Case4-March-2014

Matriarchy proves effective in Local governance
Balu I

Thenoor Village panchayat is located in Madurai west union of Madurai District, Tamilnadu. This village is situated in the northern bank of the river Vaigai. During the October 2011, local body elections held in Tamilnadu, the Thenoor village Pachayat was reserved for the woman candidate. The Ex-President of Thenoor Panchayat, Mr.Sonaimuthu motivated his wife Ms.Lokasundari to contest the election.

Ms.Logasundari hailed from an orthodox family, which has restrictions for women to move out and mingle socially with the community. Ms.Logasundari had lot of reservations and apprehensions in contesting the election. However Mr.Sonaimuthu gave confidence and convinced her and she accepted to contest the election. Here relatives and neighbours questioned her about her capacity to manage the position and also started speaking that it is not good for a woman from an orthodox family to contest elections.

Ms.Logasundari replied them that she has taken this decision after a long thought and if there is any problem, she can very well get the support of her husband. During the election five women candidates contested for the post of President in Thenoor village and a heavy competition prevailed. The other contestants spent a huge amount upto five lakhs, but Ms.Lokasundari spent less than a lakh. Instead she met each and every individual family in the village and created an awareness not to get bribe for vote. She used to say ‘ Today if you get money and vote, tomorrow you have to pay for any benefits you expect from them, especially for getting entitlements’. Her way of approach was liked by the people and finally in the election Ms.Lokasundari won with a margin of 1308 votes. Ms.Lokasundari became the President of Thenoor Village Panchayat.

Ms.Logasundari, who had migrated to at Madurai city earlier to provide better education to her children, again moved back to Thenoor village after the elections. After assuming power, she started to perform her duties with much enthusiasm and concern for the community. She believed that serving people is like serving God. When she began performing as President of the Thenoor village, she faced lot of hurdles from the drunkards in the village and those who were opponent to her in the elections. Though she did not have in depth knowledge of Panchayat accounts and administration, she was able to grasp thinks quickly, since she served as Panchayat ward councilor earlier . She learned to face the challenges boldly, without allowing them to distract from her duty.

As a President she wished to do all works with perfection, but the Panchayat secretary remained as a biggest challenge for her, since he did not maintain proper accounts for the revenue collected. For example, though the house tax was collected from every house hold, the secretary failed to remit it in the panchayat account. After finding this malpractice, she severely warned him and introduced Demand Draft system for tax collection. Even after introducing this system the Panchayat secretary managed to do frauds, without writing proper accounts and swallowed people’s money. The matter was then taken seriously by Ms.Logasundari, who with the support of the Block Development Officer managed to suspend the Panchayat secretary on account of corruption.

After suspension of the Panchayat secretary, she himself was forced to maintain the account, in which she faced some difficulties due to lack of knowledge. During that time DHAN Foundation through its Panchayat development program, conducted a training for Panchayat president and also offered a course ‘Diploma in Panchayat Management’. Ms.Logasundari, who was keen in learning and enhancing her knowledge about panchayat and panchayat administration, got enrolled in the training and also in the diploma course. This helped her a lot and now she could able to maintain panchayat accounts properly without the support of others. The Thenoor Panchayat is allowed to appoint to Panchayat secretaries, but Ms.Logasundari did not appoint anyone and take care of all the works, including maintaining the record of the village panchayat and also the accounts. The people due to introduction of demand draft system of tax collection also got aware of the banking practices and convinced that the amount is maintained in proper way. The house tax collected hitherto by the panchayat secretary was only र 40,000. But after introduction of demand draft system, proper follow up with the villagers and proper accounting the tax revenue increased to र 3,00,000, per year, which is indeed a great achievement. Enhancing the income of the village panchayat gave Ms.Logasundari much pleasure and pride.

In Tamilnadu, many of the panchayat presidents did not know about providing plan approval for construction of new house in the village. However Ms.Logasundari learned how to do plan approval and calculate fees for the same based on the size and type of construction of new house. She also introduced the system of providing license to petty shops, by which also she curtailed selling of cigarettes and tobacco products in the village.

Ms.Logasundari is a role model for other women presidents in the state. The women have the capacity to lead and also the ability to manage, provided a right opportunity is given. The president proudly says that she has ensured 100% house tax collection in the village. Also says that there will be no streets in the village without street lights. ‘I personally have a look at the street lights regularly, and if I find any problem, I will take steps to replace them in a day’ she adds. The drinking water supply to the village is also ensured throughout the year and there are no complaints of water scarcity. The quality of drinking water is also ensured by regular cleaning of the tanks .

Another important achievement by the president Ms.Logasundari was the availing of loan for construction of fifty houses in the panchayat through the Indhra Awas Yojana (IAY), of the Central Government and Green House scheme of the state government. One of the beneficiaries of the green house scheme proudly says that ‘We have not given even a single paise to avail the funds for constructing house. We are proud of having a leader, who never receives bribes in any form’. All the beneficiaries of the housing scheme have pasted posters in the village, praising the president for not getting any bribe for the same.

Ms.Logasundari puts her heart and soul for betterment of the village and its people and works seven days a week. She spends her time not only in office but also in the field along with the people to understand their issues and needs. Ms.Logasundari says ‘My villagers now eat rice three times a day, due to enhancement of their livelihood income. But I could not do so due to lack of time. Instead of rice, I take idli or dosa. My husband being educated in Vivekanandha college is also selfless and supporting me to work for people. I derived motivation from him and now perform well in my duties much to his astonishment’

Ms.Logasundari’s efforts were lauded not only by the villagers in Thenoor, but also by the villagers in other panchayats. She also performs the role of Treasurer of Madurai West union Women President Network promoted by M-GRIP project of Panchayat Programme. The local tamil magazine Kanal Pookal offered her with ‘Ullatchi Nayagi Award’, to recognize her outstanding works for betterment of the village panchayat. The Tamilnadu Village cultural trust also has honored her with ‘Gramiya Rathna Award’ for her accomplishments as president of Thenoor village panchayat.