Semester IX

Co nstitution Ho ns.

R e s e a r c h C a r r i e d o u t o n t h e t o p ic

SAMRAS GRAM PANCHAYATS VERSUS VILLAGE

PANCHAYATS : QUEST FOR BETTER MODEL-ANALYTICAL
STUDY OF THE VILLAGES KANETI AND JAGATPURA

in the Course of

Local Self Governance and Panchayati Raj

Institutions

A s a p a r t o f c o n ti n u o u s e v a l u a t i o n s c h e m e

S u b mi t t e d b y

Shruti Chaturv edi (13 ba l069)

Neha Shree Bha tnaga r (13 bll00 8 )

S u b mi t t e d t o
M r. J ehirul Isla m
 INDEX

C H AP T ER 1
 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
 LITERATURE REVIEW
 SCOPE AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
 RESEARCH QUESTION
 HYPOTHESIS
 RESEARCH METHO DOLOGY

C H AP T ER 2
 OVERVIEW OF VILLAGE PANCHAYAT

C H AP T ER 3
 OVERVIEW OF SAMRAS PANCHAYAT

C H AP T ER 4
 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN SAMRAS PANCHAYAT AND
VILLAGE PANCHAYAT

C H AP T ER 5
 ANALYSIS OF DATA COLLECTED

C H AP T ER 5
 CONCLUSION
 SAMRAS GRAM PANCHAYATS VERSUS VILLAGE PANCHAYATS : QUEST FOR
BETTER MODEL
Statement of Problem: This paper to seeks to find out the modalities of Samras Panchayat and
it’s functioning at the grass root level. Samras Panchayat was rolled with the idea of no-vote
unanimous voting for village headmen. The authors seek to find how effective this system is in
the villages it was implemented it. In order to find out its effectiveness the authors will compare
the model of Samras Panchayat with that of Gram Panchayat. The authors will compare both the
panchayats on parameters such as elections, funding, accountability, women participation etc.
After such research the authors will discuss the pros and cons of both the Panchayat, and will
discuss if Samras Panchayat Model can be adopted on pan India basis.

Review Of Literature:
1. Guha Antulan (2014) through his article “Undermining Panchayati Raj Institutions in
Guajarat” argues that the state government is undermining the functioning of the
panchayats. The overlap of the functions and the absence of power in the hands of village
panchayats makes them a toothless tiger. He further throws some light on the functioning
of SamrasPanchayts and concludes that Samaras Panchayats further complicate the
problem as they have failed in representing every section of society equally.
2. Datta Prabhat (2009) in his article titled “Democratic Decentralization through
Panchayati Raj in Contemporary India: The Changes and Challenges” makes a critical
review on the current status of third generation of PRIs in India. He analyses these
institutions as instruments of planning for economic development and social justice in
light of the empirical data collected. He further comments upon the rise of civil society
that has evolved over a period of time to keep a check on the state government.
3. The Panchayat, Rural Housing & Rural Development Department, Government of
Gujarat provides the information about the “SamrasYojna” initiated by the state
government in the year 2001. The objective behind this scheme was to see the harmony
that prevails in the village. How the samras panchayat is involved in community
development work has been discussed here.
4. Bandi Madhusudan (2013) in his working paper on “Decentralization in India: A
Review of Panchayati Raj Institutions in Gujarat” examines how the decentralization has
evolved over time in Indi from the ancient times. He critically examines how these
 institutions have affected the lives of the ordinary beings of the village and further
explores the possible changes and approaches the state government can opt to truly
realize the decentralization.
5. Guha Antulan (2015) in his article “State of Fiscal Federalism in Gujarat” discusses the
responsibilities and powers of the government in terms of the finances devolved upon the
panchayats. He also throws some light on the Samras model of panchayat and how do
they differ from Village Panchayats in terms of fiscal federalism.
6. S. Nagaraja (2014) studies the opportunity for women’s entry into political spheres. He
argues that if women actively participate in the local government, they can contribute to
better functioning society and play an active role in changing the social perspectives
related to women in rural India.

