Unexplored tourism spots of Kozhikode to be mapped soon

Source: thehindu.com

District panchayat to take appropriate measures for their development

In an attempt to develop small tourism destinations and promote such spots under various responsible tourism projects, the Kozhikode District Panchayat is planning to map and video-document details of unexplored locations in all the 70 grama panchayats in the district.

To begin with, a meeting of all grama panchayat representatives will be held at Nalanda Auditorium here on February 5. Officials of the Tourism Department also will attend the meeting.

Five members from each of the 70 grama panchayats will present details of attractive and less explored tourism spots in their respective areas. The present condition of such spots as well as feasible development projects for such regions will also be presented to Department, besides including them in the proposed video-documentation project.

As of now, there is no such comprehensive video record or destination map available featuring the unexplored or hidden tourism destinations in the district. The plan of the district panchayat is to fast-track the mapping and video-documentation work and present it before the authorities concerned. If the grama panchayats themselves are able to do it, the district panchayat will extend all possible financial and technical support.

According to District Panchayat President Babu Parassery, there are several such hidden locations in the district which can emerge as popular destinations with plenty of self-employment opportunities for local residents. “Oloppara was one such location earlier identified by local bodies and was later promoted to the status of a quickly growing destination for eco-tourism lovers. The change is visible right in front of our eyes now,” he pointed out.

“For the growth of local tourism destinations, we are also ready to explore public-private partnership in possible areas. The district panchayat authorities will visit the locations to study the scope of development and adopt appropriate measures for their development,” said Mr. Parassery. According to him, the possible village tourism destinations can be even linked in the future to offer attractive sightseeing packages to tourists.

The district panchayat has a list of the yet-to-be explored eco-tourism spots, which will be covered first by the video-documentation and mapping project. The list includes locations suitable for introducing boating facility, handicrafts demonstration, and farm stay. Conducting tourism festivals in such locations to attract sightseers is also part of the new initiative to be implemented under the Responsible Tourism concept.

Bihar: In a weird decision, panchayat in Muzaffarpur asks woman to ‘sell’ baby.

Source – nationalheraldindia.com

A panchayat in Bihar has allegedly accused a pregnant 15-year-old girl for her being raped and ordered the baby to be sold off and the money handed to her as “compensation”. She had accused two men of repeatedly raping her.

The alleged ruling of Community panchayat at Muzaffarpur’s Katra surfaced after the girl, mustered the courage to approach the police. The 15-year-old is the daughter of a labourer.

A first information report (FIR) has been registered at Muzaffarpur’s all-women police station and raids are being conducted to arrest the accused: Maulana Maqbool and Muhammad Shoaib.

According to a report in The Telegraph, Muhammad Sadre, a member of the Katra Masjid Committee said, “The issue had been raging in our community panchayat since the beginning of this year when the minor girl sought justice from it for being raped.”

“She gave birth to a child last month. However, our panchayat held her responsible for her plight. It ordered that the baby be sold off and the money received given to her.”

“As far as I know, negotiations were held with a family in Tajpur, in nearby Samastipur district, and the baby was to be sold to them for ₹1 lakh. I could not intervene and don’t know whether the baby has been sold,” he said.

Mukhiya of the elected Katra panchayat, Arun Kumar has said that the girl had approached him to intervene and secure justice for her.

“I told her that such crimes cannot be settled by a panchayat and advised her to go to the police. I also told her where she could get an application written for the police,” Kumar said.

“However, she chose to approach the mosque committee, which held its own panchayat a couple of times to settle the issue,” he added.

Mukhiya had no clear answer why he had not taken the girl to the police himself.

After Katra panchayat blamed her and ordered the baby to be sold, the teenage girl approached the local police, who directed her to the district women’s police station.

According to the report in the Telegraph, an officer at the women’s police station said that various families of Katra used to send food to Maulana Maqbool, who stayed at the local mosque. Sometimes the families sent the girl to deliver food to him.

The official at the police station alleged that one day Maqbool gave her some drug-laced sweets and raped her after she passed out.

“Her ordeal continued for around two months. The accused blackmailed her and threatened to kill her. Later, a local youth, Shoaib, came to know about the situation and he too started raping her.”

Savita Devi, the officer in charge of the women’s police station, said the girl had “come to us when all the other doors had been shut to her”.

“We have registered a case under the relevant penal code sections and also under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act,” she said.

