Distribution of the calendar detailing the funds allocated to all households in Dediapada taluka safagesa gram panchayat, Gujarat, the funds have done what many governments do not like to do to put a clear "hissing" on how they use the annual budget ".
For this reason, ksabhas Khokhraumar and Kundiamba-
Covering two villages and three villages respectively.
Decided to create a calendar detailing income and expenditure and distribute it among families in 200 to 250 villages.
Sarpanch Maganbhai Vasava, village Kundiamba, said the idea behind the initiative is that they want people to understand the work done and, more importantly, to be transparent.
"It took us some time to really get the information on the funds allocated to us.
We had to chase talati for a while because he could only give us information when he was free.
But in a few months, we did collect all the details of the allocation of funds and the actual work done and approved, "Vasava said.
He said that although they only tried the calendar for a year, they put a board outside the school over the next year to elaborate on this.
"We felt we had to give them information --
Whether they ask us or not . "
Govind Desai, senior manager, Rural Support Programme, Aga Khan (AKRSP)
As part of its good governance initiative, who works in the field, he said it was in a discussion that gram panchayat came up with the idea.
"We have observed that many times the villagers do not trust gram panchayat and sarpanch and believe that there is no work to be done because panchayat is drawing money out.
In fact, sarpanch and gram panchayats do not have much power, which is a good way to inform people about the work being done, "Desai claims.
Interestingly, he said that when the calendar of income and expenditure was detailed, no one criticized the way funds were used, but instead, the villagers simply gave feedback on how and where to use the funds better next time.
"The villagers want to spend more money on ensuring the supply of drinking water, which is a major problem here.
"They also want better spending on health and education," Desai said . ".
However, he added that for gram panchayats it was a patient exercise to understand the details of the allocation of funds.
"It took them six months to collect all the information from talatis.
"Now, they are also looking at building a digital board that is regularly updated," Desai said . ".