There are now less than two months before the village panchayat elections are due to be held in Goa. The State Election Commission has suggested May 21 as the tentative date for the village body polls so that the process is completed before the end of May and the new panchayats can be in place before the monsoon begins. The government is yet to clear the date for the polls. But, even as the Department of Panchayats is now going through the delimitation of wards process, there is speculation that the polls may be postponed by up to six months as the ruling dispensation is not keen on the local body polls at this point of time, and that it would prefer to have the polls after the by-elections to the Legislative Assembly.
In India’s federal system, the panchayats play a major role at the village level governance, so a government not prepared for, or not in favour of, panchayat polls at a particular point of time should not be a reason for the elections to be postponed. The village panchayats are constitutional entities with a fixed term of five years and the current term of the panchayats ends in May. Quite simply, logically and legally the polls should be held before the end of the term. Governments should not be allowed to tinker with the term of these constitutional village bodies, for reasons that are not substantially valid.
Five years ago, there had been demands for the postponement of the panchayat polls as it had been alleged that there were irregularities with the delimitation of the wards, and that the polls would therefore not be free and fair. The polls were held on time. As of now there are no such demands, so pushing forward the panchayat polls will reflect on the government’s nervousness in facing the people again so quickly after the State Assembly elections, fearing a backlash from the voters.
Should the panchayat elections be postponed, regular administrative work at the village panchayat office will not get delayed or postponed. People will still get their certificates and schemes will still be disbursed. But the postponement would defeat the very purpose of forming the panchayats which is giving people a chance to govern themselves at the very grassroots level via the democratic process of elections. A postponement would indicate the failure of a democratically elected government to uphold this grassroots democratic process.
The turnout at the panchayat elections and the attendance at the gram sabhas during the year indicate how seriously the local people take the panchayats. This needs to be further strengthened and timely elections to the bodies will play a role in breathing fresh energy into the panchayats. The government needs to take up this challenge to give panchayats new challenges. Instead of treating the bodies as mere tools to disburse government schemes, the village panchayats should be converted into instruments of change. Panchayats are the only institutions that can bring about change at the grassroots, whether the change is economic, social or administrative.
While the possible postponement of the panchayat elections still remains mere speculation, there are quite strong reports that this could happen. The Directorate of Panchayats has said that it is not aware of any move to postpone the polls. It may not, as the speculation is at the political level and not at the administrative level. Given that the poll dates will have to be declared sometime this month, there is little to be gained by delaying making an announcement. The government should therefore end the speculation regarding the postponement by announcing that panchayat polls will be held on schedule. That is what a democratically elected government would do.
