Deepening local democracy: Tola sabhas in Jharkhand provide easy access, more accountabilty

This is the first of a two-part series on rural governance in Jharkhand. 

Chapatoli is a hamlet in the Deogaon revenue village under the Tapkara Gram Panchayat in Jharkhand’s Gumla district, according to administrative records. But the residents consider it their gaon or village because it is geographically almost cut off from the adjacent hamlets. It is governed with the attention and organisation of a Gram Sabha. 

The local governance unit, the tola sabha, is “a replica of Gram Sabha at the hamlet level where we discuss issues concerning our gaon (hamlet)”,  said 70-year-old resident Johan Ekka. “All the decisions made in tola sabhas are documented in the tola sabha register.”

The idea was to create a platform where all the residents could come together and discuss how the hamlet could be developed, he added. “More than that we wanted to know which households are not getting the benefits of government schemes, and then accordingly collectivise and get them covered under the schemes for which they are eligible.”

Transformation of traditional governance system

Traditionally, informal meetings were conducted in Chapatoli to discuss and decide on personal and religious matters. However, only men were part of these discussions and the meetings were not documented. 

Also, the gatherings got irregular with time, especially during the pandemic. About a year ago these meetings were revived again with the effort of a non-government organisation but in the form of the tola sabha. 

It was ensured that all adult members, including women, could participate in the tola sabha meetings. Now, the tola sabha meetings are largely led by women of self help groups. They are the ones who organise and document the meetings. Their SHG training in conducting meetings and its documentation is proving helpful in tola sabha meetings.

“There was a need to widen the scope of the agendas discussed in these meetings. In tola sabha, matters related to the development and government welfare schemes were also included, along with personal and religious matters,” said Aarti Khes (26), who works as a panchayat facilitator of the Tapkara Gram Panchayat with the non-profit.

In the beginning, it was difficult to make people understand the significance of tola sabha, she said. “Due to emphasis on the documentation, they related it to the Gram Sabha, where documentation is a necessary component. People’s experience of the Gram Sabha has not been very good in this village.  They thought that the tola sabha will be no different.” 

However, after a few participatory activities like preparing a social map, resource map and tracking register for welfare schemes like the public distribution system and social pension for the village, more people started taking interest in tola sabha meetings, she added. 

“I don’t know whether tola sabha meetings will bring any change or not but it has emerged as a platform where a good number of people from the entire tola regardless of their gender are meeting regularly and discussing their issues. The good thing about this platform is that anyone can freely express his / her thoughts and everyone hears everyone.”

Legal provisions vs ground realities

The Gram Sabha is normally conducted at the revenue village level, according to the Jharkhand Panchayat Raj Act, 2001. However, due to the geographical spread of a revenue village and the lack of connectivity, it becomes difficult for people from remote hamlets like Chapatoli to participate in the Gram Sabha. 

The Gram Sabha meetings are held in the main villages or hamlets with the largest population. So, they are usually dominated by the residents of the venue hamlets and their issues get more importance.

Deogaon revenue village has a total population of 1,114 and 226 households (Census 2011). A total of four hamlets come under the Deogaon Gram Sabha. Chapatoli in Deogaon revenue village is surrounded by the river and hills and is remotely connected with Deogaon Khas (the main hamlet in the village). 

During monsoons, the unpaved road connecting the two hamlets turns muddy. Chapatoli has about 75 households and its boundaries are clearly separated from adjacent hamlets. “Our akhara (dancing ground), khet (agriculture field) and bari (orchard), forest, everything is separate from Deogaon and other tolas of Deogaon. But for collecting our ration and attending Gram Sabha meetings, we need to go to Deogaon.”

This is where tola sabha proves to be a significant platform for effective and accountable local democratic governance. In ensuring this, tola sabha has the following advantage over the current form of Gram Sabha in Jharkhand :

• Easy and equal access: As the tola sabha meetings happen in the hamlet itself, it is more likely that everyone in the hamlet will be informed about the meeting, subsequently ensuring greater participation. Also, people feel more comfortable in their locality. Hence, there is a more conducive environment for active participation at the tola sabha than at Gram Sabha held at the revenue village level.
• Record keeping and transparency: Maintaining records for smaller meetings are easier at the hamlet level since there are fewer participants. In addition to meeting minutes, there is also the tracking register for welfare programmes, the eligible beneficiaries list for various welfare schemes, the social map, the resource map, the vulnerable household list, among other things. These records can be maintained at the hamlet rather than the revenue village. People can access these documents more conveniently in their hamlet, ensuring greater transparency.
• Accountability: Since people are more closely associated with each other in their day-to-day life, there will be more pressure for downward and horizontal accountability at the hamlet level. Also, greater transparency ensures greater accountability.
• Deliberation: It is more effective at the hamlet level as most of the issues are common to every member. They are personally attached and more informed about the issues of their hamlets rather than any other hamlet.
• Planning: Considering the above factors, it can be said that more meticulous and effective planning for economic and social development can be done at the tola sabha level than Gram Sabhas.
• Assertion: Shared issues and more active participation in tola sabha lead to more opportunities to develop clarity and confidence on their demand. This provides more mobilisation to assert their demands on platforms like Gram Sabhas, Gram Panchayats and even to administrative offices at the block and district level.

Here, it is important to understand that the tola sabha is not against the Gram Sabha but it provides support in strengthening the Gram Sabha. As discussed above, it prepares the hamlet to have greater assertion and deliberation capacity in the Gram Sabha. 

Training of the tola sabha gives them the confidence to challenge the status quo, bringing vibrancy to the Gram Sabha. This might further encourage other hamlets to organise themselves as tola sabha, resulting in increased active participation and the demand for horizontal and downward accountability in Panchayati raj institutions.

Views expressed are the authors’ own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth.

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