Faulty reservation policy has led to the Gudem gram panachayat in Dandapelli mandal in this district being run by a special officer for the last 27 years.
In 1968, the government notified this panchayat as being reserved for tribals. But since there is not a single tribal family in the village which has a population of about 2,400, the panchayat is being run by a special officer.
Various forms of protests and representations to the government by the villagers seeking dereservation of the panchayat have not had any effect on either the central or the state government. And, in the absence of an elected body to run the panchayat, there has been no development of the village over the last 27 years, making it one of the most backward villages in the state.
District panchayat officer K. Pochiah told ENS that the dereservation of the panchayat was a long process. First, the villagers had to submit a memorandum to the state tribal welfare department. If it accepted the memorandum, it had to put up a note to the government. The government would then have to get a resolution passed in the Assembly and get it ratified by the governor. The Centre would then have to seek the Parliament’s nod for the same and send it to the President for effecting the necessary change in the reservation schedule from Notified Scheduled Tribes to the General Category.