Panchayati Raj
Panchayati Raj
⇒ The term Panchayati Raj’ in India signifies the system of rural self-government.
⇒ The subject of ‘Local Government’ is mentioned in the State List under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
⇒ Panchayati Raj was constitutionalised through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992.
⇒ This bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 22 December, 1992 and by the Rajya Sabha on 23 December, 1992. Later it was approved by the 17 state assemblies and received the assent of the President on April 23, 1993.
⇒ This Act has become effective w.e.f. 24 April, 1993.
⇒ 24 April is observed as ‘Panchayati raj Diwas’ since 2010. (First time by P.M. Dr. Manmohan Singh.)
⇒ This act has added a new Part-IX to the Constitution. This part is entitled as ‘The Panchayats’. It consists of provisions from Articles 243 to 243 O.
⇒ This act has also added a new Eleventh Schedule to the Constitution. This Schedule contains 29 functional items of the panchayats. It deals with Article 243-G.
⇒ Part IX of the Constitution envisages a three tier system of Panchayats:
* Panchayat at the village level;
* The District Panchayat at the district level;
* The Intermediate Panchayat in States where the population is above 20 lakhs.
⇒ All the seats in a Panchayat is filled by direct election.
⇒ The electorate is named ‘Gram Sabha’.
⇒ Gram Sabha is a village assembly consisting of all the registered voters in the area of a panchayat.
⇒ The members of panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels shall be elected directly by the people.
⇒ The chairperson of panchayats at the intermediate and district levels (Zila Parishad) shall be elected indirectly by and from amongst the elected members thereof.
⇒ ‘Sarpanch’ presides over the meeting of Gram Sabha even in Schedule Areas.
⇒ The Chairperson of a Panchayat at village level is elected according to the law passed by a State.
⇒ Seats are reserved in Panchayat for Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their population. [Art. 243D]
PESA Act of 1996 (Extension Act)
The provisions of Part IX of the constitution relating to the Panchayats are not applicable to the Fifth Schedule areas. However, the Parliament may extend these provisions to such areas.
Under this provision, the Parliament has enacted the “Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act”, 1996, popularly known as the PESA Act or the Extension Act.
Ten states-Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana have Fifth Schedule Areas (till 2016).
⇒ Out of the reserved seats, 1/3 is reserved for women belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. 1/3 of the total seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat is reserved for women.
⇒ A State can make similar reservation for Chairpersons in the Panchayats.
⇒ Every Panchayat can continue for 5 years from the date of its first meeting. It can be dissolved earlier in accordance with State law.
⇒ A Panchayat reconstituted after premature dissolution, continues only for the remainder of the period. But if the remainder of the period is less than 6 months it is not necessary to hold elections.
⇒ All persons above 21 years of age and qualified to be a member of the State Legislature are qualified as a member of a Panchayat. [Art. 243F]
⇒ Panchayats can be entrusted to prepare and implement plans for economic development and social justice.
⇒ A State can authorise a Panchayat to levy, collect and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls etc.
⇒ After the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution (24 April, 1993), every 5 years the States appoint a Finance Commission to review the financial position of the Panchayats and make recommendations.
⇒ State Election Commission consisting of a State Election Commissioner is appointed by the Governor for superintendence, direction and control of elections to Panchayats. [Art. 243K]
⇒ The Community Development Programme was launched on Oct. 2, 1952.
⇒ The Democratic Decentralisation was implemented for the first time in 1958 in some areas of Andhra Pradesh on experimental basis.
⇒ The Panchayati Raj was introduced for the first time on Oct. 2, 1959 in Nagaur District of Rajasthan by the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
⇒ Rajasthan is the first state in India, where Panchayati Raj was implemented in the whole state. Rajasthan was followed by Andhra Pradesh, which also adopted the system in 1959.
⇒ The Report of L.M.Singhvi Committee on Revitalization of Panchayati Raj Institutions, Government of India, 1986, focuses on integrated vision of democracy, ascent and ennui of Panchayati Raj momentum. The Committee takes the Indian villages and the Gram Sabha as the republican base of our democratic nation. It considers the Gram Sabha as the embodiment of direct democracy. It has recommendations on Nyaya Panchayats and integrated administrative structures.
⇒ A sub-committee of the consultative committee of Parliament was constituted in 1988 under the chairmanship of P.K. Thungon, which made recommendation for the first time that ‘the Panchayati Raj bodies should be constitutionally recognised.
⇒ But the recommendations of the Gadgil Committee, constituted in 1988 under the chairmanship of V.N. Gadgil, became the basis for drafting an amendment bill aimed at conferring the constitutional status and protection to the Panchayati Raj institutions.
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