Govt dithers over panchayat polls

Govt dithers over panchayat polls

Vijay Deo Jha

RANCHI | Thursday, March 25, 2010


Trouble in Jharkhand isn’t merely over how and when to conduct long pending panchayat elections. It is over reordering the entire political landscape of a State that doesn’t care being polite about its bitter and visceral fault lines any more ie Sadan (non-tribal) versus tribal.

Sadans are simmering against the extension to Scheduled Areas Act (PESA).

Provisions of cent per cent reservation for Schedule Tribes for the posts of chief and deputy chiefs of all panchayat

bodies falling under scheduled area, across three tiers have irked Sadans.

The three tiers comprise gram panchayat (panchayat level), panchayat samiti (block level) and zilla parishad (district level).

The Government is dithering to announce the schedule of the elections and still searching for balm to stop anti-PESA passion to turn in flame. The Government echoed conflicting notes on the floor of the house whenever the Opposition demanded explanation over the scheduled date.

Well-placed sources in the Government accepted that the Government was caught in a conflicting situation. “Don’t know what to do. The Supreme Court has directed to conduct election without delay and these Sadans are dead against the elections in its present format. If you please Sadan it will offend tribals.”

“We have not received any representation from any Sadan outfit to amend PESA Act. Let it come first we will see,” the deputy Chief Minister Sudesh Mahato said.

And in the ringing words of Pandey Himansunath Roy, Convener of the Sadan Vikash Parisad, “We want the empowerment of the tribals but not at the cost of damaging the genuine interest of other social groups. We are opposed to violence but there will be thousands of frontiers of unrest; if elections were conducted under discriminatory provisions of PESA.

Lal Chand Mahato of Bahujan Sadan during Kurmi caste conclave few days back demanded ST status for Kurmi caste otherwise threatened to oppose the PESA Act.

The statement drew flak even some of the Kurmi leaders, who pilloried Mahato for ditching the larger interest of Sadans.

Now both decided to pitch battle against PESA Act in their own fashion. Mahato announced to gherao the Assembly and Roy and his supporters announced to hold demonstration at Jantar Mantar on April 26. Meanwhile, Sadan Vikash Parisad has also filed appeal in the Supreme Court against its decision on PESA Act.

The immediate cause of what’s unfolding today probably goes back to 2005, when the Arjun Munda-led NDA Government moved ahead to conduct panchayat elections under PESA Act it met spontaneous Statewide bandh.

The accumulated causes go even further back. PESA Act is probably merely the latest flash point.

“Sadans comprise 70 per cent population of Jharkhand and still discriminated,” says Nirbhay Kumar, a politically affiliated Sadan activist. What we do to be heard, resort to violence?

“Why they have all Chief Ministers and we have none? Why do they get preference in Government jobs? Why they have 60 per cent of power? Why should they (tribals) get reservations even in the panchayats with no tribal population? Why all these munificence?

Why? Why? Why? Sadan leaders are an angry trigger-burst of questions wherever you go; knowing their movement has no takers among the political parties.

“It is because political parties have no interest in the social issues. It is apolitical battle,” Roy said.