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ü Article 40: The state shall take
steps to organize village panchayats and endow them with such
powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of
self-government.
ü The
Panchayati Raj is the Rural Local Self Government.
ü ‘Local
Government’ is mentioned in the State list of 7th schedule of
the Indian Constitution.
ü The
Panchayati Raj was not a part of the original Constitution.
ü The
Panchayati Raj was made a constitutional body through the 73rd
amendment Act of 1992.
BEFORE PANCHAYATI RAJ:
ü The
government has launched Community Development Programme (CDP) in the
year 1952.
ü The
government has launched National Extension Service (NES) in the year
1953.
BACK GROUND:
ü In
the year 1957 the Government of India appointed Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (B
R Mehta Committee).
ü The
B R Mehta Committee was appointed to look into the functioning of CDP and NES
ü The
B R Mehta Committee submitted the report in November 1957.
ü The
Committee recommended the establishment of the scheme of ‘Democratic Decentralization”
which is also known as Panchayati Raj.
ü The
recommendations were accepted by the National Development Council in January
1958.
ü Rajasthan
was the first state to establish the Panchayati Raj in India on October 2,
1959.
B R MEHTA
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:
ü B
R Mehta Committee recommended for the establishment of 3-tier structure
Panchayati Raj system.
·
Gram (village) Panchayat - Village
Level
·
Panchayati Samiti - Block
Level
·
Zilla Parishad - District
Level
ü The
Village Panchayat should be constituted with directly elected representatives.
ü The
Panchayat Samiti should be constituted with indirectly elected members.
ü The
Zilla Paridhad also to be constituted with indirectly elected members.
ü All
the planning and development activities should be entrusted to the panchayati
raj bodies.
ü The
Panchayati Samiti should be the executive body.
ü The
Zilla parishad should be the advisory, coordinating and supervisory body.
ü The
District Collector should be the Chairman of the Zilla Parishad.
ü There
should be a genuine transfer of powers and responsibility to these democratic
bodies.
ü These
bodies should be transferred with adequate resources.
ü A
system should be evolved for the further devolution of authority in future.
ü The
National Development Council (NDC) accepted the recommendations in January,
1958.
ü The
NDC said that the basic principles should be identical throughout the country.
WHICH IS THE FIRST
STATE TO ESTABLISH PANCHAYATI RAJ?
ü
The scheme of Panchayat Raj was first established in Rajasthan and inaugurated on
October 2, 1959 by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
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ü Rajasthan
was followed Andhra Pradesh and other states.
ü There
were many differences among the states in the structure and function of the
panchayati Raj.
ü The
states like Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh adopted 3 tier systems.
ü West
Bengal adopted 4 tier system.
ü Tamil
Nadu adopted the 2 tier system.
ASHOK MEHTA
COMMITTEE:
ü In
December 1977 (Janata Party Government)
the Prime Minister Morarji Desai appointed a committee on Panchayati Raj
institutions.
ü Ashok
Mehta was the chairman of the committee.
ü The
Ashok Mehta Committee submitted the report in August 1978.
ü To
strengthen the Panchayati Raj system the Ashok Mehta Committee made 132
recommendations.
ü The
Committee recommended for the adoption of 2 tier structure.
·
Zilla Parishad - District
Level
·
Mandal Panchayat - Mandal Level
ü Mandal
Panchayat is a group of villages with a population of 15,000 to 20,000.
ü The
Zilla Parishad at the district level should be the executive body.
ü The
Zilla Parishad must be made responsible for planning at the district level.
ü There
should be an official level participation of political parties at all levels of
Panchayat elections.
ü The
Panchayati Raj must have compulsory powers of taxation to mobilize their own
financial resources.
ü There
should be a regular social audit by a district level agency and by a committee
of legislatures to check whether the funds allotted for the vulnerable social
and economic groups are actually spent on them or not.
ü The
State governments should not supersede the Panchayati Raj Institutions.
ü In
case of super session elections should be held within 6 months.
ü The
Nyaya Panchayats should be presided over by a qualified judge.
ü The
Nyaya Panchayat should be kept as a separate body.
ü The
chief electoral officer in consultation with the chief election commissioner
should conduct elections of the Panchayat Raj.
ü A
Minister for panchayat Raj should be appointed.
