Though Mahatma Gandhi was a votary of Gram Swaraj and laid emphasis on village autonomy and self-reliance, the gram sabhas held on the Gandhi Jayanti on October 2 last in two panchayats of Rayagada district were just a show of formality. The villagers did not know why a gram sabha was for, nor were any Government officials assigned to conduct the meeting on the day to explain their objectives.
Just the tribals of several villages of Therubali and Kartikaguda gram panchayats knew that gram sabhas would be held and had assembled at the venue for the ABDO to come.
When this correspondent asked Prahllad Hikaka, a youth Sarpanch of Therubali whether the gram sabha can be conducted without the ABDO, he drew blank. Bamini Miniyaka, in her sixties, Sarapanch of Kartikaguda, knows that Gandhi was born on October 2 and told that she respects Gandhi a lot like thousands of Adivasis. But, like many members present there, she also did not know the relevance of gram sabha being conducted on October 2.
Interestingly enough, preparations were made to conduct both the gram sabhas in the campus of Therubali panchayat office premises as Kartikaguda panchayat does not have its own building though the panchayat has been bifurcated from Therubali panchayat since last ten years. The panchayat office functions from a small room situated within the premises of Therubali. Neither the bureaucrats nor the political representatives have been able to resolve the conflict of constructing the panchayat office building in Kartikaguda village or any other villages under its jurisdiction.
However, the indefinite wait by the members, mostly tribal women, ended when the Kolnara ABDO arrived at the panchayat office by 12.30 pm. By this time, a few members had left the venue. The ABDO spoke about SHG’s credit linkage for livelihood under National Rural livelihood Mission. The gram sabha ended for Kartikaguda in an hour.
Gram Sabhas were fixed on October 2 to commemorate birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who believed on Gram Swaraj. According to him, people will plan and implement from below and as primary tenet of Indian society, villages will be republics at the grassroots with utmost transparency and self-accountability.
The Intensive Participatory Planning Exercise (IPPE) envisages convergence of MGNREGA, Odisha livelihood Mission (as a part of NRlM), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), National Social Assistance Programme(NSAP) and Indira Awas Yojana besides Bharat Swachh Mission, Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana, life and Accidental Insurance, Atal Bima Yojana, etc.
To the utter dismay of the members present, no agenda was fixed and discussed in the gram sabha. There were around 40 women and 20 men in the Kartikaguda gram sabha excluding the Anganwadi Workers, ASHAs and other officials. There was least participation by the members from the villages. It was never checked whether the gram sabha met the quorum. labour budget for 2015-16 and achievements of panchayat up to August-2015 were skipped. Wall painting on information on IAY, NSAP, etc was not exhibited at any place in the place of gram sabha to initiate discussion.
The findings of Social Economic and Caste Census (SECC), which is the main basis of IPPE, were never shared in the gram sabha. The elected PRI members were made to understand that if such issues would be discussed during the gram sabha, several conflicts will crop up; issues of several rural development programmes implemented or planned to be implemented were never brought up by the moderators of the gram sabha.
Components of IPPE-II were never discussed. When this correspondent asked about the IPPE, neither the PEO nor the ABDO could correctly explain it. The planning dates were never shared with the members.
However, the JE BB Sahu informed that the IPPE will start from October 3 and end by November 7 in nine revenue villages and five hamletsunder Kartikaguda panchayat.
“While on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, BJD is having massive padayatra, BJP is doing satyagraha and Congress held a strike in front of the Collectorate-all at the district headquarters adhering to the means followed by Mahatma Gandhi. However, nobody was interested to have a reality check of what really is happening in the villages. The entire gram sabha process culminated as a farce, rather than touching the spirit of Gram Swaraj,” opined Bijaya Mishra, an enterprising farmer of Munusing village of Kolnara block.