Objectives:
- To understand the modalities of Samaras Panchayat.
- To understand the difference between Samras Panchayat and Gram Panchayat.
- To compare the efficiency of both the Panchayats (on all aspects separately and
as a whole)
- To find out if Samras Panchayat is in true spirit of democracy.
- To find out whether there is caste dominance in Samras Panchayat
- To find out whether there is accountability in the Samras Panchayat elections.
- To find out whether Samras Panchayat uphold the spirit of Federalism.

Hypothesis: The authors wish to proceed on the hypothesis that Samras Gram Panchayats do
not encourage democratic decentralization as they lack framework for accountability and have
inherent flaw of further marginalizing the weaker sections of society and lack uniformity in its
approach.

Research Questions: 1.Which form of Panchayat is more effective and efficient?

2. Whether the Samras Panchayat model is undermining the democratic
decentralization in India?
3. Whether the Samras Gram Yojna embodies the traditional power play dominated by upper
castes?
4. Whether the unanimous consensus for village head embodying the idea of ‘samras’
replacement for elections at village panchayat?
5. Does the Samras Panchayat ensure accountability?
6. Are Village Panchayats truly federal, be it fiscal federalism or political federalism?

Methodology (Including Data Collection method, if empirical): The research paper would be
a result of both doctrinal and non-doctrinal research. The doctrinal research would involve the
assistance of secondary materials such as books, articles, journals etc. However, for the empirical
research part, a questionnaire shall be prepared containing the questions on aspects of election
and issues involved therein, source of funds, work undertaken by the panchayats, the RTIs filed,
cases of corruption reported etc. Then, data for both the types of panchayats shall be compared.
Villages to be Visited: Kaneti Village (Sanand District, Samras Panchayat) and Jagatpura
Village (Village Panchayat)
 CHAPTER I

OVERVIEW OF VILLAGE PANCHAYAT

The History of Panchayats- Ancient India

The Panchayat system is not a novel concept in India. It has its roots spread across the ancient
period, the medieval period, the colonial and its further development in post-colonial period. The
word ‘Panchayat’ literally means ‘council of five’. The word has been derived from Sanskrit
word – ‘Panchen’ (body of five members) and ‘Ayatanam’ (place or office). 1 They were
considered to be the five representatives of the God and seen as five elements of mother earth
which were sent to arbitrate and settle the disputes between people. The Rig Veda and Atharva
Veda mention about these institutions and how they used to function. The Rig Veda describes
that the villages were known as ‘Grama’ and the village headmen ‘Gramini’ used to handle the
social and political issues under the supervision of King and his nobles. 2 The village assemblies
during Vedic Period were known as Samiti or Sabha. According to Apastamba Dharma Sutra,
state officials, known as Adhyaksas or Adhipals were to be appointed by the kings for towns and
villages with well-defined jurisdiction.3 The concept of ‘Chaupal’ or Panchayat also finds its
presence in the post-Vedic period in the texts of Mahabharata which mention about PauraSabhas
and janapadas to put a check on the arbitrary authority.

The History of Panchayats- Medieval India

During reign of Hindu Kings in medieval period, this village body had not lost its importance
and powers. The Mauranyan king, Chandragupta Maurya under the guidance of Acharya
Chanakya, divided the administration into municipal and rural administration. 4 Since he had
control over the large empire, it was imperative for him to have efficient grass-root level

