Joao Barros Pereira is very much on the dot for wanting a pre-election pledge signed by the candidates contesting Panchayat elections and I congratulate him for his foresight. Though such a pledge is the need of the hour, any/all candidates will be the first ones to grab such a paper and put their signatures on it because the first thing in their minds is to win. After the elections, the pledge will be flying high in the winds and nobody to bother about it.
But there is a way to make this pledge fruitful, and I have been promoting this idea in my village [Moira]. Perhaps, Moira will show the way in the next Panchayat elections. Villages must gear-up for Panchayat elections on 'PANEL' basis by short-listing possible candidates ward-wise to bring them on the village development panel. For this, a crystal clear village MANIFESTO is a must, complete with the PLEDGE, and equally a must is that each candidate must accept the Manifesto and the pledge. Once the candidates are finalized, the entire village campaigns for the panel with all candidates choosing a common symbol. In a village like Moira with 7 wards, if it is not possible to get all the candidates elected, it is possible to have a Panchayat GRAM SABHA FRIENDLY and resistant to the curse of 'NO CONFIDENCE MOTIONS' if only 4 panel candidates are elected. The ideal situation for a developing village is that the Panchayat and the Gram Sabha must be on very friendly terms and not antagonistic to one another as in 99.999 per cent of the Panchayats in Goa. Considering that the Panchayats are the nuclei of the state, the development of the state depends on the good relations of the Panchayat bodies with their respective Gram Sabhas. Considering that the 'ward' is strong, the village becomes strong. If the village is strong, the constituency becomes strong. If the constituency is strong, the State becomes strong. And if the State is strong, the Country becomes a fortress of strength. This is the philosophy on which Goa Su-Raj Party is built upon. However, the Party is of the grounded belief that elections to the self-governing bodies like Panchayats and Municipalities (including elections to Student bodies in educational institutions like College and University Campuses) must be strictly fought on non-political party lines. Sadly, this does not seem to be happening in the State of Goa and no one seems to be bothered about this democratic plague. Floriano Lobo Gen. Sec. Goa Su-Raj Party 9890470896 www.goasu-raj.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Communalization of politics has serious consequences for culture of governance. It is when a party fails to provide good governance but still wants to gain or regain power that it plays the communal card. Communal politics is, thus, a threat both to our spiritual heritage from the past and our well being in the present. Swami Agnivesh ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Communalization of politics has serious consequences for culture of governance. It is when a party fails to provide good governance but still wants to gain or regain power that it plays the communal card. Communal politics is, thus, a threat both to our spiritual heritage from the past and our well being in the present. Swami Agnivesh
