|
VIEWPOINT: POLITICALLY CORRECT
Panchayati Dreams
Local bodies continue to be held back by a lack
of funds and functionaries
By P. Chidambaram
 She
holds a master's degree in English literature. Her husband is a doctor.
She lives in a small town (actually a large village) which was once a
French settlement and port. She is a Muslim. And she was a candidate in
the contest for the office of president of the town panchayat.
She is Syed Zinub. She and others of her kind
were central to Rajiv Gandhi's dream.
 Fifteen
years ago, Rajiv wondered why development was not reaching the villages
and towns of India. He wondered why after so many "developmental
schemes" nothing seemed to have changed for the very poor. Only the
acronyms changed: IRDP, NREP, RLEGP, DPAP, JRY, PMRY, etc. Successive
prime ministers thought that if they got the words "pradhan mantri"
inserted somewhere, that would ensure their immortality.
Rajiv wanted to learn firsthand. He travelled
extensively, often driving his red jeep on brown patches which passed
for village roads. He sat down with district collectors-all 500 of them-at
five conferences and quizzed them. Most district collectors were young,
eager and brimming with ideas. The mood at these conferences was: "Together,
we'll change the face of India."
Out of all this was born the idea of a constitutionally
mandated system of Panchayati Raj. In 1989, Rajiv introduced far-reaching
amendments to the Constitution. Some political parties-notably the communists
and the DMK-voted against the bill and defeated it in the Rajya Sabha.
After Rajiv was assassinated and P.V. Narasimha Rao assumed office, Parliament
passed the bill without a murmur of protest.
One by one, the states fell in line, reluctantly,
and-with the courts rapping them on the knuckles-conducted elections to
local bodies. The exception was Tamil Nadu, where elections were held
only in 1996.
In September 2001, a report card was prepared
for a parliamentary committee. The grades are mixed. Yes, most states
have held elections but, no, most have not passed laws to devolve powers
(in respect of 29 specified subjects) to the local bodies. Yes, most states
have set up State Finance Commissions but, no, they have not implemented
the recommendations. Yes, most states have given larger resources to the
local bodies but, no, they are totally inadequate. Yes, most states have
District Planning Committees in place but, no, they are more ornamental
than functional because plans continue to be made at the state level and
continue to be implemented through line departments. The main criticisms
are that neither adequate funds nor trained functionaries have been placed
at the disposal of the local bodies.
Yet there is no gainsaying the fact that there
is fierce competition to get elected-especially to the post of president
of the village or town panchayat and chairperson of the municipality.
Many contests witness a number of candidates. There is one from each party
or alliance, there are rebels in several places and there is a large number
of independents. The contests are anything but friendly, they are savage.
Strange adjustments are made at the local levels and mind-boggling sums
of money are spent. Out there it is dusty, noisy, rowdy and on election
day there is booth capturing-unmistakable elements of Indian democracy.
Did Zinub win?
Take a look at the factors stacked against her.
Because it is a post reserved for women, all candidates were women. While
Zinub was a real candidate, the others were wives or daughters or sisters
of male politicians who were the real candidates. In most places, the voters
looked at the person behind the candidate.
Zinub was the candidate of a fledgling alliance
hastily put together by the Congress(I). The alliance was no match for
the money and muscle that were commanded by the AIADMK and the DMK. (Money
and country liquor are powerful allurements on election day. In many places,
by afternoon, a few booths are captured and the task completed.)
Zinub is a Muslim. There is a significant proportion
of Muslims in her town, but they do not constitute a majority. (Where
the Muslims are in a majority, virtually every major political party will
field a Muslim candidate to neutralise that advantage.) Zinub's prospects
of victory, therefore, depended upon the attitude of the non-Muslims.
In that small town too, they were aware of the war in Afghanistan.
If Zinub was not a Muslim, her caste would have
been an important-almost decisive-factor. Alliances at the village level
are not the political alliances struck by state-level party leaders. They
are purely and simply alliances among the different castes. Caste alliances
differ from panchayat to panchayat and town to town. Even in the melting
pots of large cities, caste is the dominant factor.
Did Zinub win? You guessed the answer. She did
not. Cash, caste and, in urban areas, criminals decided the fate of most
candidates. Rajiv's dream is some distance away.
(The author is a former Indian
finance minister.)
|
METRO TODAY
Web
Exclusives