1
Origin and Evolution of Panchayats in India,Shodhganga (2010), available at
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/20713/7/08_chapter%202.pdf (last accessed October 10, 2017).
2
George Matthew, Local Government System in India, Background Paper presented at the Pakistan-
India Legislators and Public Officials Dialogue on Sharing Experiences on Governance and Democracy, Published
by PILDAT (December 2015), available at
http://www.pildat.org/Publications/publication/BackgroundPaperFP/LocalGovernmentSysteminIndia.pdf (last
accessed October 10, 2017).
3
Puja Mondal, Village Community in Ancient and Medieval India, Your Article Library, available at
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/village-community-in-ancient-and-medieval-india/35162/ (last accessed
October 8, 2017).
4
Supranote 1.
administrative set up.Shershah Suri further introduced revenue administration and police
administration, but the spirit of the Sabhas, Samitis and Grams were not compromised with.
However, with the advent of Mughals and introduction of Zagirdars to collect taxes, the powers
of the Panchayats were diluted and were concentrated at the hands of the central authority.The
population during this era was majorly agriculture reliant and the food was plentiful and cheap.
Life in the villages was isolated and unprogressive, and extremely simple and unchanging. The
village economy was largely self-sufficient, which the village panchayat used to redress simply.

The History of Panchayats- Colonial and Post Colonial Period

The Britishers turned the independent, self reliant villages into dependent units depriving them of
their autonomy by introducing centralized systems. This proved to be a major blow to the
panchayat system in India, as they became dependent on the crown for the funds and lacked the
political powers in their hands. Thereafter, Lord Mayo in 1870 took steps towards financial
decentralization in India to enable villages to utilize the funds in the manner they wanted to. This
was further supported and carried forward by Lord Ripon. Lord Ripon was instrumental in
establishing the local governance councils, which aimed at providing administrative powers at
the local level. They were delegated the administrative powers and the council was elected
through franchise. This however, did not change the state of financial dependency. 5 The
Montague- Chelmsford Reforms of 1919, which strengthened the provincial governments, were
incorporated in the Government of India Act, 1935 leading to the heated debates in the
Constituent Assembly post colonial era.6 Mahatma Gandhi favoured the idea of Gram Swaraj
that existed during the ancient India.7 He wanted the villages to be independent self governing
units. B.R. Ambedkar on the hand was of the opinion that the panchayats and gram swaraj would
further marginalize the weaker sections of society, especially untouchables. Jawaharlal Nehru
was interested in finding a mid-way, as wanted the villages to grow in terms of their economy
but did not want to take away their social and political autonomy. Finally, Article 40 of the
Constitution of India gave place to this institution of local governance in the form of Directive
Principle of State Policy, which by their very nature was unenforceable.

5
K.C. Sivaramakrishnan, Local Government in The Oxford Handbook of The Indian Constitution 560-
563 (Sujit Choudhry, Madhav Khosla & Pratap Bhanu Mehta 1st ed. 2016).
6
Idat 562.
7
M.K. Gandhi, My Idea of Village Swaraj, HARIJAN, July 26, 1942.
During the three phases discussed above, about six committees were constituted for analyzing
and facilitating the decentralization process in India. The committees made various
recommendations to improve the structure of local governments and to vest them with necessary
powers and functions for effective functioning. The committees were:(1) BM Committee (1957);
(2) K. Santhanam Committee (1963); (3) AM Committee (1977); (4) G.V.K. Rao Committee
(1985); (5) L.M. Singhvi Committee (1986) and (6) P.K. Thungon Sub-Committee (1988).8

Finally, the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment was made in the year 1992, through which
Part IX and Part IX-A was inserted in the Constitution entitled Panchayats and Municipalities
respectively. Part IX of the Constitution envisages a threetier system of Panchayats, namely, (a)
The village level; (b) The Intermediate Panchayat which stands between the village and district
Panchayats in the States where the population is above 20 lakhs; (c) The District Panchayat at the
district level.9The Eleventh and Twelfth Schedule were also added to the Constitution via these
Amendments. The Eleventh Schedule enlists the powers and functions of the Panchayat and the
Twelfth Schedule enlists the powers and functions of the Municipalities. However, a learned
author K.C. Sivaramkrishnan, opines that the local governments by virtue of 11th and 12th
Schedule, do not have the same status as that of 7th Schedule. The 7th Schedule shall always
override the former Schedules.10
CHAPTER II
HISTORY OF PANCHAYATS: EMERGENCE OF SAMRAS PANCHAYATS

