Rural Poor Will Have A Greater Say

In Running Of Panchayats

B Prasant

A MEETING of the state leadership of the CPI(M) and the elected Panchayat functionaries of the CPI(M) at the level of the Zilla Parishads (ZP) resolved to work towards ensuring the active participation of the rural poor in the running of the village-level developmental programmes in the three-tier Panchayat system.  Members of the district secretariat of the CPI(M) involved in looking after Panchayat activities, too, attended the meeting, which was held at the Muzaffar Ahmad Bhavan in Kolkata on August 9.

Panchayat minister of the Bengal Left Front government, Dr Surjya Kanta Mishra placed a note on the running of the Panchayat bodies; the note had been prepared by the state secretariat of the CPI(M).  Bengal chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee explained the note and spoke on the political focus of the Party in the organisation of the Panchayat activities.  Education minister Kanti Biswas dwelled on the spread of the education in the countryside and the role of the Panchayat bodies.

The Panchayat representatives present spoke at length on the issues raised before the meeting, emphasising areas of priority and defining the role of the Panchayat bodies.  The final note on the Panchayats would incorporate the issues raised in these discussions and would subsequently be published as a set of guidelines.

Addressing the meting, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee exhorted upon the Panchayat functionaries to work towards improving relations with the workers of other political parties in the wake of the bitterness that was generated in the run up to and during the rural polls.  The outlook of the Party, he added to say, would be to provide benefits of development to the rural people in general, irrespective of political affiliations or lack thereof.

Anil Biswas identified the areas of priority:

• The Panchayat must work for the development of the most exploited and most backward sections of the rural society rising above financial constraints

• The process of the loan transactions with the cooperative societies must be strengthened in order to generate investments

• Without sacrificing interests and dignity in any manner, foreign assistance could be utilised in rural development and there is no scope of a feeling of inferiority in doing this; collective bargaining must be resorted to

• As instruments of class struggle, the struggle for total literacy and mass health is as important as the struggles for land and just wage

• The organisation must be strengthened further by setting up self-help groups of poor women in the countryside and ensuring the marketing of goods produced in the local markets

• Those sections of the rural poor, the rural middle class, and of other sections of the rural masses who are yet to be involved in the work of the Party should be brought into the fold, and

• Every section of the rural society must be made to get involved in the running of the developmental programmes of the Panchayats

The Bengal unit of the CPI(M) would play a leading role in implementing the above-noted goals.  Party programmes have been put in place in this regard.  The areas of priority would be explained in every district through Party general body (GB) meetings where the participation of elected representatives at all three levels of the Panchayat system should be ensured.

The winning Panchayat representatives who had emerged victorious under the banner of the CPI(M) were not all members of the Party. Thus, the GB meetings would aim at building up Party consciousness among them.  The GB meetings would inculcate among the Party members who were Panchayat functionaries a proper realisation of the functioning of the Communist Party and the role of a Party member in the organisation of the Panchayats.  GB meetings would also be held under the aegis of the Left Front in the districts and the agenda of those meetings would be duly decided at the level of the Left Front.   Everywhere coordination would be established between the newly elected office bearers and the past functionaries for efficient functioning of the Panchayat bodies.  In places where the CPI(M) is in the opposition, it would offer full cooperation with the newly elected Panchayat boards.

In the meanwhile, at a meeting held at the Parivesh Bhavan at Salt Lake, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee declared that “over the next five years, a budget of Rs 1000 crore has been earmarked for rural development, and the priority areas identified are: employment generation, minor irrigation, setting up more self-help groups, establishing education centres, and mass health centres.”

It is learnt that the Left Front government would set up 17000 child education centres, one thousand secondary schools, 2230 sub-health centres, and 50,000 self-help groups.  In agriculture, the production of fruits and flowers would get importance, as would animal husbandry.  Handloom and such other small-scale industries would be developed and diversified.  The aim would be to improve the lifestyle of the rural people with special emphasis given to the welfare of those living below the poverty line.