Peaceful Society has been active in the field of
empowering Rural Communities especially poor and marginalsed people. The 73rd
amendment of Indian Constitution about strengthening the Village Panchayat
received enormous support from the civil society of India. Peaceful society too
extended all possible help to bring the constitutional amendment into a
reality.
Peaceful Society in
association with other like-minded organisations organised series of workshops
and consultations at village, state, regional and national level and compiled
various related documents. The regional consultation for Goa, Gujarat and
Maharashtra, which held in Aug. 1995 culminated into emergence of regional
intervention in the name of “ Western India Forum for Panchayati Raj” WIFPR. Later
WIFPR became the integral part of larger forum known as SWARAJ. Under SWARAJ
Program following work so far have been done through WIFPR;
§
Publication
of news letters in Gujarati, Marathi and English,
§
Publication
of booklets in Gujarati, Marathi and English,
§
Series
of workshops at the state and regional level,
§
Capacitation
program for the elected members of the panchayati raj,
§
Advocacy
for the implementation of the major provisions of the amendment,
§
To
strengthen the Village Panchayat in the light of 73rd constructional Amendment,
§
To
capacitate the elected members of the Panchayat and organisations working in
favour of Panchayats,
§
To
undertake publication and advocacy related activities for the realisation of
real Village Panchayat as grassroots self-governance,
2.
Capacity
Building
3.
Goa
Jal Yatra
4.
Publication Of
Newsletters, Booklet &
Documentation
The renowned water
conservationist and 2001 Ramon Magsaysay award winner from Rajasthan, Dr.
Rajendra Singh has set out on a nation-wide Water March (Rashtriya Jal Yatra)
organized by the Rashtriya Jal Biradari from December 2002 from Gandhiji’s
Samadhi in Delhi. After covering the states of Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bengal and Maharashtra the team led by Dr. Singh
arrived in Goa on April 11, 2003. The main objective of the March is to create
awareness on the depleting water resources and its commercialisation. The Water
March will conclude in February 2004.
Dr. Rajendra Singh,
a post-graduate in Hindi from Allahabad University and a qualified ayurvedic
physician, left his government job as project coordinator for youth education
in Jaipur and headed for a remote drought prone village with five friends. His
contact with Jayaprakash Narayan before the emergency drew him to join the
Tarun Dal (brigade of adolescents for total revolution). Later in Jaipur he joined
the Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS) and it was then that he headed to the hill slopes
of the Aravalis leaving his wife with her parents after one and half years of
marriage. Today the five workers have multiplied to 42 full-time workers, 120
part time workers and 2000 volunteers of the TBS alone. He slowly led the
villagers to conserve water from the 300 m.m. rainfall and as the movement grew
along with it came to life the rivers of Alwar in Rajasthan. The villagers call
him ‘Bhai Sahab’, or Elder brother.
Water shortage is a
growing problem in Goa. Women have to track long distances and spend sleepless
nights just to collect a few buckets of water. The failure of a normal monsoon
had led to severe water scarcity and for the first time several wells and lakes
were dry. Peaceful Society and its Panchayat Raj Cell along with Goa Desk
Resource Centre took the opportunity of the visit of Dr. Rajendra Singh to
organise the Goa Jal Yatra on April 11 and 12 to create awareness on the
depleting water resources in Goa in the last few years. The yatra also
highlighted the need for protection of natural water bodies and traditional
water conservation techniques. Another objective of this Jal Yatra was to draw
the government’s attention to the haphazard development, which is destroying
the traditional water sources in the State.
During the two-day
Jal Yatra in the state, Dr. Singh visited the two major water bodies Bhutkamb
and Vijaya Durga in Keri and Savoiverem villages. Dr. Dattaram Desai of Gram Vikas
Kendra and Savoiverem Sarpanch, Mohan Verenkar welcomed the yatra and explained
the age-old techniques and practices of water harvesting practiced in the
village. Accompanying the yatris were Kumar Kalanand Mani of Peaceful Society,
Soter D’Souza of the Panchayat Raj Cell and Roland Martins of Goa Desk Resource
Centre along with several activists from the state.
