The Panchayati Raj is a brilliant decentralized form of government, when done right. For years, local self-governance in Goa has faced a lot of obstacles along the way. Some of them have been solved, and in a big state like Goa, travelling all the way to Panaji for basic work was a big problem. Until now.
One of the first things that the new minister of panchayats, Rajendra Arlekar, did after being sworn in, was to introduce video conferencing through IP machines. The minister claims that he and his office can now conference with members of the panchayat and perhaps even the villagers as well. This is a good move for many reasons.
There are 190 panchayats in Goa, some of them a long distance away at the far reaches of the state. Video conferencing will save panchas and the sarpanch the trouble of a long commute to the capital city to get work done at the directorate of panchayats, as well as implementing various programmes that would probably need a go ahead from the minister’s office, something that may have normally taken a few days or more can now be done with just a simple video conference.
But, there are still questions and talking points that crop up. While this will negate travel time for sure, as this video conferencing facility is for the panchayats to communicate with the minister, his office and the directorate of panchayats. It’s not like anyone can just walk up and expect to have a one-on-one via a screen with Arlekar or his representatives. So, what about the common man? Will their issues, disputes and concerns get addressed faster by the panchayat, or is this just a way to get administration processes sorted quicker?
This is also probably a good time to start looking into the implementation of the 73rd Amendment. The state government have to put measures in place to devolve powers to the panchayats and let them operate as separate entities. If that were to happen then the panchayats would have more power to effect change within the village and also perhaps conduct election devoid of state-level politics. With the 73rd Amendment in place panchayats would have a democratic code, accountability and transparency.
What they would not need to do then, would be to use a video conferencing facility to get permissions and nods for every single move that they had to make. Of course, that is an ideal future. The video conferencing facility for now will surely empower panchayats to function better since they can now remain in the village and work towards bettering it. The use of technology in this instance and anything else on similar lines just goes to show that forward thinking can surely help the polity.
