I was a Member of the gram Panchayat of my village from 2000 to 2005. At
the International Women’s Day celebration in Bangalore organized by The
Hunger Project, on 8 March 2004, I brought to the notice of the then Secretary
of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, the corrupt practices of the party
politicians relating to the electoral lists. I observed that in the electoral list,
often names are included or excluded by wily politicians according to what
benefits them. However, the State, takes the electoral list as genuine, leading
to exclusion of the actual beneficiaries from the government Schemes.At that time, the State government was in the process of carrying out a family
survey and revising the house tax norms based on the quality and type of
house. This survey included a revision of the process of selecting beneficiaries
under different schemes, like PDS, housing, health, education etc. To avoid
manipulation in the list, I suggested that a photograph of the family member
should be taken in front of their house, so that the quality and type of the
house is visible. This document could then be considered important while
selecting the beneficiaries for various Schemes.Subsequently, and after hearing my concerns and ideas in detail, the Secretary
passed a government Order on 27 March 2004. Copies were sent to all the
CEO’s of Zilla Panchayats and to all District Planning Officers, as well as to
all the election officers of Block Panchayats, to include photos in the survey,
and my name was mentioned in the Order.Kanthamma
Ward Member
Panchayat: Pitchaguntla
Hally
Block: Mulabagal
District: Kolar