At the Bicholim
Municipal Council, the Chief Officer welcomed the yatra in the presence of
Rashtriya Seva Dal leader Ramesh Gauns and other activists. The engineer of BMC
discussed the issue of floods that the Bicholim town has to face for the last
couple of years. The siltation of the water canals due to mining rejects from
the neighbouring mines was seen as the chief reason for the flooding.
Dr. Singh then
proceeded to Saligao village in Bardez taluka where the local villagers
welcomed him. He had a first hand experience of the water scarcity when he
visited the fields and witnessed the drying crops whereas in the vicinity water
was being pumped into a tanker for sale. The farmers expressed their distress
at what is going on and how the Saligao village panchayat was helping the water
mafia. Approximately 4 lakh litres of water is being sold daily according to a
survey done by some villagers appointed by the gram sabha of Saligao to study
the problem.
At a meeting called
‘Friday Balcao’ organized by Goa Desk Resource Centre at Mapusa Dr. Singh said
that he was shocked by the water shortage in Goa. “If I mention about this in
Rajasthan, where the rainfall is only one inch, the people will laugh as they
will not believe that a state which receives around 100 inches of rain is
facing a water crisis”, said Dr. Singh. He expressed anguish at what he
witnessed during his visit on the first day. He was surprised that the Zilla
and Village Panchayats had remained silent spectators to all this damage and
plunder of water resources by the mafia. “The techniques and the systems for
water harvesting are there but all that is needed is to make them operational and
preserve them. For this it is the people who need to organize themselves
instead of depending on the government”, he explained. He pointed out that the
proposed Central Government policy on water describes it as a commodity, which
is a dangerous thinking and needs to be opposed by the whole country.
To a question posed
on the government’s intention to construct golf courses vis a vis Goa’s water
scarcity, Dr. Singh was quick to point out that golf courses were anti-ecology
and not viable for a place like Goa. He pointed out that golf courses consumed
a lot of water, which also evaporates fast, and the grass used does not release
oxygen into the atmosphere.
On the second day,
Dr Singh visited Curca and Merces villages and later addressed a meeting of the
Zilla and Village Panchayat representatives organized at Panaji jointly by the
Panchayat Raj Cell of Peaceful Society and the Directorate of Panchayats. He
appealed to them to take up water harvesting in their villages. “You need to
assert yourselves instead of behaving like servants of the bureaucrats and
politicians and allowing them to work against the interest of your village. I
consider the panchayat members as ‘Parmeshwar’ but you have not lived up to
this honour, said Dr. Singh. The right of the panchayats over its water
resources is a constitutional right but according to him in most parts of the
country the panchayats have not demanded their rights thus betraying their
villagers who have imposed their trust in them. How long will you sleep”, he inquired.
He answered several questions posed by the gathering.
Citing the success
story of Hiware Bazar Sarpanch in Maharashtra who belongs to no political
party, he exhorted the gathering to serve the interests of people by asserting
themselves and taking some hard decisions instead of being afraid of losing
votes. “You try it and see. Involve your villagers in development for their
welfare and I can assure you that seeing your work the people will vote you
without you having to go to them”, exhorted Dr. Singh. The members expressed
ignorance about the recent Ground Water Regulation Act brought by the
government. It was decided that the water resource department officials be
requested to explain the Act to the village panchayats.
Present for the
meeting was the North Goa Zilla Panchayat CEO, Mr. C. V. Kavlekar and
Chairperson Mr. A. Hoble. In the afternoon Dr. Singh visited the Boca de Vaca
spring in Panaji and in the presence of the councillor, Mr. Deepak Mapshekar,
architects, engineers and residents of the ward. He appreciated the efforts of
the government in the restoration and beautification of the spring but hoped
that this does not only remain the privilege for the urban elite society. He
hoped that all water bodies in the villages will be restored and made fully
operational.
