The second Independence
ONE FINE morning in March 1999, an innocuous stone slab appeared at the entrance of Kamyapeta, a village in Andhra Pradesh (undivided) ’s Visakhapatnam district, declaring it a self-ruled republic. “Since then, our writ runs large,” says Manmad Rao, a resident who now visits other villages to propagate self-rule.
In their first meeting, the villagers asked the government to construct a bridge and give up control over what they believe is their resources: thick forest, land and numerous water sources. Within three years, the state government started constructing the bridge with a budget of
I2.5 crore. Though the government still doesn’t acknowledge these villages, officials never dare to miss any summon from the gram sabha (village assembly).
In fact, Kamyapeta has gained independence for the second time. Home to the legendary tribal freedom fighter, Marie Kamaya, it joined the freedom movement to save its forests and land from British logging companies. Marie’s land and house were confiscated and the village was declared ‘criminal’. When India attained independence, Marie thought the village’s traditional governance system would be restored.
“But nothing changed. Earlier we were exploited by the British, now it is the forest department,” says Marie Ramana, son of the freedom fighter. “When we declared self-rule, my father’s dream came true,” he says. Kamyapeta’s second independence is, in fact, a realisation of Mahatma Gandhi’s cherished dream of gram swaraj (village republic).
The stone slab, a symbol of the 25 villages’
ABOUT 1,500 VILLAGES ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAVE DECLARED THEMSELVES “VILLAGE REPUBLICS”. THEY TEACH INDIA A FIRST-HAND LESSON IN GOVERNANCE
republic status, is also making appearances elsewhere in the country. Mostly in villages scattered across India’s poorest regions and yet untouched by the fruits of the first Independence. A conservative estimate based on different reports shows that close to 1,500 villages have declared themselves village republics. In these villages, residents control their natural resources—forest, land, minerals and water sources.
They have also formed effective institutions to manage these resources. They plan, execute and resolve all affairs inside the village. Government officials and programmes are accepted only when the gram sabha approves them. In many such villages, the forest department, the police and other officials are just restricted to executing programmes chalked out in village meetings.
Interestingly, most of these self-ruled villages are located in the scheduled areas. Traditionally and constitutionally, these villages are entitled to autonomous status. For these villages, December 24 is more auspicious than August 15. “After the Panchayat (Extension to Schedule Areas) Act
(PESA) came into effect from December 24, 1996, we have a new lease of life,” says Kushal Horo, a resident of Masmano village. This act is a radical piece of legislation, which gives virtual control over all the resources to the communities in the scheduled areas. These villages have adopted PESA and merged it with their own traditional systems of governance to manage village affairs.
In all these villages, there is one formal institution—the gram sabha. And without waiting for the governor’s definition of a village, people have drawn their village map. The result: even a small hamlet comprising a few households now has its own gram sabha. While the gram sabha has become central to such republics, what keeps them united is the issue of livelihood. While in comparatively new villages with self-rule the gram sabhas directly monitor village affairs, older villages like Seed in Rajasthan and Mendha in Maharashtra have formed different committees to look after different resources in the village.
“In these villages, natural resources and their equitable distribution form the core of governance,” says Bhagwan Majhi, a leader of Kucheipadar village in Rayagada, Odisha which has declared self-rule. Many of these villages have chalked out their development road map. Due to direct intervention of the gram sabha, many villages have evolved innovative solutions to local problems. For example in Kucheipadar, villagers have a community labour participation programme for cultivation in private lands to tackle labour shortage.