Located along the Mumbai-Nashik Expressway, Ghoti Budrook, a village panchayat has achieved a kitty and other panchayats of their own source revenue (OSR) by collecting fees and taxes from their residents.
Although the residents of Ghoti Budrook under Igatpuri taluka in Nashik district have access to urban facilities – schools, hospitals, bank branches and a veterinary hospital – their struggle for adequate water supply is going on, as the scheme approved under the Center’s Water Jean Mission (Jejam) is incomplete.
“Water supply is made once every six days,” says Bajirao Denge, Village Secretary, Ghoti Budrook. Those who have tanks can store water, but are poor victims because they lack storage facilities.
“We were hoping that water supply problems would be solved after the Water Life Mission … it has not happened,” Denge said.
The current water supply scheme in the panchayat began in the 1960s and the water supply infrastructure has been increased with a growing population to cover very few families, Denge told The Indian Express.
Ganesh Gode, sarpanch of Goti Budrook, said, “Water is supplied to about 25,000 people of an estimated population of only 35,000 panchayat”.
Gode said, “In a meeting with officials in Nashik in March this year, he promised that the water supply would begin within a month, but it did not happen.
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According to JJM dashboard, temporary completion date for Ghoti Budruk Water Supply Scheme is 30 September 2025. The scheme was approved in 2021-22 at an estimated cost of `20.81 crore. When the work order was issued on October 10, 2022, the cost was revised up to `22.29 crore, while the Central K ‘3.35 crore and the state’s’ 1.34 crore k’ of 4.69 crores has been spent so far.
According to a letter from Denge for Executive Engineering, a week after the Gram Sabha meeting of Ghoti Budrook Panchayat on December 30, Maharashtra Life Authority (Water Supply and Sanitation Department), Drug, “Gorgeous Quality of Work under JJM” was also flagged off, which demanded action against the contract. Social activist Balu Sakhala also pointed to “substandard work” in Budrook, which caused people to suffer as drinking water, supplying “once in 8–10 days”. He said that the work should be monitored properly.
Officials say Ghoti Budrook has become ‘self -sufficient’ by generating his sources of revenue. A specialist committee constituted by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj on OSR of rural local bodies found that the total OSR from all sources was 4,953 crore for 2019-20 in the total OSR 25 states from all sources for 28 states of House Tax.
The Ministry has advised rural bodies to improve their own sources of revenue and in August 2021 issued an advice on the subject of ‘to make the Gram Sabha alive’, suggesting a sample calendar, which includes month-wise subjects for discussion in the Gram Sabha agenda.
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In this calendar, one of the topics suggested by the panchayat included the general property property lease for improving its sources (OSR) of revenue.
Unlike other village panchayats, Ghoti Budrook has made great progress in creating revenue streams. In the financial year 2024-25, its income was more than a cost of 3.63 crores of `3.96 crore. Most of its income came from its sources of revenue: `1.20 crore as property tax; `48.35 lakhs as water tax; Cleanliness and other allegations `3 lakhs; Entertainment, light and business `12.80 lakhs; Fare `38 lakhs from panchayat properties and compensation of octroi tax 52 lakhs.
(The author was in Ghoti Budrook at the invitation of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj)
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