Dr. U.G. Barad wrote: >A friend of mine attended a Gram Sabha in his area. He found out that the voters in the area are allowed to attend. There were about 8000 voters in the area! He was told that the quoram is 10% of the members!!. If at the start of the meeting, there is not sufficient quoram then the meeting is adjourned for 30 minutes, and restarted with whatever number were present after 30 minutes. In this case, the number present were NOT EVEN 150 or even less.
>It seemed to him that there was really no method to check if those present were ELIGIBLE to VOTE on the issues at the meeting. In fact, he said that some of the speakers were not known to him, nor to those whom he asked around. >So, if this is true, I am wondering if the Gram Sabhas are democratic? I appreciate the fact that Dr. Barad has given scope for generating some debate on this very important issue of local governance and democracy. In my opinion the eligibility criteria for membership of Gram Sabha, besises the name being on the voter's list of the village, must also be amended to provide for a requirement that the voter must has at least one year of permanent residence in the village. Because that would be the minimum time required for one to assimilate into the politics and culture of that locality. Regarding the quorum, it has been repeatedly stated by the elistist urban mindset that the presence of a few people who decide on an issue does not reflect a democratic decision. In the first place, if the notice of the Gram Sabha meeting is sent out within the prescribed time limit and the public is informed about the agenda, I do not see how the quorum matters. If people are interested they should attend the meeting otherwise decisions have to be taken as the village government cannot cease to function because some of its constituents behaving irresponsibly. What happens when the entire opposition walks out in parliament, does it stall parliament decisions? When it comes to Gram Sabhas the numbers get questioned while in other cases it is accepted as democratic? The election results are also a case in point. Can we say that the results of the elections are democratic when candidates win with just a 30 or 40% of the vote share? It is important that we be practical when we make criticisms. When there is pandemonium at the Gram Sabha meeting it quickly gets dubbed as 'anarchy' by urban elitist leaders of Goa Bachao Abhiyan fame. But when the State Assembly and Parliament is adjourned or disrupted for days on end, and all sorts of demands are made by the members, do they also call this anarchy? When decisions of the people do not conform with the ambitions and greed of the rich and famous or the real estate lobby, the Gram Sabha numbers make it undemocratic and the debates makes it anarchist? The problem is that some hi-thinking and hi-fi socialites feel out of place at a Gram Sabha as they would want everything to conform to their way of thinking. We do have some specimens in Alto Pilerne, Alto-Porvorim and Alto-Salvod do mundo who literally remark about other members of the Gram Sabha as 'villagers'. "These villagers and those villagers.........". This is nothing but 'Bhatkar shahi' in its new avatar. Traditional wisdom and academic knowledge are often poles apart and it is important that we keep our village meeetings simple, leaving scope for a blend of both types of knowledge. This does not mean that Gram Sabha meetings do not need structuring, if not it leads to confusion of the present type. I do not say that everything is well at the Gram Sabha meetings, but it is we who need to make it work. Who will empower the Gram sabhas if some of us who are empowered, are ourselves negligent and behave naive? I have been struggling for the last 20 years in my village and there have been ups and downs. But I am not discouraged and keep exercising my right and fundmanetal duty. The people are far more safer to voice their opinions and demands than in 1998 and before. The thought of my presence itself puts a lot of mental strain on the panchayat members who have to plan at least 4 days in advance of how they will tackle me by trying to pre-empt my actions. Goons have failed to silence me and so also other devious tactics. Most often they get beaten at their own game. So that is the joy of the Gram Sabha meeting and merely attending one meeting and jumping to conclusions is not fair. Democracy is not about offering us everything on a platter, which we expect to be guaranteed merely by a Constitution and law courts in place. We will have to endlessly struggle to protect our democracy which will always be under stress and strain due to the presence of certain opportunistic forces trying to exploit situations and undo democratic systems. -soter d'souza socorro
