Quiet revolution

EAR TO THE GROUND

Local bodies of various states have been knit into a single federation through the efforts of the Institute of Social Sciences in Delhi.

Panchayats have been promised funds, functions and functionaries by the statutes but denied of most of these in most states.

And often the ignorance of local bodies is blamed for their powerlessness. As the long slumber continues and bureaucrats lead panchayat raj institutions (PRIs) by their noses, some of them are beginning to do some hand holding from across the boundaries of states, so they can stand up, realise their full stature and finally get moving.

The local bodies of various states have been knit into a single federation through the efforts of the Indian Institute of Social Sciences (ISS) in Delhi. The plan is to eventually let ALGI or Association of Local Governance of India, as the federation is called, to have a life of its own as a voice of the panchayats for collective bargaining of powers guaranteed to them anyway by the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution. The federation which is registered as a society is expected to stand on its own in a couple of years with its own resources.

Last week, ISS began its efforts to wean ALGI into a self sustained unit as the latter elected its office bearers.

As Ghani Khan, a municipal chairman from Kashmir, took charge as president of the ALGI and S Nasaruddin, a panchayat president from Kerala, took over as general secretary, with vice presidents from Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Tamil Nadu, and joint secretaries from Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, the picture of an all India network of local bodies emerged.

Jacob John, their mentor from ISS, who has been shepherding the local bodies through grassroot NGOs in various states to come together under an umbrella, foresees the national grouping of PRIs having a revolutionising influence on states with weak local bodies.

The primary objective is to use this as a means of reaching out to states and forming associations of local bodies at that level, says John, who is the CEO of the association. Only Kerala and Karnataka have state-level associations. There is little in other states.

Says Rajendra Acharya, corporator from Bhubaneshwar municipal corporation and ALGI joint secretary : "We will begin efforts in Orissa to form a state association after the elections in February but we don't know what it will be like."

The ALGI will have to work in the vacuum in most states with only seven states having any kind of networking of PRIs at the state level and nine having a few small associations.

While Andhra Pradesh has a strong association, its local bodies are themselves weak. There are nine states with no associations. States like Gujarat and Rajasthan have small associations.

In Tamil Nadu there are some associations of women panchayat presidents. So the agenda of ALGI is to put every experience together to strengthen the existing associations and form groups where there is none, John says.

Meanwhile, ALGI is ready with a legal cell to take up cudgels against the states which are not giving panchayats their due.

"We have a coordinator in Jharkhand which has never had an election. We are readying a strategy for that state,'' says John.