Later in the evening
Dr. Rajendra Singh met NGOs and voluntary organisations’ representatives,
environmental activists, and village forums. Villagers from the remotest area
of Sanguem taluka who are victims of the water shortage caused due to excessive
mining and pollution travelled almost 8o kms. to meet Dr. Singh. He praised the work done by them in creating
awareness on the water crisis and protection of water bodies. He proposed the
formation of a People’s Water Commission and the preparation of a white paper
on the water situation in the state. Addressing the issue of mining rejects
polluting the water bodies and water extraction for commercial purposes, he
suggested for more organized action among the villagers by joining with other
villagers facing similar problems.
Thereafter, Dr.
Singh addressed the local press persons at Panaji and voiced his observations
and concerns from his 2-day yatra in Goa. The Goa Jal Yatra was given wide
publicity in the local media and the report also appeared on the government
website of the information department.
A meeting of the Editorial Board and
Editors, of the Western India Forum for Panchayati Raj WIFPR Newsletter
‘Sarpanch”, was held on April 17 at Mumbai. ‘Sarpanch’ is the Newsletter of
WIFPR which is published by the Ahmedabad Study Action Group every 3 months in
English and Gujarati. WIFPR campaigns on issues of Panchayati Raj in the States
of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa. Soter D’Souza, coordinator of the Panchayati
raj cell of Peaceful Society, edits the English edition. The Editorial Board consists of Kumar
Kalanand Mani of Peaceful Society - Goa, Rajesh Bhat of ASAG -Gujarat and Dr.
Lohia of Manavlok – Maharashtra. The first issue of Sarpanch for January to
March 2003 was evaluated and various improvements were decided upon. Among the
issues discussed was the equal amount of space for news from the 3 States. The
need for a comprehensive mailing list was stressed. The circulation quota for
the States was also decided upon.
Ramesh Shah, editor of the Gujarati edition of Sarpanch, released the
second issue of the newsletter at this meeting.
The English edition
of Sarpanch covers news on PR from Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat besides write-ups
by academicians, answers to frequently asked questions in panchayats and
articles relevant to PRIs from academicians and activists.
2ND ISSUE OF NEWS
LETTER: The second issue of the
newsletter Sarpanch for April to June 2003 was prepared and printed. The
editorial focused on the need for recognition to gram sabhas by the government.
Other articles covered are on ecology conservation (report of Sunderlal
Bahuguna’s lecture at Goa), interview with a lady Sarpanch, status of PR in Goa
by Dr. Aureliano Fernandes and an NIRD study on Autonomy to Panchayats. Around
700 copies of the News letter was circulated to the press, academic
institutions, NGOs, VOs, public libraries, government agencies, Ministers and
MLAs, social action groups, and general public.
3RD ISSUE OF NEWS LETTER: The third issue of the
newsletter for July to October 2003 was also compiled and printed. The
editorial focused on the state of Gram sabhas, which are made subservient to
the elected representatives and the government agencies. Other articles covered were on the need to
protect rivers, report of a workshop on 10 years of PR in Goa, Gender issues,
press reports on PR problems, FAQs and so on. Around 800 copies of the
newsletter have been circulated to regular subscribers, institutions and
general public.
PR BOOKLET: The 5th Booklet
in the series of PR booklets for the layperson was compiled and printed. The booklet was titled ‘Goa Panchayats –
Planning, Accounting, Budget and Audit’ was released by Dr. Rajendra Singh on
April 12 during the meeting held with Panchayat functionaries. Earlier a
consultation meeting was held at Panaji on March 11, with a few resource
persons to discuss the draft of this booklet. This booklets explains in common
man’s language the rules and regulations in the Goa Panchayati Raj Act
pertaining to planning, budgeting, auditing and so on. These booklets have
received appreciation from the media and the common man for making the
knowledge accessible to the grass roots. The printed Panchayati Raj Act of the
government costs around Rupees 500, which is way beyond the reach of a common
man in the village. So also the legal jargon involved also makes it difficult
for a non-legal person to understand the Act.
A half-day workshop for Gram Sabha members was organized at the T.B.
Cunha Memorial Hall, Panaji on May 32, 2003. The topic chosen was “Gram Sabha
in Goa after the 73rd Constitutional Amendment’. The objective of this workshop was; 1. To
understand the problems and successes in the Gram sabhas in the last 10 years,
2. To help build awareness and opinion on issues of Gram Sabhas and 3. To
develop a plan of action to address issues of the gram sabha. The Workshop was
facilitated by Dr. Peter Rony Desouza, HOD Political Science, Goa University.
