In what may be indication of a serious problem at the grassroots level in the state, the residents of 62 villages in Sihor taluka of Bhavnagar have threatened to boycott the panchayats saying they have lost their faith in the system.

The villagers said they are forced to do so as panchayats have failed to implement on resolutions passed for development of the area.

“In over 62 villages in our taluka resolutions have been lying idle either at mamlatdar's office or at taluka development officer’s office for two to three years,” said Savita J Rathore, the sarpanch of Kantodiya.

“Most of the decisions related to BPL and Antyodaya ration cards remain unaddressed in the process, which is infuriating villagers,” said a panchayat member from Ambla village.

In a similar incident that happened last month, 58 village panchayats across Anjar and Gandhidham talukas of Kutch district had collectively refused to hold gram sabhas in their areas labeling it as a futile exercise with non-implementation of most resolutions.

An organisation called Anjar Gandhidham Gram Panchayat Pratinidhi Manch (AGGPPM) had also sent a memorandum to Taluka Development Officers (TDOs) of Anjar and Gandhidham.

While the government has received no official complaint from these villages, the authorities said similar problems at village level had happened in the past too, but such a collective crisis is unheard of.

State Development Commissioner, Vipul Mitra, said “These are village-specific isolated cases. They don’t indicate system failure as it is just a minute fraction of over 130,000 gram panchayats.”

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