A day-long visit to the grama panchayat of Eraviperoor was a new experience for the 16-member team of experts from the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi.
The team, led by programme coordinator Rakesh Sharma, was all praise for the administrative system in place with the backing of modern technology at the small village. “Visiting your grama panchayat was an eye-opener on the development of the State of Kerala as its shows an illuminating model to the rest of the country,” wrote Suman Dudeja and Geetha Bhatt, academics from Delhi University in the visitor’s diary of the panchayat.
“Yours is an eco-friendly panchayat that excels in women empowerment, implementation of Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Generation Programme and various other Centrally-sponsored schemes,” says another diary jotting by Seema Kalra and Maneesh Pandey, academics attached to IGNOU. The team comprised experts from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai, University of Delhi, Geological Survey of India in Bangalore, DRDO in Hyderabad, and certain other major institutions in the country.
Panchayat president N. Rajeev made a presentation on the functioning of the local body. The team was all praise for the time-bound rendering of various services at the panchayat office. They witnessed a newly married couple receiving their laminated multi-colour marriage certificate in a matter of 20 minutes from the front office. “This deserves appreciation. You cannot expect such a speedy service even in our technologically advanced metros,” they said.