ü Seats
for Scheduled caste and scheduled tribes should be reserved on the basis of
their population.
NOTE: No action was taken on the recommendations of the Ashok
Mehta Committee report as the Janata Party government stepped down before the
term due political turmoil.
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GVK RAO
COMMITTEE:
ü In
the year 1985 the Planning Commission appointed a committee on Administrative
Arrangement for Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation Programme.
ü According
to the G V K Rao committee the phenomenon of bureaucratization weakened the Panchayati Raj institutions.
ü The
committee recommended for the revitalization of the entire Panchayati Raj
system.
L M SINGHVI COMMITTEE:
ü In
the year 1986 then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi appointed a committee on
“Revitalization of Panchayati Raj Institutions for Democracy and Development”.
ü The
L M Singhvi committee recommended that the Panchayati Raj institutions should be
constitutionally recognized, protected and preserved.
ü The
committee recommended that a new chapter should be added to the Constitution
for the same purpose.
ü The
L M Singhvi Committee also suggested for the constitutional provisions to
ensure regular, free and fair elections to the Panchayati Raj bodies.
*****
ü After
the recommendations of the above committees, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
made an attempt to provide the constitutional status to the PRIs (Panchayati
Raj bodies).
ü In
July 1989, the Rajiv Gandhi Government introduced 64th
Constitutional amendment bill.
ü The
64th amendment bill was introduced in the Lok sabha:
ü NOTE:
A constitutional amendment bill can be introduced either in the Lok Sabha or in
the Rajya Sabha.
ü This
amendment is meant for providing the constitutional status to the Panchayati
Raj institutions.
ü The
Lok sabha passed the bill in August 1989.
ü NOTE:
An amendment bill must be passes with the special majority.
ü The
bill was opposed in the Rajya Sabha on the grounds that it sought to strengthen
centralization in the federal system.
ü The
bill was not passed in the Rajya Sabha.
ü The
64th amendment bill was lapsed.
ü NOTE: A constitutional amendment bill must be passed in
both the houses of the Parliament separately with a special majority.
ü ALSO NOTE:
There is no provision of Joint sitting in case of disagreement on a
Constitutional amendment bill.
*****
ü In
the year 1989 National Front government was formed at the Central level.
ü V.
P. Singh was appointed as the Prime Minister of India.
ü In
the month of November 1989, the then Prime Minister V P Singh announced that
the steps to strengthen the Panchayati Raj would be taken.
ü In
September 1990 a constitutional amendment bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
ü But
the government collapsed and there was an inevitable midterm election for the
Lok Sabha in the year 1991.
ü NOTE:
If the Lok Sabha is dissolved all the bills that are pending in the Lok Sabha
are lapsed.
ü This
led to lapse of the bill.
*****
ü After the elections of 1991 P V Narasimha Rao
became the Prime Minister of India.
ü NOTE: During the election campaign on May 21, 1991
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated.
ü The
Congress government (P V Narasimha Rao) considered the matter of constitutionality
for the panchayati Raj institutions.
ü The
controversial aspects were removed from the bill.
ü The
bill was introduced in the form of 73rd constitutional amendment
bill.
ü The
73rd constitutional amendment bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha
in 1991.
ü The
bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on December 22, 1992.
ü The
bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 23, 1992.
ü The
bill was approved by the 17 state assemblies.
ü NOTE:
A constitutional amendment bill related to the federal powers must get the
consent of at least half the state with simple majority.
ü The
President gave his assent (President (Shankar Dayal Sharma) on April
20, 1993.
ü This
became the 73rd Constitution amendment Act, 1992.
SALIENT
FEATURES OF THE 73RD AMENDMENT ACT 1992
ü This act added Part-IX to the Constitution.
ü This act also added new article from 243A to
243O (English alphabet ‘O”).
ü Note: This means 243A, 243B, 243C …243O.
ü The 73rd amendment act also added 11th
schedule to the
Constitution of India.
NOTE: THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION CONTAINS ONLY 8 SCHEDULES.
ü 9th schedule was added through
the 1st amendment in the year 1951.
ü 9th schedule is related to the
land reforms.
ü 10th schedule is added in the
year 1985 through the 52nd amendment.
ü 10th schedule is related to the
Anti-Defection law.
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ü The 11th schedule contains 29 subjects.
