Since its inception seven years ago, the Mahatma Gandhi Tanta Mukti scheme, aiming at providing an alternate dispute redressal system to the state's rural areas, has attracted a massive response. So much so that the Maharashtra government has spent over Rs 400 crore as reward money under the scheme till now.

The scheme was conceived and implemented in 2007, under which Tanta Mukti Samitis were constituted in every village of the state. The samitis were to identify existing disputes and classify them into criminal, civil, revenue and so on. Following that, the samitis are supposed to resolve the disputes in a democratic and fair manner. The scheme also has a public awareness and publicity component.

To ascertain the impact of the scheme, the districts were evaluated on the basis of a set of criteria, and marked out of 200. Accordingly, 80 marks are for prevention of disputes, 100 for resolving the existing disputes and 20 marks for handling new cases in an amicable way. For a district or a village to be eligible to participate, it is mandatory for it to secure at least 140 marks. Also, if a village secures more than 190 marks, it would be rewarded with anything from Rs one lakh to rs 10 lakh, depending upon the performance and population.

As per the latest data, in 2013-14, the three districts that bagged the top positions were Gondiya, Latur and Kolhapur. The three districts that performed the worst were Solapur (rural), Buldhana and Wardha.

The data procured from the Home department further revealed that the scheme has seen a massive response in the last seven years with more than 90 per cent gram panchayats participating in the optional scheme. In the very first year, 27,474 of the total 27,619 registered gram panchayats of the state came forward to take part in the scheme. In 2013-14, however, the number reduced to 21,313. "This is primarily because a gram panchayat that has already won an award can not be rewarded again," explained a senior officer.