Necessity of the State

Colonial Legacy

The CPI(M) proved itself as a successful protagonist in this regard. The CPI(M) upheld and implemented the Panchayat raj as centres of ‘power decentralisation’, where the landless and poor peasants would have a say in the ‘power’ hierarchy. But whose power is established ? Where is the real fulcrum of power ? Let us trace the history to see the reality.

History of the Panchayat Raj

Prelude to the architects of the Indian constitution were too servile to leave a space for the Panchayat. The Panchayats were left to the Directive Principles of state policy. They were not a compulsion or mandatory for the elected governments. In para 40 of the Directive Principles of state policy of the Indian constitution it is stated that the "State will take initiative to form village panchayats. The State should devolve power and authority to develop Panchayats as meaningful centres of self-governance."

But the state was keen enough to establish the Panchayat as a meaningless institution from the very beginning. It did not follow from an effort to develop panchayats as centres of self governance. It was a necessity of the state.

Necessity of the State

India did not attain independence on 15th August from the clutches of imperialism. Through the transfer of power India became the hunting ground of all brands of imperialist forces. India was transformed to a semi-feudal, semi-colonial society. The stooges of imperialism — big comprador bourgeoisie and feudal lords shared state power. The big comprador bourgeoisie needed an infrastructure to develop their business. The State as their representative responded in a positive way. In the first five-year plan agricultural development was the main thrust. Hence the rural sector became the area of operation of the ruling class. In the rural sector backwardness was all-embracing. A minimum infrastructure was needed to facilitate the exploitative machinery. Hence the imperialist-sponsored community development project was of great importance. It was very cost effective and free labour was one of the preconditions of the project. The peasantry was pushed into a make believe world of undertaking development for its own interests. But it did not succeed. Free labour became scarce. The supervision at the grass root level became necessary for the state. Consequently the planning commission appointed a study team in 1956 under the chairpersonship of Balwant Mehta to review the community development project. The committee concluded that there was a necessity of a Panchayat raj type institution at the village level to facilitate the speedy implementation of the centrally planned programmes. The committee recommended three important aspects. These were:

a) setting up of elected bodies at the village, block and district level,

b) all developmental projects be implemented through these elected bodies,

c) required funds be released for the successful implementation of the projects

Close scrutiny of the recommendations reveals the true nature of the state. There is no scope for the of people to assert decision-making. People are to abide by the plans envisaged by the bureaucracy. It is in line with the colonial legacy. The State with high-sounding phrases tries to hide its true colour, but in vain !

Colonial Legacy

Lord Cornwallis had institutionalised the feudal system in order to consolidate the colonial interest. Permanent Settlement introduced by Cornwallis was the required institution in this regard. Permanent Settlement not only preserved and maintained the feudal system but it was a tax collection mechanism of the British government. But the greatest vacuum that was created through this system was the absence of down-to-the-earth government. Within the state apparatus, the administration is struchured by a bureaucratic network, down to concerned police stations via the district and sub-divisional administration. The question that propped up at the police station was : how could the administration reach the people living in the remotest corners of the villages? The answer came in the form of the Bengal Chowkidar Act 1870 followed by the Bengal village self-government act 1919. It allowed the formation of a Union Board with regulated franchise.

Despite all recommendations from Lord Ripon, a Union Board was in response to the bureaucratic necessity of the state. The state, in order to collect tax, has to undertake bureaucratic management of the village folk, in particular the poor and landless peasants.

Genesis of Panchayat Raj

Since the advent of feudalism in India, the strata of poor and landless peasants faced inhuman poverty. Subsequently India has experienced several peasant revolts. Some of them have shaken the system to its roots. It was the Naxalbari struggle which became a turning point in the history. It was not a simple peasant struggle, it was a struggle for the seizure of state power led by the vanguard of the proletariat, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). The party, for the first time put forward a detailed strategy and tactics of the revolution before the teeming multitudes of India. The state has taken this struggle as a real threat to them. Hence the paddy fields of the remotest corners of India and street lanes and the by lanes of metropolis especially in Calcutta became red with the blood of martyrs. The State showed how far it is democratic. Indira Gandhi gave a hysterical cry "kill them all !!". The CPI(M) leader, the then state secretary: of West Bengal questioned even more hysterically "whether there is Nirodh (a family planning device) in the bullets of police that Naxalites are not killed ?" The great sons and daughters of India sacrificed their lives to usher in a new era of Indian history. Though the movement suffered a set back due to some sectarian mistakes, it will remain as a matter of glory for the exploited people of India for years to come. The revolutionaries learnt from the mistakes and are rising as a phoenix from the ashes. On the other hand, the state too learnt a ‘lesson’. It became a necessity for it to suppress a any revolt from the very beginning. And as such the state undertook not only the stick, but a carrot policy to woo the peasantry. But who was to become the main actor in this hotbed of revolutionary struggle? The CPI (M) became the natural choice to show India and the world what ‘left’ implies. The Panchayat Raj was an important tool in this regard. It was because it has two important components, ‘people’ and ‘power’. The Panchayati bill passed by the more tyrannical anti-people, blood-thirsty and power-hungry Siddartha Shankar Ray government in 1973, was loyally implemented the by CPI(M).

