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CHURCH PREPARES TRIBALS FOR LOCAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS

Updated: March 12, 2002 05:00 PM GMT
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The Church in Jharkhand is educating the eastern Indian state´s tribal population on the powers of local administrative bodies for which polls will be held in May.

Archbishop Telesphore P. Toppo of Ranchi, head of the state´s Catholics, said the Church wants people to learn "clean politics," not the type seen elsewhere in the country.

According to the tribal prelate, most Christians in Jharkhand had kept away from politics until the state´s formation in November 2000. "Now we have got a new state and we want clean politics here," the archbishop told UCA News.

As an initial move, Ranchi archdiocese organized a training program Feb. 13-15 for select social workers, lay leaders, nuns and priests from the state´s eight dioceses.

Father Hubertus Beck, priest in charge of Ranchi´s Nawatanr parish, who attended the program, said the participants resolved to teach their people what they learned at the training about local government.

He said the training convinced them that village councils, "panchayat," have "great powers," as they are the actual rulers at the grassroots.

He admitted that even priests had been ignorant about the role and significance of the village councils.

The priest noted that the region had not held such elections for a quarter of a century. "Therefore, the present generation knows nothing about it and the elders hardly recall the last election," Father Beck explained.

Before its creation, the state of Jharkhand was part of Bihar, which held its own village council elections in April 2001.

Father Beck said people have lost hope in such elections, but the government is determined to elect in May the councils for more than 22,400 villages, 194 blocks and 18 districts.

Archbishop Toppo said the Church wants all tribal people to get involved in the elections since "clean politics" has to emerge from the grassroots.

Unless the ordinary people are aware of the "vast powers" these bodies enjoy, they will never benefit from them, the prelate said, adding that "other people will misuse it in the name of people."

Although Christians number no "more than 5 percent" of the state´s 26.9 million people, nobody can deny their services in Jharkhand state´s development, said Archbishop Toppo, who was elected the head of the country´s Latin-rite bishops at the end of February.

He said the mineral-rich state plays a significant role in the country´s economy and the Church has an important role in ensuring its progress.

According to tribal leaders, 90 percent of the state´s government officers and business people are now outsiders. A total of 27 tribals sit in the state´s 87-seat legislative assembly. The 2001 census showed tribals form 27.6 percent of Jharkhand´s population.

On Jan. 29, in a meeting prior to the training program, the region´s bishops and major superiors discussed the role of the Church and tribals in the polls.

Jesuit Bishop Charles Soreng of Hazaribagh, who chaired the meeting, told UCA News that the election has assumed greater significance for the tribals and the Church in the state, created ostensibly for tribals´ welfare.

Church-managed women´s groups in the state have also joined the awareness drive. Sister Emma Ekka, convenor of the Catholic Mahila Sangh (women´s union), said women were initially reluctant to stand for election to positions that they earlier considered as men´s jobs.

"But now, many are willing to contest elections because of our continuous efforts," the Ursuline nun said, adding that the union wants to produce quality women leaders to ensure local development and gender equality.

The nun said the union´s current drive is directed at getting half the council seats reserved for women. She said various awareness programs they have conducted in the past few months have convinced the union that tribal women are "second to none."

She is also confident that Catholic women leaders would check those with "vested interests" from exploiting the villagers.

END

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