Buzz about Mukhiya Idea.

Telegraph India: Ranchi: Sunday, February 28, 2016.

A mukhiya's idea of curbing school dropouts by linking social scheme benefits of a family to regular attendance of children at classes has been lauded by many, including a former chief secretary and a right to information activist, sparking a healthy debate on whether to introduce it elsewhere even if it means skirting administrative procedures.

Director general of Sri Krishna Institute of Public Administration (SKIPA) Sudhir Prasad was among the first to hail the initiative of Ajay Kumar Singh, the mukhiya of Bundu panchayat in Petarwar block of Bokaro. As reported in The Telegraph today, his move of holding back rations of a family if it failed to ensure regular school attendance of its children, was slowly making a difference.

"It's a good initiative," said Prasad, a former chief secretary of Jharkhand. "But my only concern is about procedural lapses. Panchayat is a local self-government, a democratic body at the grassroots. Therefore, the mukhiya should have got this matter passed by the panchayat's karyakarni samity (cabinet) so that it gets institutionalised. That was the missing link," he said, adding that mukhiya Singh could extend the initiative in other spheres as well.

While most people agreed with Prasad, there were those who felt it was time to change archaic norms and procedures in the interest of the people.

Social worker and RTI activist Vishnu Rajgarhia welcomed Singh's "out-of-the-box" thinking. "If ration was being held back for a family dying of hunger, then it would be wrong. The mukhiya's intention is not to harass anyone. He wants to usher in accountability among parents. Education is equally important as ration," the activist said.

Gurjeet Singh, a right to food campaigner of Jharkhand, felt the idea had certain procedural, ethical and legal issues. "Jharkhand Panchayati Raj Act has no provisions to impose this kind of sanctions," Singh said in a letter to this paper.

"It seems to be the mukhiya's individual initiative. There's no reason for a family, which could have sick, elderly or physically challenged members, to suffer because of children not going to school. There may be valid reasons for not sending a child to school, ranging from teachers' bad behaviour to lack of toilets. Without analysing these cases individually, how can a mukhiya blame the family? Legally, he (mukhiya) could even be prosecuted," he said, adding that the Bundu mukhiya's idea had the potential of being misused.

Mukhiya Ajay Singh, who was clearly happy that his initiative had drawn such positive attention, however, told The Telegraph that he was ready to look at suggestions to take the idea forward. "I introduced the idea with due consent of the panchayat karyakarni samity. But remember, we have so many rules like right to food, right to housing, right to education. Then, why are people going hungry? Why doesn't everyone have a home? Why don't all children go to school?" he said.