The familiar filmi stereotype of a village panchayat, meeting under a sprawling banyan tree and dispensing rustic justice is an extremely unfair caricature of that hoary institution. India, and particularly Tamilnadu, had a highly evolved and an unbroken local administration system since ancient times, till the British came in and dismantled it all in the name of ‘civilising’ their subjects. And if poll time is any test, then the British can be deemed to have failed in their avowed goal, of civilising that is, for there is very little one can call as civilised behavior in the actions and rhetoric of our political folk. And that is when one gets nostalgic and mourns for the bygone days and what has been lost.
Of course, it would be incompatible and even a tad unrealistic to dream of action replays, even if it were possible with a magic wand. And not that things were wholly hunky dory then with milk and honey flowing in every hut. But some knowledge of the methods of admin prevelant then is most certainly a humbling experience for the modern mind and indeed a revelation for the post-Independence generation which has been told that India was born in 1947. Innumerable inscriptions littered all over Tamilnadu and dated as more than thousand year old bear testimony to the comprehensive village government system, particularly its electoral methods. There were wards and casting of lots (Kudavolai), rules for conducting elections, qualifications and disqualification for candidates, even model codes, selection of committees and heads and accounting norms too. What’s missing is a mention about corruption and rigging, but that may be because those arts weren’t prevelant then or simply that investigative journalism and candid cameras were yet to be born. Or probably, those were ‘irrational’ days.
The British deemed the village communities with their well organised administrative system as mini republics. To their credit, it must be said that they were quick to realise the importance and advantages of such a meticulous local administration system but cleverly subverted it to advance their own colonial interests. Still, their nearly three hundred years stay in India was characterised by a slew of pioneering laws and administrative measures that have culminated in today’s mammoth network of local bodies.(In TN’s context, the Madras Corporation is a British legacy of over three centuries vintage). Mahatma Gandhi’s championing of the Panchayat cause, several constitutional provisions and scores of legislation have all ensured that the local bodies remain the fulcrum and focus of democratic governance, at least theoretically.
A historical perspective of what is routinely dismissed as a dour civic subject is deemed warranted because, in TN, and Chennai particularly, the local body polls have only been a recent phenomenon, not more than a decade at best. In fact, Chennai went without an elected Corporation for more than two decades, while municipal elections elsewhere in the State have always been the butt of jokes, often likened to the unpredictable monsoons. Yet, TN politicians, particularly the DMK, were and are past masters in grassroots politics. In fact, there was a DMK mayor at Rippon buildings much before a DMK CM came to occupy Ft St George in 1967.
The Corporation muster rolls scandal of the early-seventies rocked the State no end, leading to the disbanding of the corporation council, reminding us that the now familiar ‘culture’ of corruption and cronyism dogged the local bodies even then. Little wonder therefore that with the renewal of a ‘political’ Corporation in 1996, despite the long gap, automatically all those associated vices too got resurrected. The behaviour of corporators inside the council hall and the frequent outbreak of riotous scenes there are all familiar footage. And like everything in the State, from tea shops to television, the local bodies too have become one more battlefield for Kalaingar and Amma to test their might, tighten their stranglehold and establish their complete supremacy.
But does not the penetration of such a pernicious culture into the very grassroots bode doom for the State? With virtually every elected constitutional institution, from Parliament to Assemblies, getting undermined by the day, the local bodies are the last post not just for democracy but for a decent and dignified living itself. For they impact you, me, the neighbourhood, and our daily grind. These bodies are all about our geographical vicinity as well as immediate problems, not of distant, innaccessible precincts or lofty issues. They are about day to day living which itself is an ordeal to many, not about a prided past or posterity.It is not secularism and cross-border terror, but the stinking and overflowing gutters that should agitate the mind. Indeed, the erosion of the local bodies is akin to allowing filth to fester in our drawing rooms. The unholy happenings on the ominous Friday, the thirteenth, informs us that the rot has not just seeped, but has set and settled here too.
But cleansed, it can be, if we care to shed our ‘fundamental right to apathy’ as citizens and become civic conscious residents instead. Throwing up one’s arms in philosophic indifference will no longer do. And the familiar excuses for not participating or voting are also not valid here. Rather, these polls offer the best escape route from the vice-grip of political parties and pompous personalities, a great incentive for the tired and disgusted voter. The polls are a dicey opportunity to whet our appetite for clean candidates and cleaner politics. Public spirited persons with concern for the locality and a willingness to spare time for it, can certainly make it even over those with money and muscle. Voters can also extract better accountability from their councillor by virtue of his easier accessibility unlike the scarce MLA or the invisible MP. And if a councillor still errs, well, the damage, at least will be localised and limited.
Those who voted, despite the intimidations and hardships, need a pat. And those who did not, for whatever reasons, should better watch out for the next opportunity, which could be an immediate repoll or after five years. What is at stake is not just democracy, but your own house, actually! And mind you, our long dead ancestors were wise and careful people, if not ‘civilised’! The inscriptions are still there for us to check that out!
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