Future of Gram Sabhas (Letter)

Letter To Editor, herald, 10th october 2013 Future of Gram Sabhas I fully endorse the well-studied and balanced analysis put forward in the editorial ' Gram Sabhas and their future' (Herald, 9 Oct.) There was a time when Gram Sabha meetings were conducted with hardly 5 or 10 citizens participating. It was heartening to see the momentum pick up from somewhere around the year 2005, but the joy was short-lived after opportunistic forces descended to use this platform to further their ambitions and political interests. Barring a few exceptions, it would not be wrong to say that there has been no positive growth in the Gram Sabhas which seem to be content with a ''Tu Tu Main Main' kind of approach. As rightly pointed out in the editorial, the Gram Sabha is like the Parliament of the village and its affairs need to reflect basic decorum, civility, scientific temper, tolerance, harmony, equality, consensus, transparency, accountability and the rest of the attributes required for good governance. It pains us to see that some Gram Sabha activists, who rose to the post of Sarpanch or Panchayat members are now hobnobbing with the State Government to weaken the Gram Sabha institution. Goa may boast of being a highly literate and cultured State, but this does not get reflected in the social and political behaviour of the people in general. Soter D'Souza, Porvorim http://www.heraldgoa.in/newscategory/Letters/13