With a view to create a civil society coalition working on reforms in governance with a special emphasis on the forthcoming Panchayat and Municipal elections in the state, a consultation on the “National Campaign for Reforms in Governance” was organised by PRIA and Samarthan at Gandhi Bhawan, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, 14 September.

Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Yogesh Kumar, Director, Samarthan, said the consultation was organised primarily to strategise future directions for the forthcoming Panchayat elections and on decentralisation. He stressed that there is utmost need to build a network of CSOs/CBOs in Madhya Pradesh to take up the issue of political/election reforms in local self-governance. Dr. Rajesh Tandon, President, PRIA, said decentralisation is a vital aspect and needs a serious consideration in spheres of development at Panchayat and Municipal levels. There should be a holistic perspective of development including Local Self Government, Gram Sabha and Municipalities, because each unit of governance is interdependent on each other. Dr. Tandon said collective strength with clear objectives is needed in building common platform on governance reform. He called for a development vision based on an understanding of the deep complementarities between local self-governance and Parliament.

Mr. Kamleshwar Singh, Manager, PRIA, stated the broader issues of the campaign, which are electoral/political reforms, institutional reforms and strengthening leadership. He said that since the issues are diverse in nature, and they need to be prioritised on the basis of the needs of the state and networks/actors at various levels. Ms. Preeti Tiwari of Ekta Parishad, Bhopal, said that government has failed both in the magnitude of its efforts and effectiveness of good governance in the country. She detailed out the ongoing violation of PESA in tribal-dominated areas. She also insisted on electing good women candidates in local self-government institutions and the need for providing training to build their capacities. Constituting a common platform would surely bring all the governance issues in a collective manner and can be put forth before the media and government, Ms. Preeti said.

The panellists suggested ways to move forward in strengthening the leadership of elected representatives and candidature in forthcoming local government elections in the state. During the open session, the participants raised many critical issues on dalit and tribal leadership. They talked about the status of SC/ST Panchayat elected representatives, capacity building needs of them, tracking of funds meant for development of SC/ST communities, etc.