It was started in the year October, 2001 as a Scheme to encourage harmony, incentivizes
dialogue and discourage disputes in village by the Panchayat, Rural Housing & Rural
Development Department, Government of Gujarat. This scheme incentivizes for unopposed
election of Panchayat representatives. 11 The Scheme encourages the consensus candidates

8
Madhusudan Bandi, Decentralization in India: A Review of Panchayati Raj Institutions in Gujarat, Gujarat Institute
of Developmental Research Working Paper Series, Working Paper Number 214 (February 2013).
9
Nidhi Kumari, Concept of Village Panchayat: Constitutional Analysis, Published by Academike (April 2015),
available at https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/concept-village-panchayat-constitutional-analysis/ (last
accessed October 24, 2017).
10
Supranote 5.
11
Information & Services Need Assessment Report for Panchayati Raj Institutions in State of Gujarat by National
Informatics Centre Services Inc., Ministry of Panchayati Raj (September, 2009), available at
http://www.panchayat.gov.in/documents/10198/349392/ePRI%20Gujarat%20State%20ISNA%20Report.pdf (last
accessed October 24, 2017).
without elections to be chosen as representatives to ensure that the harmony prevails in the
village.Panchayats, Rural housing and Rural Development Department has to pay certain
amounts in form of grants to Gram Panchayats elected unanimously.Scheme enticed villagers of
Gujarat to opt for it through awards for social harmony for developmental works for villages
where panchayat elections were conducted by consensus.12
The amount is dependent upon the population of the village. A sum of rupees sixty thousand is
to be given to Gram Panchayats having population up to 5000, and rupees one lakh to other
Gram Panchayats.13The then, Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Narendra Modi called it concept of
‘governance through consensus’ instead of conflict and believed it to be a finer and more
successful model of democracy at the grassroots level.14
CHAPTER III
STRUCTURE, FUNCTIONING AND EFFECTIVENESS OF VILLAGE PANCHAYATS AND SAMRAS
PANCHAYATS: A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

I. ELECTIONS

a) Elections for Village Panchayat

Article 243 provides that all the seats in a Panchayat shall be filled by persons chosen by direct
election from territorial constituencies in the Panchayat area. The electorate (those who would be
electing the head by direct voting process) has been named Grama Sabha. The Gram Sabha
consists of persons registered in the electoral rolls relating to a village comprised within the area
of a Panchayat. This is the way in which representative democracy has been introduced at the
grass root level. The Chairperson of each Panchayat shall be elected according to the law passed

12
Modi’s Samras Gram Yojna Pays Rich Dividends in Rural Gujarat, Financial Express, (January, 2002), available
at
https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjgj4
iv-oTXAhVFtI8KHfFlAqkQFghFMAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.financialexpress.com%2Farchive%2Fmr-
modis-samras-gam-yojana-pays-rich-dividends-in-rural
gujarat%2F35071%2F&usg=AOvVaw0Z1JYsosn0i32DPKo4JLU5, (last accessed October 25, 2017).
13
SamrasYojna, Panchayat, Rural Housing and Rural Development Department, Government of Gujarat available at
https://panchayat.gujarat.gov.in/panchayatvibhag/english/schemes/samras-yojna-3.htm (last accessed October 24,
2017).
14
Samras Gram Panchayat: A Fine and Successful Model of Democracy, Narendra Modi (April, 2012), available at
https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjgj4
iv-oTXAhVFtI8KHfFlAqkQFggnMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.narendramodi.in%2Fchief-minister-has-
distributes-rs-55-62-cr-prizes-to-2123-samras-villages-in-gujarat-4405&usg=AOvVaw2oCxblu-
vN_y5mHe_iGKIH (last accessed October 22, 2017).
by the respective State.In normal gram panchayat elections, each person who votes is required to
cast two votes, one to elect sarpanch and another for electing panchayat member for his
ward.The seats are to be reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Such reservation
shall be in proportion to their population.15 Out of the seats so reserved for SCs and STs, not less
than 1/3rd of the seats shall be reserved for women belonging to Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes, respectively.16 Similar reservation has also to be made by the State for the
offices of the Chairpersons at each level of Panchayat.17