ü PLEASE
REMEMBER: 7th
schedule is different from 11th schedule. 7th schedule
consists of 3 lists Union, State and concurrent lists.
ü The state governments are under the
constitutional obligation to adopt the new Panchayati Raj system.
ü The compulsory provisions of the act have to
be included in the state laws creating the new Panchayati Raj system.
ü The voluntary provisions may be included at
the discretion of the states.
GRAM SABHA:
ü All the adult members are in the village is the Gram Sabha.
ü This means that all the persons registered in
the electoral rolls of a village is the Gram Sabha.
ü This is a village assembly consisting of all
the registered voters in a Village Panchayat.
ü The Gram Sabha functions are determined by
the state legislature.
ESTABLISHMENT OF 3-TIER STRUCTURE:
ü The act provides for the establishment of a
3-tier panchayati Raj structure at the state level to bring the uniformity
throughout the country.
·
Village
Level - Village
Panchayat
·
Mandal
Level (intermediate) - Mandal
Panchayat
·
Zilla
Parishad - District
Level
ü But, a state with a population not exceeding
20 Lakh may not
constitute Mandal Panchayat.
ü Note: It means the states with a population less
than 20 lakh may constitute only Village Panchayat and Zill Parishad.
ELECTIONS:
ü All the members of the Panchayats at all
levels
·
Village
·
Mandal
·
District
ü Shall be elected directly by the people.
ü The manner and procedure of election Chair
person at the village level (Sarpanch or President) is determined by the state
legislature.
ü The chair persons of Mandal Panchyat (Madal
President) and Zill Parishad (Chairman) shall be elected indirectly from
amongst the elected members.
ü A District (Zilla) is divided into number of
ZPTCs (Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies).
ü A ZPTC member is directly elected by the
people.
ü The directly elected ZPTC members from
amongst them elect the chairman of Zilla Parishad.
ü Similarly each Mandal is divided into MPTCs
(Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies).
ü An MPTC is elected directly by the people.
ü The President of Mandal is elected by the
MPTCs from amongst themselves.
ü Hence, except the ZP
chairman and the Mandal President all the members in the Panchayats are elected
directly.
RESERVATION OF SEATS:
ü Article 243 D
provides the reservation of seats for SCs and STs.
ü The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes are
provided with the reservation of seats at all the three levels in proportion to
their population.
ü The state legislature shall provide for the
reservation of offices of the Chairpersons in the Village panchayat or any
other level for SCs and STs.
ü The women are provided with the reservation
at all the three levels.
ü Not less than the 1/3rd of the
total number of seats shall be reserved for women.
ü Note: 110th amendment bill that is meant for increasing the reservation
for women from 1/3rd to ½ at all levels is still pending in the
Parliament (As on January 15, 2104)
ü This includes seats reserved for women belonging
to SCs and STs).
ü Not less than 1/3rd of the total
number of offices of chairpersons in the panchayats at each level shall be
reserved for women.
ü The state legislatures may make any provision
for reservation of seats in any panchayat or offices of chairpersons in the
Panchayat at any level in favour of backward classes.
TERM OF PANCHAYATS:
ü The term of office is 5 years.
ü The office can be dissolved earlier before
the completion of the term in accordance with the procedure prescribed by state
law.
ü In case of dissolution election should be
conducted before the expiry of the 6 months
from the date of dissolution.
ü A Panchayat that is reconstituted after
premature dissolution shall continue only for the remainder of the period.
ü Fresh election to the panchayats can be
conducted before the expiry of the term of 5 years.
QUALIFICATIONS:
ü Article 243 F
provides that all persons who are qualified to be chosen to the state
legislature shall be qualified to be chosen as a member of a panchayat.
ü A person who attained the age of 21 years is
eligible to contest in the Panchayat elections.
ü NOTE: In case of state assembly it is 25 years.
ü DISQUALIFICATIONS:
ü If a person is disqualified under any law for
the time being in force for the purpose of elections to the legislature of the
state concerned.
ü If a person is disqualified under any law
made by the state legislature.
ü No person can be disqualified on the grounds
that he is less than 25 years of age if he has attained the age of 21 years.
ü All questions of disqualifications shall be
referred to such authority as the state legislature determines.
