Blocked Raj

A ten-room building, damp walls, dusty floors and some listless government officials. Collectively they represent the ruin of a dream in not...

A ten-room building, damp walls, dusty floors and some listless government officials. Collectively they represent the ruin of a dream in not just Ratu but the entire Jharkhand. The dream of democracy at the grassroot level. But it8217;s time now to resurrect that dream.

The panchayats with mukhiyas as their heads, functioned in Jharkhand till 1982. After 1978 no elections were held. In their absence, every panchayat in Jharkhand was administered by two Class III state government employees8212;sevak and supervisor8212;under the command of a block development officer BDO.

At Ratu, 10 km from Ranchi, the office of the mukhiya is chaired by BDO Ranjita Hembrom. The bank account of the panchayat is run by the sevak and the supervisor. Hembrom and her staff function from this dusty ten-room building.

It is here that Hembrom presides over the meeting of the panchayat comprising a set of representatives handpicked by her, executes development schemes and maintains accounts of 17 panchayats that fall under the Ratu block.

Last year, Hembrom implemented a few schemes, each of which cost anything between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. Apparently, the measly sum spent by the panchayats was mainly because the state government had failed to hold polls. This prompted the union ministry of rural development to stop releasing its annual special central assistance of Rs 275 crore to the state in 2001. 8216;8216;During the past four years, we have lost special central assistance worth more than Rs 1,100 crore,8217;8217; says a senior IAS officer.

NOW the BDO Raj is heading for an end. Panchayat elections are being held from September 24. 8216;8216;The election process will start from August 26,8217;8217; says chief minister Arjun Munda.

The call for elections8212;being held after 27 years8212;came only after the Jharkhand High Court, in response to a PIL, directed the state government to conduct them. Elections will be held for the state8217;s 4,558 panchayats.

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The election call has evoked a mixed response. A number of BDOs fear that their powers will be curbed and that the Naxals will infiltrate into the panchayat bodies. 8216;8216;This is bound to happen,8217;8217; says one officer. Others say their apprehension is prompted by a fear of loss of power.

8216;8216;Elections are a good thing. The root of democracy will become strong and the Naxals will join the mainstream,8217;8217; says SEC G. Krishnan, who has asked Naxals to participate in the elections.

The Opposition in the state8212;the Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Communists8212;have all welcomed the polls. 8216;8216;We are happy elections are being held despite the ruling NDA8217;s ambivalent stand on the issue,8217;8217; says leader of the Opposition Sudhir Mahato.

But opposition is now coming from tribal leaders who fear the panchayats will curb the powers of their chieftains. 8216;8216;We want our traditional system of village administration to continue,8217;8217; says former Congress MLA, Dev Kumar Dhan and the Kolhan Raksha Sangh8217;s secretary Mangal Soy.