Mumbai: On February 22, a special Gram Sabha meeting was called at Madhi village in Ahilyanagar’s Pathardi taluka. Its agenda was clear – to discuss the newly-released list of those eligible for housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in the village.
The meeting was held on a Saturday, an unusual choice because most villagers and even Gram Sabha members would be away at work. The meeting concluded, and a few attendees who could be present signed the day’s agenda.
These signatures were later allegedly misused for another resolution – this one, to “boycott” Muslim traders who would soon be gathering in the village for the grand annual Madhi fair at the ancient Kanifnath shrine. The shrine, located 50 kilometres from Ahilyanagar (what was earlier called Ahmednagar), is an important place of worship for several nomadic communities. Over the past several decades, with the growing influence of radical Hindutva outfits, it has acquired visual markers that help with the claim that it is a “Hindu” shrine.
The 700-year-old Kanifnath festival at Madhi sees substantial footfall, especially from the nomadic communities, from across the country.
This move, initiated by the village sarpanch Sanjay Markad, has led to unrest in the village. It is illegal and unconstitutional for a Gram Sabha to adopt such a resolution in India. Many individuals whose signatures appeared on the resolution have now accused Markad of using their signatures without their knowledge. But a few claim that they were aware of the move and support the resolution.
As the controversy erupted, the district administration directed Shivaji Kamble, the block development officer (BDO) of the village panchayat, to look into the matter. Kamble confirmed to The Wire that the meeting was indeed called to discuss the housing scheme and that the boycott of a community was never on the agenda. “Before such meetings, the agenda is explicitly set and notified to the members and villagers. But that didn’t happen in this case,” Kamble said, adding that these were his preliminary findings.
Article 243 (b) of the Indian constitution gives Gram Sabhas significant power to both govern and run the day-to-day administrative work of the village. The resolution adopted at Madhi is thus unconstitutional and is liable to be a criminal case. So far, however, no legal action has been initiated against sarpanch Markad or anyone else involved in passing the resolution. The Wire contacted district collector Siddharam Salimath to inquire about the action initiated against the villagers but didn’t get any response. This report will be updated as and when Salimath responds.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.