Grama sabhas across Tamil Nadu, that usually meet on the Independence Day (and three other days), will not meet on Saturday , in view of the unusual circumstances prevailing due to the spread of COVID-19.
“We have decided to postpone grama sabhas across the State due to the COVID-19 scenario. It will not be possible to follow physical distancing norms if we go ahead with the meetings,” director of rural development K.S. Palanisamy told The Hindu on Thursday.
Approvals in this regard have been obtained from the State government. “Senior officers and the elderly from the villages regularly attend the grama sabhas, and hence, it will not be in their interest if we go ahead with the meetings as usual. We have decided to postpone them, and the dates will be announced once the situation is conducive for holding the meetings,” he said.
Grama sabhas were not held in the State on May 1 either due to the COVID-19 lockdown, that has been in place since March.
According to the rules framed by the Tamil Nadu government, it is mandatory that grama sabhas meet at least four times in a calendar year, i.e. on January 26 (Republic Day), May 1 (May Day), August 15 (Independence Day) and October 2 (Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary). Besides, the grama sabhas can be convened as and when the necessity arises.
Usually, the schedule and the agenda for the grama sabhas are communicated by the State government to all Collectors, much in advance, before these four days. A senior officer said: “Every year, the State government decides on certain themes. For instance, poverty alleviation or priority for primary education and the likes, and they are communicated to the local authorities for passing resolutions in this regard at the grama sabhas.”
The respective District Collectors, in circulars to Block Development Officers (BDOs), inform the grama sabhas about these resolutions. “Panchayat presidents or vice-presidents will convene the sabhas, wherein these resolutions, along with others, if any, will be passed,” he said. All those who attend the meeting sign the attendance register.
Attendance registers
A Village Administrative Officer (VAO) pointed out that these attendance registers are important. “The attendance is important because only based on the number of persons attended, will it be decided whether the resolutions passed are valid. For instance, if the population of the village panchayat is about 500, the quorum needed is the attendance of at least 50 people.”
There are 12,525 village panchayats, consisting of 79,394 habitations, in 36 rural districts across Tamil Nadu, as of March 2020. All registered voters of a village panchayat constitute the grama sabha, which has specific powers and functions. Grama sabhas are to be held statutorily, in such a way that the intervening period between two meetings shall not exceed a period of six months.