Sahil Vasudev
The Jammu and Kashmir Government’s flagship Back to Village program entered 3rd phase since its inception. Around 4000 gazetted officers thronged the length and breadth of UT with three main pillars in their minds viz., redressal of public grievances (Jan Sunvaiyee), public service delivery (Adhikar Abhiyan) and the delivery of development at Gram Panchayat level (Unat Gram Abhiyaan). But this phase faces a different situation than previous ones.
The third phase comes at a time when people in the UT are having a roller coaster ride since abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of erstwhile State. The officers are being welcomed but the warmth is lacking, partly because of unfulfilled promises of previous phases of the program and partly because of the timming. These are the months when Kharif crops are harvested and the villagers are at helm of busy working schedule. In a way Back to Village demands a part of their crucial time. If rain arrives before the harvesting and storage of crops, the produce gets ruined.
Moreover a citizen expects comprehensive approach from the leaders and administrators at the helm. After so many years of voting, appealing, submitting their grievances, and repeatedly going through same cycle have occupied minds with negativity and lack of trust.
Let us dwell on the three pillars of this phase as an example. First pillar includes listening to the grievance at grassroot level, noting it down and forwarding it further. Grievance redressal forms the backbone of a citizen centric administration. What a treat it would be for local people if officials visiting the area have atleast some namsake authority to address few grievance on the spot. Just few economic resources, no doubt properly scrutinized, at their disposal can make a huge difference. Say for example a locality have some problem with passenger shed or a pond nearby or a water tank, even if only few of these are addressed on the spot, the trust in the institutions and process will rise to new high.
Second pillar the public service delivery which forms the bulwark of any efficient administration. Services provided by a Government to its citizens are a part of social agreement between a voter and the elected. The cycle gets complete only when input to the system, in the form of support and votes and enthusiasm meets the output from the government side. The promises of the second phase are still licking dust on the papers of files that were seen as ray of hope. Foundation stones were laid but very few materialized into a proper outcome. Previous demands also included the renewal of ration cards, inclusion of more BPL families, upgrading the APL list and many such related to PDS system but are yet to be addressed.
Third pillar includes the development that has to be taken on Gram Panchayat Level. This one also comes with its own problems. A plethora of positive were expected out of second phase of this program. Expectations included internet connectivity to all Gram Panchayats, availability of sufficient funds at their disposal, filling up of vacant posts at all levels and finishing of those projects that were sanctioned. There are still plenty of Panchayat seats that are to be fulfilled. Dates of bypoll are yet to be announced and the exercise will again lead to same cycle of promises and pending dem-ands.
M K Gandhi proclaimed that the soul of Indians lives in villages. The officials with the requisite task have to make sure that the grass shouldn’t remain without roots. It will be a challenge for the Government to develop comprehensive app-roach in order to balance the expectations and the outcome.
It is to be seen whether administration returns back to village or it shows only its back to villages rather facing them.
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