ü POWERS,
AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF PANCHAYATS:
ü ARTCILE
243G-243H: The State
legislatures confer on the panchayats such powers and authority as may be
necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self government.
ü The panchayats may be entrusted with the
responsibilities of
ü Preparing plans for economic development and
social justice
ü Implementation of schemes for economic
development and social justice.
ü With regard to the subjects that are
mentioned in the 11th schedule of the Indian Constitution. (29
items).
ü Thus the 11th schedule distributes powers between the state legislature and
panchayats.
ü NOTE: the 7th schedule distributes the powers between the Union and the State legislatures.
POWERS OF
PANCHAYATS TO IMPOSE TAXES AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES:
ü State legislature may authorize the
panchayats to levy, collect and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls etc.
ü The state legislature can also assign to a
panchayat various taxes, duties etc collected by the state government.
ü From the Consolidated Fund of the State
Grants-in-aid may be given to the Panchayats.
STATE FINANCE
COMMISSION:
ü NOTE: This is just like the Central Finance
Commission.
ü The State Finance Commission is constituted
by the Governor every 5 years.
ü The state finance commission recommends about
the division of net proceeds of taxes, duties, tolls and fees leviable by the
state may be divided between the state government and the Panchayats and how
allocation would be made among various levels of Panchayats.
ü The State Finance Commission also recommends about
the grants-in-aid to be given to the panchayats.
ü The State finance Commission submits the
report along with the memorandum of action taken on it to the Governor.
ü The report of the Finance Commission along
with a memorandum of action taken on it is laid before the state legislature by
the Governor.
AUDITING OF PANCHAYAT ACCOUNTS:
§ The provisions are made by the state
legislature with respect to the maintenance of accounts by the panchayats and
the auditing of such accounts.
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STATE
ELECTION COMMISSION:
ü Article 243K
provides for the constitution of a state Election Commission.
ü The State Election Commissioner is appointed
by the Governor.
ü The State Election Commission is vested with
the responsibilities of
·
Superintendence
·
Direction
·
Control
of elections to the panchayats
·
Preparation
of electoral rolls
ü The State Election Commissioner can be
removed in the
same manner and on the same grounds as a judge of a High Court.
ü The State Legislature has the power to
legislate on all matters relating to elections to panchayats.
ü An election to a panchayat can be called in
question only by an election petition which should be presented to such
authority and in such manner as may be prescribed by or under any law made by
the state legislature.
MISCELLANEOUS:
ü The President may direct the provisions of
this act shall apply to any Union Territory subject to such exceptions and
modifications as he specifies.
ü The 73rd amendment act is not
applicable to the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland
etc.
ü The act is also not applicable to Scheduled
areas and tribal areas.
ü Note: Tribal areas are the autonomous districts.
SUBJECTS IN
THE 11TH SCHEDULE OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION:
ü The 11th schedule contains 29 subjects.
·
Agriculture,
including agricultural extension.
·
Land
improvement, implementation of land reforms, land consolidation and soil
conservation.
·
Minor
irrigation, water management and watershed development.
·
Animal
husbandry, dairying and poultry.
·
Fisheries
·
Social
forestry and farm forestry
·
Minor
forest produce
·
Small
Scale industries, including food processing industries
·
Rural
housing
·
Drinking
water
·
Fuel
and fodder
·
Roads, culverts,
bridges, ferries, water ways, and other means of communication
·
Rural
electrification, including distribution of electricity
·
Non
conventional energy sources
·
Poverty
alleviation programme
·
Education,
including primary and secondary schools
·
Technical
training and vocational education
·
Adult
and non-formal education
·
Libraries
·
Cultural
activities
·
Markets
and fairs
·
Health
and sanitation including hospitals, primary health centers and dispensaries
·
Family
welfare
·
Women
and child development
·
Social welfare,
including the welfare of the handicapped and mentally retarded
·
Welfare
of the weaker sections and in particular of the scheduled castes and the
scheduled tribes
·
Public
distribution system
·
Maintenance
of community assets
MISCELLANEOUS:
ü Maharashtra is the 1st state in
the country to provide 33 percent reservation to women in the local bodies in
the early 1990’s. (during the Chief Ministership of Sharad Pawar ).
ü Bihar is the first state to provide 50
percent reservation for women in the local bodies.