“We raided the village thrice but could not find the accused. We will put up posters about the accused.”

Senior officers said a DNA test was being considered to identify the biological father of the newborn.

Gaya Panchayat Tonsures,Punishes Minor Girl For Getting Gangraped?

Source: english.sakshi.com

Patna: In horrific incident members of a panchayat in Bihar’s Gaya district “punished” a minor girl who was gangraped by people from her own village. The girl’s head was tonsured and she was paraded through the village, a police officer said here on Wednesday.

The 15-year-old girl was kidnapped by residents of her village on August 14 and gangraped, sources in the police headquarters said.

The girl narrated the incident to her parents who then approached the local panchayat for justice two days later.

However, the members of the panchayat accused the girl of making unfounded allegations against the accused, who enjoy clout in the area, and punished the minor by tonsuring and parading her through the village, they said.

The incident came to light when the victim and her parents lodged a telephonic complaint with the office of the Director General of Police a week after the panchayat’s verdict.

Six people, including five members of the panchayat, were arrested on August 26 after recording the statements of the victim and her parents, Mohanpur SHO Ravi Bhushan said.

Gaya Mahila Thana in-charge Ravi Ranjana said the arrested persons have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days after being produced before a designated court while the girl’s statement was recorded before a magistrate after her medical examination.

She said the girl is yet to recover from the trauma but has been able to identify one of the accused.

Meanwhile, the State Women Commission has shot off a missive to Gaya police chief, demanding speedy justice to the victim besides summoning the five panchayat members.

“It is a very serious matter. We have asked the Gaya SSP to ensure that the accused are awarded strict punishment and the victim gets justice. We have asked the five panchayat members to appear before us and explain why such an inhuman treatment was meted out to a minor girl,” State Women Commission Chairperson Dilmani Mishra said.

Patna’s Chanakya National Law University trains panchayat functionaries for faster dispute resolution

Source: hindustantimes.com

In a new initiative aimed at resolving the growing number of disputes at the village level by strengthening the justice delivery system at the grassroots level, Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna, in collaboration with the department of panchayati raj, government of Bihar, has completed training of sarpanchs,up-sarpanchs, nyaya mitras, and gram katchari secretaries of Patna district.

Two-day trainings were held at the office of chair professor, panchayati raj, CNLU. About 1,000 members of gram katchari have been given training, both textual and practical, within three months. A moot court was also incorporated in the training programme under retired district judges and IAS officers.

The move is significant as it could help in lessening the mounting load of litigations in courts. As per the law, no court shall take cognisance of any case or suit that is cognisable by a bench of the gram katchari.

“We will start it in 14 other districts of Bihar with the help of the department of panchayati raj next month. Amrit Lal Meena, principal secretary, and Kuldeep Narayan, director of the department, have expressed their satisfaction over the successful completion of training programme of Patna district. Once trained, gram katcharis can bring about a perceptible change in local governance,” said SP Singh, chair professor.

“Bihar is the only state where chair professor has been estabconsent

lished by the department of panchayati raj. Ministry of panchayati Raj, government of India, has also shown an interest in establishing chair professor. I got a call from the ministry in this regard. The executive committee of CNLU has given its to start a PHD programme on various aspects of panchayati raj under the chair professor,” he added.

As per the Panchayati Raj Act, 2006, Bihar has set up gram katcharis in every panchayat for the purpose of discharging the mandated judicial functions.

The law stipulates that the state government shall, in the prescribed manner, make arrangements for training of the sarpanch, up-sarpanch, panches and nyaya mitras of the gram katchari.

Bihar has 8,392 gram katcharis and more than 33,000 personnel would be trained in phases. Chief minister Nitish Kumar had also earlier said that cases coming under the jurisdiction of gram katcharis should be transferred to them from police stations top reduce the load of litigations. Each gram katchari has five members. A sarpanch is a key figure and gram katchari is an important institution to entertain suits and cases on application of parties and police reports.

It has the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure,1908, to take evidence and to compel attendance of the parties, witnesses and such other persons as may be required and production of documents or instruments for disposal of such suits or cases.

The powers of village katcharis include clamping of Section 144 in their jurisdiction up to 15 days, beyond which it needs to be vetted by the SDO concerned. imposing fine up to Rs 1,000 and deal with land disputes, criminal trespass, public nuisance, eve teasing or family issues.