate Parwez Ahmed Siddiqui said that last month he visited several panchayat offices in East Midnapore’s 25 blocks. “I found that the employees were unable to solve problems. So we decided to appoint guardian officers to monitor the performance of the panchayats. These officers will help the panchayats function better,” he said. Sixty officers have been appointed for the job. “Each officer will take the responsibility of at least four panchayats. The officers will have to visit the panchayats at least twice a month. FIRs would be lodged against panchayats against whom there were complaints of corruption. These officers will help the panchayats better their overall performance and successful implementation of central development schemes,” Siddiqui said. Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee said, “East Midnapore is the first district to take the step of appointing guardian officers.” 6

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Similarly while checking the use of chemical pesticides and weedicides will help Harnu (and other nearby project villages) to improve their environment and health (apart from reducing farming costs) this will also help to reduce the flow of polluted water from nearby villages to Ganga river. Now the need of the hour is to propagate and replicate this practice in other parts of the country, specially along the Ganga riverside villages. Of course as long as such work is confined to only a few villages, the impact can be only limited and indicative. It is only when such work spreads to many more villages that a significant contribution to the protection of Ganga river will be made. So the main contribution of this project, apart from the benefits achieved within the project villages, is to show how a wider effort can be planned in more riverside villages. In this example we’ve seen that Gram Sabha has played a positive and vital role and voluntary organisations have recognised and given adequate importance to their role. On the contrary, in some other villages, one can notice a different situation where Gram Sabhas have been protesting against the heavy pollution of rivers flowing near their villages, but no relief has been provided to them. Industries, cities and towns have been continuously discharging very harmful and toxic effluents into the Ganga as well as in other rivers by taking advantage of flawed policies and plans. Due to the money power, myopic vision and vested interests of local dominants the appeals of Gram Sabhas and panchayats to protect rivers were simply ignored. This can be seen very clearly in the context of Aami river flowing in Gorakhpur district and neighboring areas of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Hence this negative side, this negation of the role of Gram Sabhas and village communities in protecting their rivers should also be considered. There should be a clear policy decision that when riverside communities and their gram sabhas demand protective and concrete steps for saving rivers, their voices should be heard. They are the life line not to be ignored.

NOTES FROM THE FIELD

Gram Sabha links up with Ganga protection BHARAT DOGRA

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hile a lot has talked about the need to protect Ganga river, specific examples of linking up villagers around Ganga river with this challenge have been rare. In this context some recent efforts made in Shivrajpur block of Kanpur (N) district by Shramik Bharti voluntary organisation deserve attention as in a relatively short period of about 2 years these efforts have indicated interesting and useful ways of involving riverside villagers in the protection of river. These efforts were initiated as a part of the wider ‘Linking Ganga’ project of the Worldwide Fund For Nature. For example, let us examine the case of Harnu village. An important aspect of some of these efforts is the clear involvement of the Gram Sabha in Harnu village. The Gram Sabha met and decided to pass a resolution that Shramik Bharti should take up the revival and restoration of two wetlands in this village called Sagra and Nau. Subsequently the Gram Sabha also passed another resolution that once the revival work has been taken up, they will not take water from these wetlands for irrigating their crops. This resolution of the Gram Sabha, in this case, is very important because it shows a commitment on the part of farmers of Harnu village. The villagers showed the strength and determination to rise above their narrow self-interests. This village suffers from many problems and most important is shortage of water for irrigation purpose. This becomes an important constrain for farmers, who constantly try to increase the production. Despite this major problem, these farmers could rise above their personal interest for the sake of contributing to the common long-term welfare of the entire village as well as to protect its environment. This ability to rise above self-interest for contributing keeping in mind the long-term benefits is a rare example and this is why this gesture of these farmers of Harnu village deserves to be appreciated. It is all the more credible that this was not just a verbal assurance by the local level political leadership but instead a more formal and more concrete assurance was given in the form of a resolution of the Gram Sabha. In fact the farmers living in the vicinity of Sagara wetland went a step further and declared that they will not use any chemical pesticide or weedicide to avoid any possibility of polluting the wetland. They have also said that no dirt will be allowed in this area, and no hunting will be permitted. A 36 member protection committee has been elected, including all the farmers and the pradhan of the village panchayat. who have fields near Sagara wetland Thus, on the one hand round the year, water in wetland will increase the water-table in Harnu village and hence contribute to increased agricultural productivity in the village. However, as far as long term benefits are concerned, this will lead to more conducive conditions for wider biodiversity, flora and fauna to flourish. On the other hand, the availability of adequate water in groundwater aquifers will also help in maintaining adequate water flow in the Ganga river. JULY 2012

Protect panchayat members from Naxals

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oncerned over mass resignations of panchayat members in Gadchiroli, the Union government has asked the Maharashtra state government to ensure safety and security of elected representatives from maoist threats in the naxal hotbed. Home Minister P Chidambaram is said to have spoken to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan recently and asked him to do the needful to protect the elected civic body members in Gadchiroli, many of who have put in papers after the maoist intimidation. Official sources said during last one month, two Gadchiroli zilla parishad members from Etapalli tehsil quit their posts following Naxal ultimatum. Four panchayat and one zilla parishad member in Bhamragarh in the district had also resigned from their respective posts. The sources said that of late maoists have abducted many panchayat or zilla parishad members in Gadchiroli and released them only after they agreed to abide by the naxal diktats. The maoists, they said, do not want any development in rural areas of Gadchiroli as under-development and lack of connectivity give them free run in these remote areas. Gadchiroli, one of the worst Naxal-hit districts in the country, saw at least 30 killings and 50 abductions in the last six months.

