Panchayat elections should not create bitterness and discord, says President Droupadi Murmu

Panchayat elections should not create bitterness and discord, says President Droupadi Murmu

Panchayat elections should not be a cause of bitterness and discord among villagers, President Droupadi Murmu said while giving away the National Panchayat Awards on Monday and called for increased participation of women in panchayats.

The President also highlighted the Gujarat government’s Samras Gram Yojana that rewards villages electing panchayat representatives through consensus. This scheme was launched in 2006 under the Chief Ministership of Narendra Modi.

Stating that panchayat elections, at times, caused bitterness and altercations in villages, she said, ”There is a provision for panchayat elections every five years so that all social groups can participate... However, it is seen that sometimes these elections cause bitterness among locals”.

“To avoid this, political parties have kept away from panchayat elections,” she added. Panchayati Raj polls are non-party-based elections, in which candidates do not use the symbol of any political party.

Ms. Murmu said that 46% of panchayat representatives today were women and called for their higher participation in panchayats. “I appeal to women to participate actively in the work at the panchayat. I also appeal to their families to support these efforts,” she said.

Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh also spoke at the awards function and said the government strove to achieve self-sufficient villages or ‘gram swaraj’ as imagined by Mahatma Gandhi.