Panchayati Raj — CPI(M)’s Tale of hypocrisy

The CPI(M) stepped into the shoes left by Ray. This was because in their words "will is greater than bill". The main task was to uphold the implementation of decentralisation of power through the panchayats. It was to blur the vision of the people. Hence in a cautious way it was exclaimed that the "Administrative system is dependent on a very centralised bureaucratic system. Power is concentrated in the upper strata and it is implemented through a specialised enlightened bureaucracy who is divorced from the people and is a devoted servant of the ruling class. Consequently the so-called people’s panchayat raj has turned to a tool of the ruling class to consolidate power in the rural areas. There cannot be any place for real democracy in the bourgeois democracy directed by the ruling class and their bureaucrats."

In the same breath they expressed that an alternative class outlook might help them establish a ‘different type of panchayat’. They boast of the success of the panchayati raj in the left front-ruled states. These Panchayats have helped the people to raise their revolutionary consciousness, they claim. They want to make the revolutionary consciousness a vague matter at par with the tradition of the revisionists world wide. Hence in para 5 of the directives of the Panchayats of the CPI(M) it says"Our real task is to make people aware of the true nature of the present system. If we can empower the people with the power as permitted by the cabinet of ministry or the panchayats then people will fight for what we don’t have. If we can make clear to the people which we can or we cannot and where is our limitations through our day to day activities. Then there will evolve revolutionary consciousness of the people. i.e., people will understand why revolution is necessary and how it should be accomplished." Oh what fantastic faith on the people ! Under the disguise of trailing behind the masses, the CPI(M) wants to hide its true nature ! On one hand through the above statement it liquidates the vanguard role of the party and on the other their leader Jyothi Basu made clear their true colour "we have formed a left front government in West Bengal and Tripura. But without forming the government at the Centre no fundamental change is possible. If we could have attained power at the Centre, we could have made fundamental change in the country possible"! (after 1983 Panchayat election in West Bengal). Then the proposition of peaceful transition to socialism is complete !

In order to wean the masses away from the revolution they upheld an anti-people structure of the Panchayat in utter desperation !

Structure of the Panchayats

The structure of the Panchayats is totally bureaucratic. There is a sub committee comprising of the chief minister and some other related ministers to look after the activities of the Panchayats. Besides, there is one sub committee comprising of additional chief secretaries and divisional chief secretaries, divisional secretaries at the state level. This sub committee in real terms looks after the required administration and fund to be released for implementation of any project. This is followed by an experienced IAS officer. This officer, two additional directors, three assistant directors, an officer related to panchayat elections, a special officer to train regarding the Panchayat, a lady panchayat officer, and three regional assistant directors of the three administrative divisions. At the district level there is a district Panchayat officer. The Panchayats have to abide by the suggestions, dictums, directives of the state and district level bureaucracy. The story does not end here. The bureaucracy does not spare even the 3-tier bodies of the Panchayat.

(A) at the district parishad level there is a district magistrate as an additional executive officer, a high level government bureaucrat as secretary in addition to the district engineer, and a deputy assistant engineer and their subordinate staff.

(B) A BDO as executive officer at the panchayat samithi level,a local panchayat extension officer as secretary, and a block development inspector deputy assistant engineer and a group of government staff

(C) One secretary at the village panchayat level, one job assistant etc. If the reader is bored to follow this long bureaucratic structure then I feel sorry ! This is the magic wand of setting up of self-reliant ‘people’s power’ at the grass roots level as claimed by the ruling classes and their ally CPI(M). The question naturally comes to one’s mind as to where this magic wand leads ? From the era of inevitability to the era of freedom ! Freedom to loot; democratisation of society or bureaucratisation of the ‘democratic’ centres of power ! Where does it lead ?

