Sir,
It has reference to the news “Guv nullifies PDP-BJP Government decision on Sarpanch election” (DE, July 13, 2018)
The Governor has reversed the decision of the previous Government about the election of Sarpanches by the Panches and restored the mechanism of direct election of Sarpanches by the electorate. The Panchayats are the basic units of democratic mechanism. Strengthening of Panchayats means strengthening of democracy at the grass root level. There are lacuna in Panchayat Raj Act and one of them is direct election of Sarpanches. The decision of the Governor to restore the direct election sans logic.
In democratic system in India, the election of the head of democratic institutions like Notified Town Area Committees, Municipal Corporations, Assemblies and Parliament are elected indirectly by the public representatives. It has its own merits. There is no doubt that in our state, the election to Panchayats are made on Non Party basis. But the mechanism is only to hoodwink the populace as the elected Panches and Sarpanches show their allegiance to political parties once they are elected. In such situation, if the Sarpanch doesn’t enjoy the support of the majority of the Panches, the purpose of the panchayats gets defeated.
To make Panchayats result oriented, it is better to allow elections of Panches on party basis and let the Panches be allowed to elect the Sarpanches. Corrections in the system shall be aimed at strengthening these basic units of democracy and not otherwise.
M K Pandita
Jammu
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