A group of village sarpanchs in Rajasthan have resolved to take an oath of “transparency” instead of the usual “oath of secrecy”. They have pledged to declare their assets and functions in the most transparent manner possible.

The sarpanchs, elected in the recent Panchayati Raj elections in Rajasthan, got together in Jaipur recently and set an agenda for themselves and the state government, the Hindu reported.

They have called for a social audit of works carried out at least during the past one year, a clear definition of the roles of secretaries and rozgar sewaks (employment assistants), full compliance of RTI norms and a total ban on both contracts and use of machines under the job scheme.
Most of the sarpanchs feel that at least one year's audit should be carried out, and audits can be held periodically hereafter.