Even the dominant media - let alone the CPI(M) or Left Front - praised the panchayati raj in West Bengal sky-high, but it's myth to a considerable extent, particularly in panchayats where CPI(M) or Left Front failed to win. Dr Nityananda Ghosh narrates his experience as a 2nd Polling officer.
Where Panchayati Raj Is a Hoax 8 Jun 14 (http://thestatesman.net/news/58509-life-letters.html)
As second polling officer, Nityananda Ghosh recounts a memorable experience in Deulbari village
A CHANCE visit and a two-day stay at a tiny hamlet called Deulbari not all that far removed from Kolkata reminded me of Andre Gunder Frank's famous formulation, Development of Under-Development — an apt description of post-colonial or neo-colonial politico-economic development. Mine was a horrible but educative experience as second polling officer during the last phase of the 16th Lok Sabla polls at this village under the 129 Kultali (Scheduled Caste) assembly segment of 19 Jaynagar LS constituency. My polling booth (No. 190) was at the Deulbari Uttamchand Free Primary School under the jurisdiction of the Deulbari Gram Panchayat, approaching the Sundarbans.
Initially, I was surprised when I received a memo from the district magistrate, South 24-Parganas district, to the effect that I would have to be on election duty. The appointing authority was district magistrate Santanu Basu, who did not care to note, while choosing me as second polling officer, that I was a lecturer (part time) at Bankim Sardar College in Canning in the same district. A Supreme Court ruling stipulates that no college teacher be deputed for polling duty. I do not know whether a part-time lecturer can be picked up for election duties, but, anyway, some friends suggested that I would gather lively experience at a rural polling booth. After initial reluctance, I decided to go.
My presiding officer was Subhashis Adhikary, an assistant teacher at Battali Bangabharati Vidyayatan, Gosaba, and the others were Bijoy Krishna Datta, first polling officer (a laboratory attendant in Sarsuna College) and Indrajit Halder, third polling officer (a technician at the Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Jadavpur, a CSIR unit).
We arrived on 11 May 2014. It was a fine morning but the mercury was rising with every passing moment. At first, we had to go to Nimpeeth Ramkrishna Vidyabhavan at around 10:45 am. For me, the journey from Bagha Jatin station was anything but smooth. There was a tremendous rush and the train I managed to board was the Lakshmikantapur Local in the Sealdah South section. It was jam-packed and most of passengers were returning home from their far off workplaces (some in other states) to exercise their right to vote, such being the desire to confirm one's citizenship in Asia's largest democratic state.
The four of us polling officers registered our presence at Counter No.10 at the Vidyayatan premises and collected an Electronic Voting Machine and other polling material. It took us a few hours to board the minibus assigned to us to get to our destination — Deulbari Uttamchand Free Primary School. Two other polling parties accompanied us in the same bus and we had to wait for paramilitary forces that would be our escort. Nimpeeth Ramkrishna Vidyabhavan was chaotic, congested and polluted. Some five diesel generators (10-15 hp) were being operated non-stop.
We reached the polling booth at around 6 pm, by which time we were exhausted. We passed through Jamtala en route to Deulbari. Our booth was a half-completed brick-built affair without plastering. The asbestos roofing made it very hot inside. There was no electricity, not even a single bench to sit on, just a wooden chair and a table meant for the presiding officer. There was no generator, nor any lamp. There was only one latrine, no bathroom. The villagers came to our aid. They brought four high benches, but for which we would not have been able to perform our duties.
The Matla river ran nearby and dreaded Royal Bengal tigers would invade the village off and on, which explained the aluminum wire nets. The village economy depended on agriculture – it's a mono-crop (paddy) growing area and entirely monsoon-dependent – and the villagers I spoke to said they tried to grow vegetables but the net yield was quite meagre. The inhabitants –Hindus and Muslims – were very simple and cordial and communal tension or the like was absent.
We were very tired when we arrived but there was no scope for rest as preparations for polling had to be made. We worked till midnight with the help of kerosene lamps and had dinner that consisted of eggs and fried potatoes. We woke at 4 am and one by one we lined up to respond to nature's call and bathe in the open. We had to be ready for polling work by 5:30 am. Voters were already in a queue. Braving the pangs of under-development and official neglect, they'd come to exercise their democratic right.
After a mock-poll in the presence of polling agents representing the Revolutionary Socialist Party, Socialist Unity Centre of India and the All-India Trinamool Congress, polling began at 7:15 am. Interestingly, there was a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate but the agent had no authorisation (identity card). We placed the problem before all, but there was no resistance. Rather, the BJP polling agent was allowed to be present, a unique lesson in friendliness. The exercise continued without break till 6 pm and of 741 voters, 671 had done their duty, meaning 90.6 per cent polling. We left to submit our EVM at Nimpeeth, which we reached at about 9:30 pm, but there was a big queue and it wasn't before 1:30 am on 13 May that we were done.
