“Roles of village head are increasing”

Vijay Kumar,
State Village Heads Association, Bihar

People participated in panchayat elections with great hopes. But that is coming down in Bihar. This is due to disillusionment of people with this institution. However, panchayatiraj has has raised power consciousness among people; local administration and elected members of parliament and legislative assembly feel the heat of it. The role of the village head has been increasing in local development.

Their voices in local development and governance are not being ignored. This has given fillip to their leadership. For example village heads now demand for village level Lokpal to investigate corruption allegations against village heads. But all the promises that were made in state panchayat elections have not been implemented. Besides the elected representatives of parliament and assembly, bureaucracy is a big threat to this institution.