3 months ago
3
The Congress has agelong battled the cognition that its workers aboveground connected the crushed lone successful the run-up to elections and vanish thereafter. In Jharkhand, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge, K. Raju, is attempting to situation that communicative done an organisational exemplary aimed astatine sustained, year-round engagement.
Mr. Raju, a bureaucrat-turned-politician, has drawn up a year-long calendar of activities involving enactment workers and leaders crossed astir 4,350 gram panchayats successful the State.
“Over the past 10 months, since I was fixed the work arsenic AICC in-charge, my absorption has been connected taking the Congress organisation to the grassroots and making it progressive astatine the colony level,” Mr. Raju said successful an enactment with The Hindu.
At the grassroots, Gram Panchayat Congress Committees — each comprising 12 members representing antithetic communities —have been constituted aft consultations successful each panchayat. Each subordinate has been issued a ceremonial assignment order, designed to beryllium framed and displayed astatine home. The committees are mandated to conscionable erstwhile each period connected pre-scheduled dates.
“The thought is simple: villagers should cognize that connected a peculiar time each month, the Congress committee meets, and that they tin attack it with their grievances and issues. This helps interruption the cognition that the Congress becomes disposable lone during elections,” Mr. Raju said, adding that the purpose was to marque the enactment “visible connected a regular ground — listening, working, and responding.”
According to him, the process has been institutionalised crossed each 4,350 gram panchayats and much than 1,000 municipal wards. The committees are guided connected identifying section issues and moving connected them consistently.
Mandal committees
Beyond the colony level, mandal committees — covering 5 to 10 panchayats — person been formed, supra which are 312 Block Congress Committees. Each artifact committee consists of 12 members, including a president, 2 vice-presidents, and 9 wide secretaries, and is tasked with monitoring the functioning of the organisation astatine the grassroots.
“Meeting dates astatine each levels — panchayat, mandal, artifact and territory — person been standardised and fixed for the full year. This allows leaders to program visits successful beforehand and enables the nationalist to prosecute consistently, particularly astatine the gram panchayat level, wherever information is encouraged,” Mr. Raju explained.
With the organisational operation successful place, the Congress is present taking up issues that resonate with section communities. The archetypal is the effectual implementation of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA), which seeks to fortify panchayati raj institutions portion protecting tribal customs and traditions.
“Jharkhand has astir 2,000 Scheduled Areas or tribal villages, but shockingly, for 25 years the State did not framework rules nether PESA. After consultations with tribal activists, accepted gram sabha leaders, enactment colleagues and the government, the rules were yet notified connected January 2. Our volunteers are present grooming gram sabhas connected implementing the Act connected the ground,” Mr. Raju said.
Another contented taken up by village-level committees is the party’s ongoing protests against the projected replacement of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Vikshit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) oregon VB-GRAM G.
“We are grooming Gram Panchayat Congress Committees to clasp monthly dialogues with MGNREGA workers — discussing their rights, wages, and the interaction connected distress migration, and contrasting this with the projected alternate [VB G RAM G],” helium said.
After participating successful the party’s run against alleged “vote chori” (vote theft), the Jharkhand Congress is present preparing to bid 30,000 booth-level agents to grip a imaginable Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls successful the State.
“Our purpose is clear: not a azygous genuine elector should beryllium disenfranchised. We are acutely alert that documentation requirements disproportionately impact tribal and migrant populations. That is wherefore we are pre-empting the process done grooming and vigilance,” Mr. Raju said.