The democratically elected local bodies in such manner are entrusted with the powers, functions,
personnel and resources for carrying out the developmental functions in the village. The scheme
of co-operative federalism envisaged by the Constitution has been realized in this manner by
devolving the powers to the third-tier of the government. This political and fiscal
decentralization ensures the people’s participation at the lowest level of the country so that the
goals of good governance are effectively realized. The term ‘election’ itself encompasses the
element of ‘choice by people’ in a fair and transparent manner to bring out the true meaning of
democracy in any state.

b) Consensual Selection of Village Representatives in Samras Panchayats

The word ‘Samras’ literally means ‘absorbed’ or ‘of common interest.’ Samras Gram Yojana
encourages villages to select their ‘sarpanch’ through consensus and not through elections.18 This
unanimous selection calls for harmony in the villages.Samras is a village panchayat where people
come together and decide their representatives, including members and sarpanchs, without
elections. The gram panchayat elections are not fought on party symbols and it requires
candidates to contest the polls in their personal capacity19based on their merits and skills. The

15
Article 243D, Constitution of India, 1950.
16
Article Constitution of India, 1950.
17
Article Constitution of India, 1950.
18
Nikhil Dey, Vote in Panchayat Polls or else, Down To Earth (October, 2010), available at
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/vote-in-panchayat-polls-or-else-2060 (last accessed October 25, 2017).
19
Voting underway for gram panchayat elections across Gujarat, The Indian Express (December, 2016), available at
http://iheadlines.in/browser_/?onsurl=%3A%2F%2Findianexpress.com%2Farticle%2Findia%2Fvoting-underway-
for-gram-panchayat-elections-across-gujarat
4447008%2F&onstitle=Voting%20underway%20for%20gram%20panchayat%20elections%20across%20Gujarat
&onsdesc&onsimage=%3A%2F%2Fpixel.wp.com%2Fb.gif%3Fhost%3Dindianexpress.com%26amp%3Bblog%3
initiator of this scheme, Mr. Modi argues thatif the President of India can be elected unanimously,
why can’t a village representative be selected through consensus? He further emphasizes that it
doesn’t cost any extra money but just change in the leadership style. 20 Also, as an incentive,
villages that select their panchayat heads are granted additional Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh as
development funds.The idea behind consensual selection is that, if villagers through consensus
select a woman head, thenwomen are believed to take better care of general hygiene, clean
toilets, school children’s education, nourishment, tree plantation, improved environment and act
as better managers of funds received.21

II. SOURCES OF REVENUE AND FUND COLLECTION

a) The Elected Village Panchayat

There are numerous sources for revenue generation for village panchayat. The Gram Panchayat
imposes and collects tax on land, electricity and water. It also levies tax on houses, shops,
markets and fairs. Further, the Gram Panchayat also gets grant from Taluka Panchayat, Zila
Panchayat and the State Government (through State Finance Commission’s recommendations).
If the villagers are willing, they doate the funds to panchayat and this way it receives economic
help in the form of voluntary funds. There are other sources of funds such as profit from the sale
of fertilizers, tax on animals, profession etc., drainage fee, fee for issuing various kinds of
licenses, money by selling the slain of dead animals.

b) Grants Received by Samras Panchayats

The villages that opt for ‘samras’ panchayat receive grants from government apart from
receiving usual aids. In a village having population upto 5000, the grant is Rupees 60,000 and for
other panchayats, it is sum of Rupees 1 Lakh. The government gives a reward of Rs 3 lakh for
all-women panchayats in villages having under-5,000 population, and of Rs 5 lakh for villages
with above-5,000 population. Incentives of these kinds would not only encourage participation of
women in the Panchayats but also would empower them in the long run so as to make them