Assistant professor of the Political science department of Goa University, Dr.
Aureliano Fernandes delivered a lecture on the topic ‘Waiting for Democracy in
Goa’ thus giving the participants some food for thought. Around four panels consisting
of Sarpanchas and panchas, political party representatives, Trade Unionists,
NGO representatives and activists also presented their views and experiences.
After every panel presented its views there was an open-house discussion. The
various problems cited by the participants are; lack of adequate publicity for
GS meetings, favouritism in allocation of schemes and resources, failure of the
panchayat body to implement recommendations and suggestions of the GS, lack of
transparency and accountability, interference by government agencies in the
functioning of panchayats, The response to this workshop was tremendous with
around 80 participants from several talukas of Goa participating. This workshop
was much appreciated and it was decided that this initiative of organizing
workshops would be taken taluka-wise to ensure that the awareness reaches a
wider section of people and more inputs are gathered before mobilizing support
for any initiative. .
A workshop on Indian rivers was held from June 17 to
the 21 at Munnar, Kerala as part of the initiative taken by the Indian River
Network to discuss the threat to the major rivers in the country. The
coordinator of the PR Cell participated in this workshop.
PR WORKSHOP FOR GOA AND MAHARASHTRA
A Workshop on “Panchayati Raj: Ten Years after the 73rd and
74th Constitutional Amendment” was held from 25th to the
27th August 2003 at the J.P. Naik Centre for Education and
Development at Kothrud, Pune. The Western
India Forum organized the workshop for Panchayati Raj in association with ASAG
– Gujarat, Manavlok –Maharashtra and Peaceful Society – Goa, for its partners
from the States of Goa and Maharashtra.
WIFPR Convenor, Rajesh Bhat welcomed the participants.
Elaborating on the various inputs and facilities offered for strengthening PRIs
in the western region among which is the Panchayat Raj Marg darshan Kendra,
training camps and seminars for panchayat functionaries, and so on. He shared
various steps that the forum would adopt in order to increase its network of
partners more so in the State of Maharashtra. Expressing satisfaction in the
work undertaken by the various forum partners Mr. Bhat encouraged the
participants to work harder for the strengthening of PRIs in the western
region.
Mr. Ramesh Shah, a retired officer from the Gujarat administration who
has written several books for educating and creating awareness on various
aspects of Panchayati Raj, presented a paper titled “Panchayat Finances in Maharashtra”.
He relied on data of the 11th Finance Commission of India for his
study and went on to cite the shortcomings in the Finance Commissions’ Report
and its recommendations on various measures to be adopted for PRIs in the State
of Maharashtra.
Dr. Lohia, convenor of
WIFPR for the Maharashtra State, presented an excellent case study of Beed
District presenting the financial status of Maharashtra Panchayat Raj
Institutions based on the data collected from Beed district including
introduction of the subject, profile of the district, income & expenditure
pattern of PRIs (zilla parishad, panchayat samitis, gram panchayats) etc. It
was the comparative statement with the actual case study explaining the
situational analysis in depth as presented by Shri R. M. Shah.
The findings were
interesting besides making the picture clear. The case of the Govt. servant’s
monthly salary was taken as an example. As per this study, 63% of the total
salary goes to the servants who do not live in the village while only 37% goes
to them who live in the village while only 16.19% goes to actual local
employees belonging to that village.
This presents a very grim
scenario at the expenditure pattern in case of employment. This study further
concluded that if more of the employees are either chosen from the village or
prefer to live in the village, the efficacy in services is high and employment
can be generated at local level. The level of corruption also goes down in
various schemes as well as services.
He also explained in detail
thereafter the ritual, static and formal character of PRIs, facade planning,
functional devolution, inadequate functioning of statutory committees, poor tax
collection etc and their part in deterioration of panchayat finances.
