Ever so often the State government treads controversy with some of its decisions. The proposed amendment to the Goa Panchayats (Gram Sabha meetings) Rules, 1996 that will result into curtailing discussion on any business beyond that listed in the agenda is one such. The government last month, issued draft rules in the gazette that stated that, gram sabhas can neither be called arbitrarily, nor will any items not listed in the agenda of the meeting be taken up for discussion during the gram sabha. The sentence read, “No subject shall be discussed in such meetings besides the agenda as approved by the gram sabha.” This had drawn immediate opposition, as there have been demands from across the board to grant more powers to the gram sabhas.
While activists have voiced their concern over the move – those currently on a chain hunger strike at Panjim’s Azad Maidan are demanding that planning be decided by the villagers – the opposition Congress, though belatedly, has now taken up the proposed amendment, denouncing it by calling the move ‘highhanded and anti-democratic’. According to the Congress the government by making these amendments is trying to take away the voices of the grassroots level as over the past few years it has been the gram sabhas that have been exposing the government on various issues.
The gram sabhas are symbols of democracy, and to understand this one must be able to appreciate the fact that the village sabhas are means for the people at the grassroots to be able to determine the future of the wider space in which they live in. For a country like India that is vastly rural, a vibrant gram sabha is an indication that democracy is alive, and trying to silence, or at least rein in the voice of the people, will be a blow to the country’s democracy and its democratic ideals.
Take a look at the kind of topics that have been taken up at gram sabhas in the State over the past few months. Besides issues pertinent to the village, others that have been discussed and even resolutions passed on include the Regional Plan, Outline Development Plans, Planning and Development Authorities, river nationalisation and coal transportation. The last – coal transportation – has been rejected by gram sabhas across the State.
Against this background, the proposed amendment denying gram sabhas the opportunity to take up issues not listed in the agenda does give rise to the question on whether the move is, as the opposition says, ‘to scuttle the voice of the people at the grassroots level’.
Gram sabhas in Goa are gaining popularity, with the number of people participating on the rise, a sure indication that the people are aware that their rights in a participative democracy are not limited to voting in the election, but goes beyond and they want to exercise them. This participating needs to be further boosted, and a move to keep items other than those listed in the agenda out of the discussion, will not serve in increasing participation.
There, admittedly, may also exist the possibility that certain groups with vested interests may try to hijack the gram sabha, but curtailing rights of villagers to discuss topics of their choice at the meeting, does not address the issue. It is for the sarpanch or whoever may be presiding over the meeting to be able to take control of the proceedings and stop the discussion if there is any doubt that vested interests are at play.
The gram sabha is the fundamental institution in local planning. Its powers can neither be curtailed nor diminished. The State has to initiate steps to strengthen the gram sabha and the panchayats, for it is here that participative democracy begins from.
