Once upon a time in JK Panchayat

The much touted long list of promises carried by the government of India to bring governance at the doors of people is now in the shape of Panchayats across India and in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir too. Starting from Rajasthan which was the first state to bring Panchayats in action and coming to J and K state which too carried the spirit of localized governance some years before in letter and spirit.

As we all know that the Omer Abdullah led National conference Congress coalition government of Jammu and Kashmir has been taking pledges to empower the Panchayats in the state. The minister of state for rural development has said a lot to give teeth to the Panchayats. The top state political brass has been often seen narrating the scope of 73^rd amendment in the state to empower the local governance. We acknowledge that the Panchayats should be given full fledged power to carry the dream of localized governance in Jammu and Kashmir but at the same time do we care about the powers we bestow to Panchayats. The point is debatable for we commoners upon whom the power is exerted.

Recently I had a meet with a local Sarpanch I was astonished with the kind of craze these people have developed rather they have become ‘’power hungry’’. For the time Panchayats enjoy a significant place in the political circles of the state. If we take a gloomy view of the kind of powers the central government has given to them the list goes long. Most of the centrally sponsored schemes meant for rural development have been extended to the control of Panchayats for the identification of beneficiaries. The schemes like Indira Aawas Yojana, Total sanitation programme and other rural developmental schemes wholly and solely run around the periphery of Panchayats. Apart from this the Panchayats have been asked by the law to see the state of affairs of government schools, mid day meals, solve disputes between Mohallas as well. Only after the Panchayat elections in the state were over the next step our government took was of taking the various Sarpanchs to India tour. The government at the first hand also issued books to Sarpanchs to understand the ABC of Panchayat Raj.

We all know that the Panchayat is an elected form of government where the qualification and other traits hardly matter. Once the elections were over the candidates who were able to attain majority took over the reins of their Halkas. The biggest ever mistake our government did was of ignoring the background of a candidate who used to contest Panchayat elections. By keeping this thing out of the preview the Panchayats got innumerable persons who were illiterate and even had no middle schooling. When we give a Sarpanch a bundle of books to understand the phenomenon of his powers and duties knowing the fact that the Sarpanch is illiterate how far we are doing justice to localize the governance. How an illiterate Sarpanch can furnish his duties when he is unable to write his own name and the reading of Panchayat manual is far from his conscious? First the government missed to seek an educated cum literate class of Panchayats next the range of powers given to them were unlimited and then there was no body to keep an eye on the working of Sarpanchs and Panchs the matter of local governance turned bad as anarchy. If we mould the system without changing the system we will come to a positive conclusion.

Huge number of funds from the state exchequer go to the kitty of rural development and then later on to the Panchayats for the final implementation and usage. Each Sarpanch gets his ratio for his Halka and each Panch for his ward. An example from a far off village of Kupwara reveals that the misuse of powers by the Sarpanch has been going high handed. The similar example is of the Block Sogam where in response to an RIT application it was revealed that the Indira Aawas Yojana has been going out of the aim instead of identifying a deserving beneficiary the Sarpanchs and Panchs in coordination choose their near ones or the red collared ones. The cases like allocation of bunds and foot paths to the close one of the Panchayat members often surround the media.

In a recent example from far off district Kupwara a Sarpanch in an unusual manner torched the smuggled timber in the full day light. The Sarpanch here crossing the limit of his assigned powers committed an anti law activity thus the Panchayats turned abuse and ill spreading institutions on the name of Local governance. Another heart breaking story we had from Baramulla district where a Sarpanch threw Kangri [Firepot] on a teenager girl. These like heinous acts from the Sarpanchs have raised the questions on the functioning of the Panchayat Raj institutions.

In the recent cabinet which was chaired by chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in Jammu the cabinet went straight forward in extending the scope of 73^rd amendment in the state to empower Panchayats. The Panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir are manned by J and K Panchayats act 1989 which is the own framed legislative piece of the state. The cabinet discussed the various issues regarding the problems faced by the Panchayats. In the final round of the meeting the cabinet implemented the provisions of 73^rd amendment in the state from the date. With the blessings of the 73^rd amendment the Panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir seem to be now powerful. The 73^rd amendment which talks about the reservations to women in Panchayats and the convening of district development board meetings by the Sarpanchs has given amazing impetus to the functioning of the local governance in the state.

If the governance is to be localized in proper way we need to understand that the Panchayat Raj institutions are to be made accountable before the higher authorities. Why cannot we go for the mechanism which makes the Panchayats the institutions of ideal governance? If the government is planning to fix the salary of Sarpanchs then the first step we have to take is to ensure the complete transparency in the working circles. If government is so concerned why cannot we go for the laws which will bring the Panchayats under the purview of transparency? Most often we go through the swindling of funds by the Panchayats in newspapers.

The institution of Panchayat has to be made powerful but the control should follow every such provision of power. I remember the L D White’s quote where he says that ‘’power corrupts and the absolute power corrupts absolutely’’. The institutions of Panchayats have seized a very degree of power from the higher political class. The power now percolates down to the grass root level hence the chances of negative use or abuse of power go very high. We have to ensure that only the educated class forms the ranks of Panchayat, only people who don’t have criminal background go for the polls and only those who have some form of credible name in the area contest the elections.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of our organisation.