Editorial: Now, Deliver

The panchayat election results are now a fortnight past. The outbursts of post-poll violence are also hopefully in the past and over the Diwali holidays even the realignment of Independents as ruling party panchayats or confirmed as ‘Independents’ has been finalised. Now will come the processes of appointing the Zilla Adhakshyas and other office bearers at the panchayat level. And once even these formalities are done and dusted, will come the challenge for the new set of panchayats, at least 50% of whom are now women, to deliver. The panchayats who have demitted office deserve credit for having done well, a handsome collection of awards at the national level standing testimony to their performance. Admittedly, the last batch of panchayats was also the first to wield substantial powers and enjoy access to funds of any consequence. Rural empowerment is now reasonably well institutionalised in Sikkim and credit goes to the panchayats and the State Government for having found their footing so fast and so smoothly. As the teething problems of power devolution get ironed out and more responsibilities get shouldered on the panchayats, the responsibility of the present lot to not only sustain the process, but also set new benchmarks sits heavy. It is important that they realise this early enough and given that almost all of them wear the SDF party colours, the party high-command should also work in close coordination with them to ensure that slip-ups are few. Rural Sikkim is still in the process of earthquake rehabilitation and important schemes like CMRHM, CATCH and CMSES are still works in progress. These need careful and considerate handling to ensure fair delivery and now, even the pinch of inflation is starting to hurt the rural areas. Panchayats now have important roles to play; roles which extend much beyond the recommendation roles they traditionally played. Here’s to hoping that they deliver well...