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MISCELLANEOUS SC to examine quota row in UP municipal bodies The Supreme Court on 5 June decided to examine a plea against the Uttar Pradesh government’s May 25 notification reserving the posts of chairperson for people of scheduled castes, tribes and backward classes and the women in some of the state’s municipal bodies. Gautam, a general category candidate for the post of Khair Nagar Palika chairperson in Aligarh submitted that the poll process was vitiated as the posts were being reserved indiscriminately without any rationale and in a manner, discriminatory to the general category candidates. In all, there are 630 local bodies comprising of 13 municipal corporations, 194 ‘nagar palika parishads’ and 423 ‘nagar panchayats’ in the state. The petitioner submitted that reservation of the posts of chairpersons can be done only by rotation. In other words, if a post is reserved for a particular term, then in the subsequent term, it has to be de-reserved, allowing a general category candidate to contest for it. The UP government, however, in purported exercise of its powers under Section 9 A of the UP Municipalities Act, 1916 has reserved 28 seats in favour of different castes despite the fact that the posts had been reserved in 2001 and 2006 elections, Garg alleged. Elections to the Nagarpalikas are to be held from June 12 and would conclude by July 10, he said. Giving an illustration, the petitioner said in 2001, the office of chairperson, Nagar Palika, Khair was reserved for general women. In 2006, it was reserved for Schedule Caste women, he added. On January 15, 2012, the then Mayawati Government notified the Nagar Palika chairperson post for general candidate. However, after the Akhilesh Singh Yadav Government assumed power on April 25, the state issued a fresh notification reserving the seat for SC candidates. According to the petitioner, though the Allahabad High Court had held that the notifications reserving the posts were illegal, yet, it directed the petitioner and other aggrieved candidates to approach the respective district judges by way of election petitions. The petitioner urged the apex court to stay the impugned notification issued by the state government.

Committee set up for e-governance at gram panchayat level The Union Government has constituted a committee for providing broadband connectivity to 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats in the country at an investment of `20,000 crore. The committee will set up a National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) to be rolled out by the Bharat Broadband Network Ltd (BBNL) which has been specifically created for rolling out the network. The BBNL will lay the cable from block level to the Gram Panchayat level. About 5 lakh km optical fibre will be laid. A meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s Office on 26 June to ensure that the planned network enables government departments to roll out e-services and e-applications nationally.” Based on the decision taken in this meeting, a co-ordination committee has been set up to give a push to this effort,” officials said. The panel to be headed by Secretary, Department of Telecommunications has Secretaries of Information Technology, Health and Family Welfare, School Education and Literacy, Higher Education, Food and Public Distribution, Panchayati Raj, Rural Development and chiefs of BBNL and the state-owned telecom company BSNL as members. The panel will assess the requirement of various ministries and departments to have an all India network to offer government to citizen (G2C) services upto Panchayat

JULY 2012

Level and also the requirement of State Governments to have state wide network to offer G2C services upto Panchayat level. It will also assess the requirement of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) of Central and State Governments to offer their services upto Panchayat level and evolve a framework to facilitate the design of pan India and pan State network through BBNL. It is expected that by the time the optical fibre network is rolled out, ministries at the Central and State level will be ready with applications to be rolled out on the network.

Call to set up legal aid clinics at panchayat-level Kerala High Court Judge and executive chairman of the Kerala State Legal Service Authority (KELSA) Justice C.N. Ramachandran Nair has called for setting up legal aid clinics in every panchayat. Addressing a legal awareness workshop for local body members in Thrissur on 23 June, he said the Legal Service Authority was ready to set up such clinics in gram panchayats if the local bodies provided space for it. “Though the KELSA provides free legal service for the common man with the government’s assistance, not many people know about its activities. A huge majority in society have been denied justice as the current system failed to reach out to the masses. Local body members, who work at the grassroots, should sensitise people about their legal rights and services of the KELSA,” Justice Ramachandran Nair said. A ‘litigation-free’ panchayat should be the goal of each elected representative. The Legal Service Authority was willing to provide regular legal service for panchayat-level clinics, he said.

SELECT READING Bharat Dogra: “Voting them out of shackles”, The Hindu, 21 June, 2012 Simon Chauchard: “Panchayati raj and untouchability”, The Hindu, 5 June 2012 Annual subscription: `100, two years: `180, five Years: ` 400 Institutions: ` 200 (one year) Overseas: US$ 25 (one year), DD/MO to favour Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi.

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