D53855017%26amp%3Bpost%3D4447229%26amp%3Bsubd%3Dindianexpressonline%26amp%3Bref%3D%26
amp%3Bfeed%3D1, (last accessed October 25, 2017).
20
Supranote 13.
21
Id.
efficient for handling administrative work. They would also be able to perform better and
undertake bigger responsibilities. Such village panchayats have also been offered other doles like
solar streetlights, pucca roads and 25 per cent extra funds, in addition to the Rs 2 to Rs 5 lakh
routine prizes for electing unanimous sarpanchs.22

III. UTILIZATION OF FUNDS AND FUNCTIONS PERFORMED

Usually the functions performed by both the panchayats are nearly same. However, there is
difference in additional responsibilities as well as advantages given to the villages that have
opted to be ‘samras’.

Picture of village school in Kaneti village

The incentive given by the government in form of grants as discussed above is used for
community developmental works of the village. To exemplify, the funds are used for pure
drinking water schemes, internal approach roads, facilities of street lights, primary school rooms,
primacy treatment centers, water have sting scheme, drainage and sewerage scheme, preliminary

22
Supranote 12.
facilities etc.23 If we talk about Gujarat specifically, the Samras Panchayat is endowed with the
responsibility of water treatment such as arrangement of water recharge, deepening and
construction of ponds, digging of wells, constriction of weirs on rivers and thereby making
available the facilities of water, where there is permanent scarcity of water.24

The Condition of Public toilets in Kaneti village

In both the villages the authors did not find much of a difference between the welfare schemes
carried out by both the Panchayats. The conditions of schools, wells, sanitation, health care was
more or less similar in both the villages. However, it was noticed that in gram panchayat, the
elected members undertake developmental projects closer to election dates, but there is no such
incentive in Samras Panchayats.

23
Id.
24
Madhusudan Bandi,Samras in Gujarat Gram Panchayats: A Constructive Experiment or Challenge to Electoral
Democracy?, Gujarat Institute of Developmental Research Working Paper Series, Working Paper Number 215
(March, 2013).
 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS

In order to get the information of what is the ground reality of Samaras Panchayat, we prepared a
questionnaire and went to the village of Kaneti which has adopted the Samaras Yojana. In order
to get a whole view of the village Panchayat functioning following the electoral college, we also
visited Jagatpur village which follows the electoral system. We identified various parameters,
and compared the two villages in those aspects. We interviewed the village people, village
headmen, village elders, the local NGOs and people belonging to backward classes and women.
We have presented the data is a tabular form, attached pictures and also analyzed by situation
prevailing by researching the works of various scholars.

The table below discusses the various parameters identified by the authors, and the results
collected by our survey in the villages.

Kaneti Village Jagatpur Village

Parameters Identified (Samaras Panchayat) (Gram Panchayat)

Schemes for Healthcare Working Efficiently; No Working efficiently;

new schemes launched New Schemes generally
launched before
elections in every 5
years
Schemes for Sanitation Working Efficiently; Working Efficiently;
Panchayat taking active Gram Panchayat has
steps. active participation
Schemes for Education Schools in the village There is awareness and
working fine; there is readiness amongst the
sufficient awareness population to send their
about school in the children to school; the

