Chandrakanti Devi Tharu, an educated tribal woman who heads another village council, urged NGOs to emulate the Church by undertaking similar programs to empower the people.

Since the new system puts women on a par with men in local councils, "our neglected villages" will become "real" republics, she said. Common people have now become "sovereign rulers" of their villages, and other constitutional institutions such as state legislative assemblies and the federal parliament exist "merely to assist us, not to dictate to us," she asserted.

Such awareness was what the organizers intended to achieve, confirmed Jesuit Father Joseph Sebastian Plathottam, who coordinates Bihar Panchayat Nav Nirman Abhiyan. If new councilors understand their legal and economic power properly, he said, they can usher in prosperity and social harmony in their villages.

Village councils have sufficient funds to improve basic amenities such as education, sanitation, health and roads, according to the priest. Lack of these led to illiteracy, backwardness and other socioeconomic ills, he said.

Mihir Kumar Singh told the gathering that the village councils have "immense powers to change the economic, social and political contours of their villages." He blamed underdevelopment for social vices such as casteism.

Jesuit Father Jesuraj Kolandaisamy, assistant coordinator under Father Plathottam, told UCA News on Aug. 26 that the Church organization enlisted help from 15 local NGOs, who "worked day and night for the past two weeks to motivate the village council leaders to attend the assembly."

The meeting helped the newly elected councilors interact with each other and generated "mass fervor," he said, adding that his organization has received dozens of invitations to conduct similar programs in other places.