Round The States

New Delhi, 19 June 2008

People’s Empowerment

CHHATTISGARH SHOWS THE WAY

By Insaf

People’s empowerment is finally making inroads at the grassroots. Voters in two districts of Chhattisgarh created history by recalling three presidents of Nagar Panchayats or local bodies for non-performance. The election was the first in the State and second in the country’s history. Of the 12,799 electorates, nearly 55 per cent turned out to vote on Sunday last. The ballot paper was simple and to the point, having only two symbols--an empty chair if they wished to recall or an occupied chair if they wanted their representative to continue. The results declared on Tuesday last sent a clear message that the presidents had failed to deliver. They had to vacate their posts as they could not secure more than 50 per cent of the votes polled, as per the law.  

The right to recall a chief of a local body is provided under the Chhattisgarh Municipality Act, wherein under section 47, three-fourth of the elected representatives of an urban body are required to give a written submission to the district collector that they had lost confidence in their chief. Once that happens a fresh election process is to be set into motion. In the present case, two Congress presidents of Gunderdehi Nagar Panchayat and Rajpur Municipal Committee respectively and one Independent heading the Nawagarh Nagar Panchayat, had to bite dust as the ‘empty chair’ votes were far more than those for the ‘occupied’ one. A fresh poll is now to be held within six months.   

The law to recall was first adopted by Madhya Pradesh, and was exercised by voters in 2001 in Shahdol district, wherein a woman president had to vacate her post. Chhattisgrah which was a part of Madhya Pradesh till 2000 adopted the law after fine-tuning it last year. It is pertinent to note that though the Constitution, does not provide for recall, it allows States to enact laws relating to elections of local bodies. Regretably, no other State has sought to empower its people, even though the right to recall under performance or corrupt elected representatives was first sought by Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan way back in 1975. However, it was shelved as there was no consensus. Will the other States follow Chhattisgarh?  Perhaps, it may at least trigger a fresh debate on the right to recall at the national level.   

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Raje Appeases Gujjars, Upper Castes

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has pulled off quite a tricky deal with the agitating Gujjars. Not only will Rajasthan now limp back to normalcy but the State will be the first to rain quotas for the poor among the upper castes. In a historic agreement signed with Gujjars chief Kirori Singh Bainsala on Wednesday last, Raje conceded that Gujjars, Rebaris and Banjaras would be given “five per cent reservation” as a special category. A happy Bainsala called off the 27-day-old violent agitation. However, Raje did not stop there, given the BJP’s anxiety that the pact would upset its upper caste vote bank. The CM promptly announced a special quota of 14 per cent for the poor among the upper castes in the State, including Brahmins, Rajputs, Vaishyas and Kayasthas in addition. A first by any State.  However, Raje has to watch out whether it would hold judicial scrutiny. It surpasses the Supreme Court’s 50 per cent ceiling for quotas in government jobs.      

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Dialogue On Gorkhaland?

The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha’s agitation for a separate Gorkhaland has run into a major roadblock. Its demand been rejected by the West Bengal government. The latter has got an all-party meeting held at the Writers’ Building in Kolkata on Wednesday last to endorse its stand. In fact, while the all-party meet attended by 12 of the 16 invitees passed a resolution against Gorkhaland, the GJM led by Bimal Gurung too held a parallel meeting in Darjeeling and got its resolution for a separate State ratified by representatives of 13 parties. Besides, Gurung rejected any talks with the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government. This, however, could be resolved as the all-party meeting has suggested a political dialogue and asked the Centre to hold tripartite talks. The sooner the better, as it would spare the people of the picturesque hills and adjoining Sikkim the ordeal of an indefinite bandh, which triggered avoidable violence last week.

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Cradle Of Christianity

Thrissur in Kerala has a hallowed past as the “cradle of Christianity in India.” Apostle St. Thomas, who brought Christianity to India, is said to have set foot in a village in Thrissur district of Central Kerala, acclaimed as the State’s cultural capital. Today, Thrissur faces an altogether new and undreamt-off problem: fall in the numbers of the faithful across the State. In the last 50 years, the Christian population has fallen from 24 per cent to 19 per cent. This has unnerved the clergy and forced it to stress the need for more kids. The Church is now going all out to reiterate its opposition to abortion and warning of the danger to the religion if the practice was not given up. The faithful have been asked to observe a “Pro-life Day” and not to stand in the way of bringing to life their progenies as “a gift of God.” Church officials have been directed to organize study classes to enlighten the masses, especially against the backdrop of a rising number of Muslims in the State.

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Why Z-Plus Cover For Rabri?

Himalayan egos of present day politicians continue to play havoc with security of the common man. The latest entrant to Z-plus security cover is Bihar’s former Chief Minister Rabri Devi. But this move by the Centre has been strongly opposed by the State Government of Nitish Kumar. A recent team of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) sent by the Centre to Bihar to assess the security requirements for Devi was cold shouldered by the State Government. And as State officials were reluctant to meet or discuss with the ITBP team, the latter reported back to the Union Home Ministry saying that lack of cooperation would affect facilitating proper security for Devi. As for the State Home Department officials, they argue that Rabri Devi is already being provided adequate security as per the law. She is being guarded by 96 policemen, led by none other than a DSP and her house too is guarded round the clock by over 100 CRPF personnel, thanks to her husband, Union Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, who already enjoys Z-plus cover. A pertinent question would be: why then additional security? ---INFA