E-governance
Women Representation
Accountability
Caste based bias
Benefits of Samaras Scheme
 In Kaneti village, we witnessed a novel concept of “SakhiMandals”. This concept of
SakhiMandals exists in several of villages which have gone Samarasand it shows a
village Panchayat promotes
importance of
education
No system of e- No existing system of
governance found in the e-governance, nor is
village there any awareness
about the same
Inadequate women Since, women stand for
representation; women elections, there is
are often dummy sufficient awareness
candidates. among women who
contest elections about
their rights and
participate
enthusiastically in the
electoral processes.
No checks on the persons The elected people are
selected, since the accountable to the
dominant caste again people, in the months
selects the same person preceding the elections,
unanimously many developmental
projects are carried out
Mostly influential, People from all the
affluent people from communities are given
dominant caste are a chance to represent
elected themselves in the
electoral process
 unique way torid of debts. Transparency comes naturally in Samaras Panchayat. This
scheme assures that the selection is unanimous and removes the feeling of enmity,
hostility etc. in Kaneti village
 The Samaras Panchayat scheme plays an important role in maintaining the unique culture
of “No Party in Village” and “No Symbol in Village” in panchayat election of Kaneti
village.The village people of Kaneti amicably gather together and decide representatives
from amongst themselves unanimously who then form a part of Gram Panchayat, where
many people give up their rights, act in unsparing and selfless way for smooth
functioning of the society and adopt a nobel approach for serving the welfare of the
people.25
 The overall benefit of the Samaras scheme that we witnessed in Kaneti village is that
there was a no hunger or greed for power. Samaras Panchayat in Kaneti instilled and
fostered healthy competition, which incentivizes the people selected unanimously towork
for development of villages and aiming to increase the prosperity of Kaneti and its
people.
 The objective for introduction of Samaras Panchayat was to avoid and end any sort intra-
village enmities which is created once the election politics commences.In Kaneti village,
when elections are held for Gram Panchayat through Samaras Yojana, the whole village
opts for theperson who they know will work for them and for the development of the
village. 26 Therefore, when the entire village puts their trust and confidence on the
unanimously selected group, the elected body functions in a more responsible fashion and
perform their duties with more responsibility and enthusiasm.In Kaneti, it was the general
opinion of the people, that when gram panchayat is elected with such a uniform
consensus, even the level of responsibility towards delivering good governance at the
village level recieves an impetus.27

25
Ram Sawai, Samras Gram Yojana in Gujarat, Government Information Made Easy, (July, 2017) available at
https://govinfo.me/samaras-gram-yojana-gujarat/, (last accessed October 29, 2017).
26
Swati Bhan, ‘Samras ’making headway in Gujarat, Deccan Herald (October, 2017), available at
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/217280/samras-making-headway-gujarat.html, (last accessed October 25,
2017).
27
SamrasGram:Consensus on Development, Official Gujarat State Portal, Government of Gujarat, available at
http://gujaratindia.com/media/news.htm?NewsID=TMVret1+n2Swq4t7en971Q==, (last accessed October 25,
2017).
Drawbacks of Samaras Scheme

 Inspite of benefits that Samaras scheme offers, there are some drawbacks which the
critics point out. It is a notion that the consensual and unanimous selection of gram
panchayat deprives people of village off their fundamental right to elect their
representatives. While we were in Kaneti, one of the leaders stated that, “the scheme
virtually imposes the choice of the ruling party on illiterate villagers who, for the sake of
awards, are letting go of their fundamental right to elect their representatives.”28Some of
NGOs in and around the village opined that the scheme of Samaras Panchayat is
essentially anattempt to discourage the process of election.
 A discussion with the people of Kaneti, bought to surface the fact, that many a times the
elders of the village are forced to choose someone who they know will be influential
enough to get the money for them from the government. Their often only those are
elected who either has muscle power or money power. What began as a noble idea has
now just become an instrumentality to cater to the needs of the influential people.
 Another problem that Samaras scheme faces is caste based bias. An inspection of results
of Samaras Panchayat selections revealed that the dominant communities form the Gram
Panchayat most of the times. This is a very dangerous trend since it allows the dominant
communities in the village to take control of the Gram Panchayat. This creates a culture
of “manufacturing consent” to vote for the affluent and thus undermines the very roots of
democracy.

