Leader-People Relationship in Village Panchayats

Rathod Shyam Sunder, August 2018

The Source of Direct Democracy emerged in India through the 73^rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution which made possible for Independent Panchayat Raj Institutions. It emphasised on the people’s participation in the planning process and it is the responsibility of the leader to make this participation sustainable. The Inclusive nature of participation which represents the different communities essentially the weaker sections, women, youth, SC/ST etc. and ability of leader in amalgamating the opinions of this representation has substantially benefitted several Village Panchayats across India. The Leader’s vision makes the complete difference and how the people have been participated in realising this vision is the major phenomenon. A leader can only become strong when the people of village are actively participating in different forms. This can happen only when leader has a determination to do something for his/her village, regular opinions taken from the people time to time and from different communities, ability to make the Government Officials understanding about the various problems of the village. The Leader makes the transparent process in allocating the various services or schemes and upholds the accountability of services implemented.  If the leader fails in above thing, the people are major stakeholders in making the leader to know about irregularities in the delivering of services on the occasion of Gram Sabha or any other occasions.  Leaders enable the potentials of the women in village through setting up Self Help Groups, Cooperative Societies etc., Education for all, Youth Empowerment, Farmers development, welfare of weaker sections and providing them basic facilities for self development. When the true collective efforts of people, leader and local government officials synchronization happens then there is no stop for the holistic development of the Village.