SP (Pune Rural) Pratap Dighavkar talks about his award-winning efforts to make state's dispute-free village scheme grand success and UN interest in implementing it worldwide

IT started as a village-level voluntary participation scheme in the rural areas of the state, and went on to enjoy great success in the district.
u00a0
Now the Mahatma Gandhi Dispute-Free Village Scheme has been hailed by the United Nations (UN) for its efficient executionu00a0- so impressed is the UN with it that its worldwide implementation is on the cards.


Success story: Superintendent of Police (Pune Rural) IPS Officer
Pratap Dighavkar. Pic/Nikhil Ghorpadeu00a0

Pratap Ramchandra Dighavkar, the superintendent of police (Pune Rural), is the man behind the grand success of the scheme, which aims to resolve disputes at the village level itself through dialogue and understanding, thus avoiding lengthy court procedures that consume poor village folks' time and money.

Successful implementation of the scheme has not only helped reduce the pressure on Dighavkar's policemen but also averted numerous serious crimes that may occur with escalation of disputes.

UN presentation
A 1987 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, Dighavkar recently made a presentation on the scheme to a committee of officials from the UN.

Impressed by the sheer volume of disputes resolved amicably at the village level itself, the UN is now studying the scheme, which it plans to introduce in developing countries worldwide.

"The presentation and discussion at the UN went on for more than three hours, in which, besides the UN officials, ambassadors from about 10 countries participated," Dighavkar said. "Nicholas Henge, the chief political advisor to the UN secretary general, studied the scheme and has now recommended it."

The Peace Management and Conflict Solution Committee of the UN now studying the scheme.
"The committee is studying the scheme for limitations, sustainability and possible modifications which can be made to it for its worldwide implementation," Dighavkar said.

Secret of success
On the success of the scheme, Dighavkar said it was but natural that people would see the light and understand why they should go for mutual resolution of their disputes once they were told about the lengthy court procedures.

"There are three crore cases pending in different courts all of which would take at least 120 years if court hearings proceed at the current pace," said Dighavkar. "On the other hand, we have been successful in resolving 37,242 cases in the past eight months."

The officer said people had a sense of having had their say in the resolution of disputes that they were involved in, and the fact that the decision reached by the village-level committee was not binding made the warring parties approach the scheme with an open mind.

"The factors which have made the scheme a success are that it's a zero-budget scheme and the decision reached by the committee is not binding on the affected parties," Dighavkar said. "Besides this, community participation and settling disputes through discussion and not through argumentsu00a0- unlike in courtsu00a0- have helped build confidence among the public."

Awards list
Besides the SAARC award for Best Innovation Scheme for the Mahatma Gandhi Dispute Free-Village Mission, Dighavkar was also nominated for the Commonwealth Award for the Best in Public Administration in 2008, and the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar, which is the highest award for environment by the Centre, in 2007.