Question : MEETING AND VIDEO RECORDING OF GRAM SABHA PROCEEDINGS

(a) whether the Union Government has issued any instructions/advisory to the State Governments and Union Territory (UT) Administrations with regard to convening regular meetings of Gram Sabhas and Video-graphing of Gram Sabha discussions;            

(b) if so, the details thereof along with the objective of the Government behind such move;  

(c) the progress made and present status in regard to implementation/compliance of said instructions by the States/UTs;  

(d) whether the Government has achieved the desired objective in States which have complied with the above instructions;and  

(e) if so, the details thereof ?

MINISTER OF PANCHAYATI RAJ (SHRI V. KISHORE CHANDRA DEO)

(a) & (b): The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has advised the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations to prepare an annual calendar of Gram Sabha meetings and to ensure that atleast four meetings of Gram Sabha are held in a year with advance and widely publicized notices. The Ministry has also advised to make a full videographic record of all Gram Sabha meetings. The objective of the Government is to ensure and improve the transparency and accountability in the Panchayati Raj system at the grass root level.

(c), (d) & (e): The Ministry is not maintaining a data base on the number of meetings held in a year or the videography of the proceedings of the meetings.