28
Modi’s Samras Gram Yojna Pays Rich Dividends in Rural Gujarat, Financial Express, (January, 2002), available
at
https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjgj4
iv-oTXAhVFtI8KHfFlAqkQFghFMAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.financialexpress.com%2Farchive%2Fmr-
modis-samras-gam-yojana-pays-rich-dividends-in-rural
gujarat%2F35071%2F&usg=AOvVaw0Z1JYsosn0i32DPKo4JLU5, (last accessed October 25, 2017).
 In conversation with a group of women at Kaneti village
 A conversation with a local NGO in Kaneti revealed that Samaras scheme is a way of
silencing the voice of the weak and under-represented such as dalits, tribals, adivasis,
backward castes and women who remain unrepresented due to their inability to
manufacture consensus.29. It was our observations while surveying the villages that in
villages, caste dynamics in villages are so strong and thus mostly dominant castes are
selected. The local NGO states that “the upper castes are not only refusing to give up
their hegemony, but are doing all they can in their capacity to retain power, particularly
targeting Dalit or tribal sarpanches, wherever they have been elected.”30

29
George Mathew, Manufacturing Consensus, The Hindu, (August, 2002), available at
http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/2002/08/02/stories/2002080200071000.htm, (last accessed October 25,2017).
30
Rajiv Shah,Documentary evidence collected by NGO suggests that homogeneity in Gujarat villages in the name
of “samras” is a sham, Counterview Organisation, (August, 2013) available at
https://counterview.org/2013/08/10/documentary-evidence-collected-by-ngo-suggests-that-homogeneity-in-
gujarat-villages-in-the-name-of-samras-is-a-sham/, (last accessed October 29, 2017).
 CHAPTER VI
CONCLUSION
In order to search for the quest of better model between Samras Panchayat and Gram Sabha
Election Panchayat, the authors went for a survey of two villages, Kaneti Gram, which comes
under Samaras Yojana and Jagatpur village which follows Gram Sabha election system. We
conducted a thorough inspection of the villages, visited schools, public toilets, Anganwadi
centers etc. We interviewed groups of women, people belonging to backward classes, the general
population of the village and asked them a certain set of questions in order to get a clearer picture
of Samaras Panchayat. After analyzing the data collected we have come to the conclusion that
Samaras Panchayat does not encourage democratic decentralization. Women often go
unrepresented, sometimes, women are selected as dummy candidates since it is their male
counterparts who wield the real power. The same is the situation with the backward classes of
the village. That section of the village is completely ignored and avoided. They remain
unrepresented and unaccounted for. Another main problem that the authors identified is the lack
of accountability in Samaras scheme. The leaders selected through Samaras scheme are not
answerable to the population other than the dominant class. Even if the leader does not perform
any developmental functions, he/she is still selected again because the caste system is so
inherently embedded in the villages. The people of the dominant caste select a leader from their
caste and the rest of the minority castes remain unrepresented. The authors conclude that
Samaras Panchayat is not a substitute to the electoral college. Electoral college incentivizes
candidates to undertake more developmental activities so that the people would vote for him the
next time, however, in Samaras Panchayat there is no such incentive since the candidates are
selected mostly because of their caste. Therefore, the authors affirm the hypothesis with which
we undertook the research and through this research we conclude that Samras Gram Panchayats
do not encourage democratic decentralization as they lack framework for accountability and have
inherent flaw of further marginalizing the weaker sections of society and lack uniformity in its
approach.
 QUESTIONNAIRE
The following sets of questions were posed to the villagers of both the villages, that is
Kaneti and Jagatpura, in order to analyze the functioning of the panchayats.

1. Does your village follow the samras gram panchayat model?

2. If yes, what benefits or chnages do you find after having implemented the samras scheme
to your village?
3. Do you think the earlier gram panchayat was better (before the village opted to go
samras)?
4. What kind of functions does Panchayat perform?
5. What is the condition of schools and sanitation facilities in your village?
6. Does your village have any women sarpanchs?
7. Does your village have any sarpanch from the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe
category?
8. Are there any good hospitals in the village?
9. Do you think that any of your sarpanchs or the officers are corrupt ? Have you come
across any instances of corruption?
10. Do you face any hardships while approaching the Panchayat for your problems?
11. Do they listen to the problems and address it?
12. Does the Panchayat carry out any healthcare schemes, education schemes?
13. How far can your village make progress you think?