The operation of the Panchayat is evident from its structure ! In real terms it has no power or authority to boast of. The planning of the projects viz digging up of tubewells, culverts, schools etc are finalised at the central level. The central government shares 70% of the expenditure and the state government shares 30% of the same. The concerned village panchayats have the democracy to decide where the said project will be implemented and how. But it cannot alter the project i.e., if the central grant is meant for a tubewell it has to dig the tubewell whether it is necessary or not. The fund is refunded if the project is not implemented. The Panchayat has a very meager resource to develop on its own. The bureaucracy can veto any plan of the panchayat i.e., limited democracy is also at stake! The SDO or the state government can dissolve the panchayat. Recently Rs.15 lakhs per year has been sanctioned per village panchayat. Owing to its centralised decision making structure lakhs of rupees of money get refunded. The people can collect a handful of pesticides or ration goods on some projects of centrally sponsored projects through panchayats. The projects reach the people through the trickling down effect. Rajiv Gandhi once said that out of every rupee spent on panchayats only 15 paise reach the people. Actually a huge bureaucracy supplemented by an elected panchayat body has become a stumbling block for the development of society. Hence among the have-nots, the most vocal part of the village, mostly the school master, middle peasants etc., share power with the bureaucracy. They in course of time have developed into small bureaucrats. A corrupt system centering around tenders of construction or supply of pesticides has developed in the countryside. Even the elected panchayat representatives— again cannot forcefully implement acquisition of excess land on operation Barga. They can only complain against any landlord, leave alone any movement ! In the Congress regime 10 lakhs acres of land were occupied, whereas after coming to power the CPI(M)-led government has acquired only 2 lakh 7 thousand acres in the first seventeen years. After 85-86 the space of operation barga has also lessened. The Panchayat does not have a say in minimum wage fixation. It is fixed by the bureaucrats. It only agrees not to demand more than the minimum rates. It seems so because, no where in the left ruled panchayat any single panchayat has build up movement to implement the same. On the contrary CPI (M) with its goondas and lumpens attack the movement, which centres around implementation of minimum wages. From the above operation it has become clear how democratic are the democratic centres of power, the panchayats. The Panchayats as centres of people’s power indeed !

The Panchayat is dead ! Long live the Panchayat !

If the democratic veil is withdrawn it is clear that the panchayat is not only an undemocratic institution, it acts as a safety valve for the outlet of anger of the peasantry. Still the peasantry cannot be bluffed for long. They have been organised to revolt under the leadership of revolutionary organisation. Thereby proving the fact that "revolution is the main trend of the era". Now the panchayats are to accomplish the real tasks. They are to police the movement. In the last twenty two years in West Bengal panchayats have done this job successfully. Former CPI (ML)(PU) comrades Jhantu Biswas, Achai Sekh, Balaram Bhowmick were killed in one or other movement related incidents. The ‘go to the village campaign’ of students and youth organisation RSF, NDYF was attacked by the CPI(M) led village panchayats. They did not even spare the protagonists of left consolidation theory viz CPI (ML) Liberation. In a village of Burdwan in the first half of the 90s, some supporters of this organisation were crucified; leave alone hundreds of sabotage by these ‘elected Panchayat bodies’ on the movement. In a recent directive the DG of police has directed the village panchayat leaders to scrutinise and monitor the movement of the terrorist organisation (read revolutionary).

Thus we can safely conclude that the panchayat raj has established itself as the raj of the bureaucrats at the behest of the ruling classes. The recent 8th Five Year Plan has stressed the role of NGOs and panchayats to implement central planning. Thus the minimum disguise is also taken off ! Through NGOs the central government is monitoring the rural activities PM to DM minus CM policy (i.e., fund will reach directly to the district magistrate minus chief minister) of Rajiv Gandhi. Recently, Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamul Congress leader, coalition partner of the BJP has pleaded for the same process. The revolutionaries will have to expose the true character of the panchayats. It is through armed struggle that actually the feudal power hierarchy will be smashed and real centres of power be developed in the countryside. The communist revolutionaries will surely take up the challenge. Let the conclusion be written by the teeming multitudes of the country. Let the peasantry rise and demand their rights. The people have to strive not for panchayats — but the state power to ensure their democratic rights.