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GS Paper 4
Syllabus: Public Service Values
Context:
Polling for Madhya Pradesh panchayat elections with SC-directed OBC reservation is less than a week away.
Famous series Panchayat had highlighted the issues prevalent in most Indian Villages.
The location where the series was shot i.e. Madhya Pradesh’s Mahodiya faces almost all the issues that have been shown in the series highlighting Ethical issues and a lack of values in Public Administration.
Issues Involved in this case:
- Prevalence of patriarchy in Indian Villages shows a lack of gender equality in – the culture of Pradhan-Pati — a system where the men of the family, primarily husbands, run the show on behalf of the elected representative. It is the men who interact with the media too.
- Lack of effective governance and misappropriation of public funds– Water Tank shown in the show- Villagers say that it was built close to a decade ago and they are yet to receive water from it.
- Dilemma of Reservation vs Merit– Due to the Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation rule, the village will now elect an OBC woman as sarpanch thus others will be left out.
- Discrimination and misuse of the utilization of public funds – There are a few kachcha houses and they are in the process of getting converted into concretized houses under the Prime Minister’s housing scheme. Dalit residents, claim the wait is usually longer for Dalit beneficiaries compared to those from other castes.
What can be done?
- Spread Awareness: Among the masses regarding the issue of Pradhan Pati and empowering women to take charge of issues.
- Probity in governance: To check that misappropriation of funds doesn’t occur and be accountable and transparent when dealing with public funds.
- Objectivity: In the allocation of concretized houses to the neediest first.
Source: The Hindu
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