Ever since the passage of 73rd Amendment to the Constitution of India, Disha is making efforts to strengthen panchayats, the institutions of local self-governance in rural areas. While on one hand it has motivated its front members to contest panchayat elections with a view to get hold of positions in panchayats, on the other hand it is providing training to elected panchayat representatives, on the other hand it is holding workshops, organising interface of panchayat representatives and government officials, and contributing to research and advocacy efforts in collaboration with the state level organisations. In addition, it is spreading awareness among the common villagers regarding latest developments in the panchayats.  

Training in panchayati raj are focused on salient features of panchayati raj regime and rights and duties of panchayat representatives. Gender is an integral part of all the panchayati raj training and special emphasis is given on the role of women in panchayats. Training are organised from time to time when some new development in panchayati raj regime takes place. 

Disha organises workshops on various panchayati raj themes and participates in such events at the state and national level. Some of the workshop topics in the past have been role of voluntary organisations in panchayat elections. Interfaces have included with the divisional commissioner, and other officials. 

Interventions in panchayat elections have included awareness drives among the villagers to vote in large numbers and elect ‘upright candidates’. The emphasis of the awareness drive was on gram panchayat members as they are people’s representatives at the grass roots and are nearest to their fellow villagers. Other interventions included solving problems of candidates in filing nomination forms and arranging caste certificates, authorisation certificates and other formalities. During the 2000 elections, about 400 candidates were provided assistance in filing their nomination forms and meeting other formalities. 

One study in the panchayati raj needs special mention. It was on the decentralisation affected by the Uttar Pradesh Government with regard to the panchayats. The study was a part of state level study on the same topic and data collection for it was done in Saharanpur Zila Panchayat, Sarsawa Kshettra Panchayat, and five Gram Panchayats. Study report is available with the coordinating agency Sahbhagi Shikshan Kendra.

Awareness efforts among the panchayat residents have started cleansing up governance at the village level. Two examples of this are worth quoting. When Pradhan of Khera Mewat Gram Panchayat asked bribe from four beneficiaries of Indira Awas Yojana they lodged complaints with the district panchayati raj officer (DPRO) with affidavits. An inquiry carried out by the DPRO found the Gram Pradhan guilty and appropriate action was taken against him. In the same Gram Panchayat there was dispute over construction of the school building. When the villagers agitated, the dispute was resolved and construction of the building was finished expeditiously. 

One of the achievements of the intervention in panchayati raj was official nod to Disha to intervene in the preparation of below poverty line (BPL) lists. This nod came when serious discrepancies came into light in the BPL lists on the basis of which Disha had to facilitate formation of SHGs on the request of the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) of Saharanpur. On inquiry it was revealed that while preparing the lists set norms were not followed and the gram pradhans and gram panchayat development officers (GPDOs) included the names on their will, thus paving the way for inclusion of many non-eligible people in the lists. The matter was raised in the DRDA meeting following which it has been decided that henceforth Disha will intervene in the preparation of BPL lists as the lists’ preparation is an annual feature.

Another achievement worth mentioning is that a few former panchayat representatives have started acting as resource persons. They have joined hands with Disha to make efforts to sensitise the people on panchayati raj system.

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