Mr. Ashok Jain from Kirti College,
Dadar, Mumbai presented the academic perspective of the problems & issues
of the finances of the PRIs. According to him, the problems & difficulties
of PRIs flow from the present system and rules. Uncertainty related to cess
& land revenue, the problems regarding the recovery of irrigation cess,
inadequate grants other than provisions in the Govt. budget, inefficiency of
zilla parishads & panchayat samitis for utilization of this funds as
provided in their budget, inadequate own resources of zilla parishads etc – all
sum up to the problems / difficulties with the finances of zilla parishads. He
also figured out two deep-rooted inefficiencies & problems created due to
timely distribution of grants, inadmissible amounts under audit inspection, shortage
of staff etc.
In the expenditure part, there
are difficulties in maintenance & repairs of properties created through
various development programmes. Mr. Jain also detailed out the various
difficulties under the various heads of roads/buildings/expenditure on
machinery/minor irrigation schemes/rural water supply/problems of public health
department/social welfare department/education department etc.
He also made some remarks on financial position of
panchayat samitis. Then he moved on to village panchayats describing the
financial difficulties including income from house tax and salary of village
panchayat staff.
As per Mr. Jain, the village PRI’s own income is
declining. And that is the major concern according to him. Out of 20, only 4
resources have been tapped properly due to politicising of development
agencies.
He said, there is Devolution of functions but no
devolution of powers and no devolution of finances at all. The Own Income from 22% of village
panchayats' is below Rs. 10,000. Another major problem hindering the growth
& autonomy of village panchayats is the recovery of various taxes. He gave
an example of a village where today only 50 paise or 100 paise property tax has
been collected today.
Dr. Aureliano Fernandes, Head of
the Political Science Department, Goa University, presented a paper on the
topic “Lacunae in the Goa Panchayati Raj Act”. Among the various drawbacks
experienced by the PRIs in Goa is the non-devolution of functional powers,
finances, non-functionality of the Gram Sabhas and the instability in village
panchayats.
Another paper on “A Need for a Model Act on Local
Governance in Goa” was presented by Soter D’Souza, Hon. Director of the Centre
for Panchayati Raj – Peaceful Society at Goa. Dismissing the present PR Acts as
those inherited from the British colonialist system he strongly advocated for a
form of local self-governance based on the vision of Mahatma Gandhi, Vinobaji
and Jayaprakash Narayan.
The Maharashtra participants identified several
areas for strengthening of the financial structure and its recommendations to
be presented to the Government of Maharashtra. The Goa participants discussed
the various modalities for drafting of the Model Act on Panchayati Raj.
The
participants at the workshop were from a cross-section of persons like
Sarpanchas, academicians, retired civil servants, gram sabha members, and PR
activists. A fifteen member team from Goa consisting of 3 Sarpanchas, 2
panchayat members, 4 activists, 1 academician, 1 representative from the
Government Directorate of Panchayats, members of Peaceful Society and Centre
for Panchayati Raj participated in this workshop. It is for the first time that
such a big number of participants were present for a WIFPR workshop outside
Goa. Various follow-up meetings will be organized to monitor the implementation
of the decisions taken at this workshop.
The various lacunae in the Goa PR Act have been discussed with the Director of Panchayats. The issue of various complaints from public as well as panchayat members regarding not writing of the minutes of meeting on the spot, which resulted in manipulations, was highlighted. As a result of this discussion a circular was issued to all village panchayat secretary’s to write the minutes during the meeting. Discussions are on with the Director of Panchayats for directions on the rights of panchayat members to have access to records of panchayats like minutes of meetings, files, registers, etc. which are being denied to them by the Sarpanch and panchayat secretary.
Various requests for guidance by Sarpanchas, panchayat members and public on matters pertaining to the PR Act were attended to by giving advise, drafting applications, complaints and literature. Most requests were made through phone calls. Around 15 persons have benefited from this service. There have been requests for organizing training workshops to impart knowledge and skills to panchayat functionaries, which are not being imparted by government training agencies.
Contact is being maintained with
various local social organisations, government officers, press persons,
panchayat functionaries to make them aware on issues of the PRIs and develop
support and consensus for addressing these issues by building pressure groups.
Report by: Soter D’Souza
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