A seminar titled “A party-less, special, empowered gram panchayat is the true Gramswaraj” was held here Sunday on the occasion the seventh foundation day of the Odisha Nagarika Samaj (ONAS).
Many senior citizens opined that the panchayat elections should be free of involvement of political parties while expressing concerns that the gram panchayats are yet to be given full power for self-governance.
‘Political parties are now destroying unity and brotherhood in villages by getting involved in Palli Sabha, Gram Sabha and Pandhayat and Zilla Parishad elections. Candidates are winning using money and muscle power in these elections,” lamented Election Commission of India Advisor Dr Bhagaban Prakash.
He aid party-based panchayat election is unconstitutional and against the ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi and Jayaprakash Narayan.
Among others, former administrator Vivek Patnaik, former Panchayati Raj Secretary Swapenswar Baya, former MP Baishnab Parida, Er Kiran Shankar Sahoo, lalit Patnaik, Srinivas Mohanty, Aparna Nayak and Bijay Nanda spoke and emphasised that voters should be allowed to exercise their franchise without being influenced by others. The Nagarika Samaj would work in this regard, they said.
Former Judge Hrudya Ballav Dash administered oaths to new Nagarika Samaj members on the occasion. ONAS president Prof Yantrana Parikshit presided over the programme while member secretary Subas Chandra Panda proposed a vote of thanks. Sachikant Pradhan coordinated the programme.