Says it is demeaning to compare them to ‘watch dogs’
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Stating that Gram Sabhas are village parliaments whose decisions have to be executed by an elected panchayat body, the Church in Goa, has through its social arm ~the Council for Social Justice and Peace~ criticized the government for calling them (Gram Sabhas) watch dogs and advisory bodies in the Panchayati Raj System, calling this as “demeaning”.
“It is absurd reasoning to accuse the gram sabhas of exceeding their powers with respect to construction projects in the villages when these activities severely impact natural resources , social and economic plans and programmes which are the function and prerogative of the Gram Sabhas,” CSJP said, adding “…it is demeaning to compare Gram Sabhas to ‘watch dogs’ and panchayat representatives as ‘masters’ when the Constitution of India is about democracy.
“The Gram Sabha is the final authority in many respects of village governance as per sub-section 1 of Section 6 of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994.”
Stating that resolutions of the Gram Sabha are binding on the panchayat body, “provided it is not contrary to the rules and regulations framed under the Panchayat Act or any other law in force (sub-section 4 of section 6 of Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994),” the CSJP said and accused the government of preventing Gram Sabha from participating in regional planning structures and processes for the State. “Besides this, the Gram Sabha constitutes ward development committees to prepare the strategic vision for holistic development which is translated into a five-year perspective plan, an important facet of planning as per Article 243ZD of the Constitution, which the government has been evading in the regional planning structures and processes for the state.”
CSJP took ‘strong exception’ to the government’s alleged repeated attempts to “mislead the public and defame Panchayat Raj institutions (PRIs), Gram Sabhas in particular.”
The 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments are about real participatory democracy with Gram Sabhas as the fulcrum of local self-governance, the CSJP added.
“It is most unfortunate that as the historic and politically path-breaking 73rd Constitution Amendment is set to complete 24 years on 24th April 2013 since it came into effect, the Goa Government has been continuing to misuse its powers to abuse and deny the constitutional rights of the people,” says the Council for Social Justice and Peace, arguing that the Panchayati Raj is not about representative democracy but is about direct democracy.
“The Gram Sabha is no lesser body within the Panchayat Raj institutions compared to the elected panchayat representatives. The ultimate yardstick to guide about the rightful status of PRIs and Gram Sabhas in democratic governance is the Constitution of India and cannot be restricted to the Goa Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 in isolation,” CSJP said in a hard-hitting reaction to the statements on the role or ‘non role’ of Gram Sabhas.
The Gram Sabha has the function of approving budget estimates, statement of accounts, development programmes, works proposed, audit reports, proposal for fresh taxation, identification of beneficiaries for welfare schemes, priorities of work to be undertaken, utilisation certificate for development works undertaken by the panchayat, among several others, the CSJP said.
