This report was provided to us by Floriano Lobo. Amongst various items he mentioned, the one that caught my eye was : Soter as well as Pamela were highly critical of the way Panchayats are working. They called them as run by political Mafia where governance was hardly seen. Floriano also said: Everyone agreed that something drastic has to be done and that Panchayats must be extricated from the strangle-hold of politicians.
Soter D'Souza had attended the programme in his capacity as Executive Coordinator of the Department of Governance, CSJP, and Pamela D'mello as Associate Editor, Herald. It is interesting to know that the concept of Panchayat Raj, as envisaged in the act, is not working at the ground level. It would very interesting to know what would be the drastic actions that need to be taken to rectify the situation. I understand that the Gram Sabha meetings almost never have the necessary quorum, and that they have to be technically adjourned and then continued with whatever number of members that are present. It seems to me that corruption and other malpractices have now gone to the village level. Best regards, U. G. Barad.
