There is a need to educate rural voters of Jharkhand about their responsibilities to elect competent and responsible candidates, believes Panchayati Raj experts and Non-Government organisations working in this field.
To achieve this goal, Gram Swaraj Manch of Vikas Bharti kick-started a voter awareness cum training programme, which will be conducted across Jharkhand to ensure strong Governance in rural areas.
The programme began on Wednesday with 2000 Gram Swaraj Doots being trained in ways to convince voters to cast their votes while considering issues of development and the five years of work done by previous officeholders.
"The villagers need to make their decisions on their own or else they will not progress. Only when Gram Sabhas are strengthened, the villages are clean, and villages are run following the traditional methods, only then will the nation, the State and villages will develop," said Vikas Bharti Secretary Ashok Bhagat.
He continued, "The rights conferred to panchayats should be practised more effectively so that panchayats are able to decide about their respective villages. Panchayat functionaries should take care that resources of the villages are conserved, crime rates in rural pockets are brought down and migration is brought to a stop. Traditional artisans get opportunities according to their skill should also be ensured by the Gram Sabha."
These Doots, coming from various districts of the state, were asked to form a plan of action they intend to follow during their awareness campaign. They were asked to question to the aspiring candidates that whether they will regularly conduct Gram Sabha meeting, live in the village, better the primary schools and ICDS centres, do something about infant mortality rate, public distribution system, eradicate superstitions, and more.
"We have five years' worth of experience with panchayat elections and the mistakes made in electing candidates last time should not be repeated this time. Drunkards, criminals should not be elected, women who quarrel with their family members or are contending under their pressure should be rejected and similar parameters need to be set so as to determine who can be a good panchayat functionary," stated Shivshankar Oraon, Member of legislative Assembly from Gumla.
"The 'Mukhiya-Raj' needs to be done away with and Gram Sabha should be recognised as a cohesive unit to award equal power to all its members. Also the Gram Sabha needs to form development model with specific focus on economical standing of the villagers. And lastly, don't vote for an incompetent candidate to satisfy a momentary greed," stated Panchayati Raj expert Sudhir Pal.