It was a memorable experience in a place where panchayati raj is a hoax, perhaps because Deulbari village was under the Suci for nearly three decades.
Where Panchayati Raj Is a Hoax 8 Jun 14 (http://thestatesman.net/news/58509-life-letters.html)
As second polling officer, Nityananda Ghosh recounts a memorable experience in Deulbari village
A CHANCE visit and a two-day stay at a tiny hamlet called Deulbari not all that far removed from Kolkata reminded me of Andre Gunder Frank's famous formulation, Development of Under-Development — an apt description of post-colonial or neo-colonial politico-economic development. Mine was a horrible but educative experience as second polling officer during the last phase of the 16th Lok Sabla polls at this village under the 129 Kultali (Scheduled Caste) assembly segment of 19 Jaynagar LS constituency. My polling booth (No. 190) was at the Deulbari Uttamchand Free Primary School under the jurisdiction of the Deulbari Gram Panchayat, approaching the Sundarbans.
Initially, I was surprised when I received a memo from the district magistrate, South 24-Parganas district, to the effect that I would have to be on election duty. The appointing authority was district magistrate Santanu Basu, who did not care to note, while choosing me as second polling officer, that I was a lecturer (part time) at Bankim Sardar College in Canning in the same district. A Supreme Court ruling stipulates that no college teacher be deputed for polling duty. I do not know whether a part-time lecturer can be picked up for election duties, but, anyway, some friends suggested that I would gather lively experience at a rural polling booth. After initial reluctance, I decided to go.
My presiding officer was Subhashis Adhikary, an assistant teacher at Battali Bangabharati Vidyayatan, Gosaba, and the others were Bijoy Krishna Datta, first polling officer (a laboratory attendant in Sarsuna College) and Indrajit Halder, third polling officer (a technician at the Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Jadavpur, a CSIR unit).
We arrived on 11 May 2014. It was a fine morning but the mercury was rising with every passing moment. At first, we had to go to Nimpeeth Ramkrishna Vidyabhavan at around 10:45 am. For me, the journey from Bagha Jatin station was anything but smooth. There was a tremendous rush and the train I managed to board was the Lakshmikantapur Local in the Sealdah South section. It was jam-packed and most of passengers were returning home from their far off workplaces (some in other states) to exercise their right to vote, such being the desire to confirm one's citizenship in Asia's largest democratic state.
The four of us polling officers registered our presence at Counter No.10 at the Vidyayatan premises and collected an Electronic Voting Machine and other polling material. It took us a few hours to board the minibus assigned to us to get to our destination — Deulbari Uttamchand Free Primary School. Two other polling parties accompanied us in the same bus and we had to wait for paramilitary forces that would be our escort. Nimpeeth Ramkrishna Vidyabhavan was chaotic, congested and polluted. Some five diesel generators (10-15 hp) were being operated non-stop.
We reached the polling booth at around 6 pm, by which time we were exhausted. We passed through Jamtala en route to Deulbari. Our booth was a half-completed brick-built affair without plastering. The asbestos roofing made it very hot inside. There was no electricity, not even a single bench to sit on, just a wooden chair and a table meant for the presiding officer. There was no generator, nor any lamp. There was only one latrine, no bathroom. The villagers came to our aid. They brought four high benches, but for which we would not have been able to perform our duties.
The Matla river ran nearby and dreaded Royal Bengal tigers would invade the village off and on, which explained the aluminum wire nets. The village economy depended on agriculture – it's a mono-crop (paddy) growing area and entirely monsoon-dependent – and the villagers I spoke to said they tried to grow vegetables but the net yield was quite meagre. The inhabitants –Hindus and Muslims – were very simple and cordial and communal tension or the like was absent.
We were very tired when we arrived but there was no scope for rest as preparations for polling had to be made. We worked till midnight with the help of kerosene lamps and had dinner that consisted of eggs and fried potatoes. We woke at 4 am and one by one we lined up to respond to nature's call and bathe in the open. We had to be ready for polling work by 5:30 am. Voters were already in a queue. Braving the pangs of under-development and official neglect, they'd come to exercise their democratic right.
After a mock-poll in the presence of polling agents representing the Revolutionary Socialist Party, Socialist Unity Centre of India and the All-India Trinamool Congress, polling began at 7:15 am. Interestingly, there was a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate but the agent had no authorisation (identity card). We placed the problem before all, but there was no resistance. Rather, the BJP polling agent was allowed to be present, a unique lesson in friendliness. The exercise continued without break till 6 pm and of 741 voters, 671 had done their duty, meaning 90.6 per cent polling. We left to submit our EVM at Nimpeeth, which we reached at about 9:30 pm, but there was a big queue and it wasn't before 1:30 am on 13 May that we were done.
It was a memorable experience in a place where panchayati raj is a hoax, perhaps because Deulbari village was under the Suci for nearly three decades.
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