Peer Pressure On Panchayats

Yet, the theory persists that the civil service is the corrective force and that in the absence of a regulating authority. panchayati raj wo-uld become a licence to loot.

There is no gainsaying this argument. The elected members of the panchayats and nagarpalikas are no angels; they are drawn from the same political class as the rest of our politicians. It is only to be expected that they would be at least as venal as their counterparts at higher levels of government. The need for regulation cannot be wished away.

The ultimate sanction against corruption and nepotism is the people's will. If the people persist in electing dishonest representatives, there is little that can be done, short of overthrowing democracy itself. To cure the malaise. The ray of hope is that the narrower the gap between the electorate and the elected representative, the better are the prospects of venality not finding its reward. Where there is one MP for a million voters and one MLA for a lakh-and-a-half, it takes a great deal of investigative reporting and prolonged exposure for the message to get through to the masses. But in a village or block, word of mouth and the bush telegraph very quickly takes the news of misdoings to the electorate. After all, every villagers would know whether the link road for which payment has been made from panchayat funds has actually been built or not.

 

Democracy assumes that on knowing he has been cheated of his due, the voter will turn on the perpetrator. The fact, however, is that we have seen our democracy throw up Robin Hoods: it would probably be defamatory to list the Robin Hoods of the 11th Lok Sabha, but readers will have no difficulty in preparing their own lists. (Incidentally, what would the female equivalent be? Surely not Red Riding Hoods!) These Robin Hoods secure the people's approval, not because there is an inherent preference for those who operate beyond the conventions of morality but because their brand of injustice prevails over the injustices built into the political system