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Panchayati Raj, The term Panchayati Raj in India signifies the system of rural, local selfgovernment. It has been established in all the states of, India by the Acts of the state legislatures to build democracy at, the grass root level. It is entrusted with rural development. It was, constitutionalised through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, of 1992., , Balwant Rai Mehta Committee, In January 1957, the Government of India, appointed a committee to examine the, working of the Community Development, Programme (1952) and the National, Extension Service (1953) and to suggest, measures for their better working. The, chairman of this committee was Balwant Rai, G Mehta. The committee submitted its report, in November 1957 and recommended the, establishment of the scheme of ‘democratic
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decentralisation’, which ultimately came to, be known as Panchayati Raj. The specific, recommendations made by it are:1. Establishment of a three-tier panchayati raj, system–gram panchayat at the village level,, panchayat samiti at the block level and zila, parishad at the district level. These tiers, should be organically linked through a device, of indirect elections., 2. The village panchayat should be, constituted with directly elected, representatives, whereas the panchayat, samiti and zila parishad should be constituted, with indirectly elected members., 3. All planning and development activities, should be entrusted to these bodies., 4. The panchayat samiti should be the, executive body while the zila parishad should, be the advisory, coordinating and supervisory, body.
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5. The district collector should be the, chairman of the zila parishad., 6. There should be a genuine transfer of, power and responsibility to these democratic, bodies., 7. Adequate resources should be transferred, to these bodies to enable them to discharge, their functions and fulfil their responsibilities., 8. A system should be evolved to effect, further devolution of authority in future., These recommendations of the committee, were accepted by the National Development, Council in January 1958. The council did not, insist on a single rigid pattern and left it to the, states to evolve their own patterns suitable to, local conditions. But the basic principles and, broad fundamentals should be identical, throughout the country. Rajasthan was the, first state to establish Panchayati Raj. The, scheme was inaugurated by the prime
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minister on October 2, 1959, in Nagaur, district. Rajasthan was followed by Andhra, Pradesh, which also adopted the system in, 1959. Thereafter, most of the states adopted, the system., Though most of the states created panchayati, raj institutions by mid 1960s, there were, differences from one state to another with, regard to the number of tiers, relative, position of samiti and parishad, their, tenure, composition, functions, finances and, so on. For example, Rajasthan adopted the, three-tier system while Tamil Nadu adopted, the two-tier system. West Bengal, on the, other hand, adopted the four-tier, system. Further, in the Rajasthan-Andhra, Pradesh pattern, panchayat, samiti was powerful as the block was the unit, of planning and development, while in, Maharashtra-Gujarat pattern, zila parishad, was powerful as the district was the unit of
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planning and development. Some states also, established nyaya panchayats, that is, judicial, panchayats to try petty civil and criminal, cases., Ashok Mehta Committee, In December 1977, the Janata Government, appointed a committee on panchayati raj, institutions under the chairmanship of Ashok, Mehta. It submitted its report in August 1978, and made 132 recommendations to revive, and strengthen the declining panchayati raj, system in the country. Its main, recommendations were:, 1. The three-tier system of panchayati raj, should be replaced by, the two-tier system, that is, zila parishad at, the district level, and below it, the mandal, panchayat consisting of a group of villages, with a total population of 15,000 to 20,000.
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2. A district should be the first point for, decentralisation under popular supervision, below the state level., 3. Zila parishad should be the executive body, and made responsible for planning at the, district level., 4. There should be an official participation of, political parties at all levels of panchayat, elections., 5. The panchayati raj institutions should have, compulsory powers of taxation to mobilise, their own financial resources., 6. There should be a regular social audit by a, district level agency and by a committee of, legislators to check whether the funds, allotted for the vulnerable social and, economic groups are actually spent on them., 7. The state government should not, supersede the panchayati raj institutions. In, case of an imperative supersession, elections
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should be held within six months from the, date of supersession., 8. The nyaya panchayats should be kept as, separate bodies from that of development, panchayats. They should be presided over by, a qualified judge., 9. The chief electoral officer of a state in, consultation with the chief election, commissioner should organise and conduct, the panchayati raj elections., 10. Development functions should be, transferred to the zila parishad and all, development staff should work under its, control and supervision., 11. The voluntary agencies should play an, important role in mobilising the support of, the people for panchayati raj., 12. A minister for panchayati raj should be, appointed in the state council of ministers to
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look after the affairs of the panchayati raj, institutions., 13. Seats for SCs and STs should be reserved, on the basis of their population., 14. A constitutional recognition should be, accorded to the Panchayati Raj institutions., This would give them the requisite status, (sanctity and stature) and an assurance of, continuous functioning., Due to the collapse of the Janata Government, before the completion of its term, no action, could be taken on the recommendations of, the Ashok Mehta Committee at the central, level., However, the three states of Karnataka, West, Bengal and Andhra Pradesh took steps to, revitalise the panchayati raj, keeping in view, some of the recommendations of the Ashok, Mehta Committee.
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G.V.K. Rao Committee, The Committee to review the existing Administrative Arrangements, for Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation Programmes under, the chairmanship of G.V.K. Rao was appointed by the Planning, Commission in 1985., , L M Singhvi Committee, In 1986, Rajiv Gandhi government appointed a committee to prepare, a concept paper on ‘Revitalisation of Panchayati Raj Institutions for, Democracy and Development’ under the chairmanship of L.M., Singhvi., , Thungon Committee, In 1988, a sub-committee of the Consultative Committee of, Parliament was constituted under the chairmanship of P.K. Thungon, to examine the political and administrative structure in the district, for the purpose of district planning., , Gadgil Committee, The Committee on Policy and Programmes was constituted in 1988, by the Congress party under the chairmanship of V.N. Gadgil. This, committee was asked to consider the question of “how best, Panchayati Raj institutions could be made effective”.
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73RD AMENDMENT ACT OF 1992, Significance of the Act, This act has added a new Part-IX to the Constitution of India. This, part is entitled as ‘The Panchayats’ and consists of provisions from, Articles 243 to 243 O., , Eleventh Schedule, It contains the following 29 functional items placed within the, purview, of panchayats:, 1. Agriculture, including agricultural extension, 2. Land improvement, implementation of land reforms, land, consolidation and soil conservation, 3. Minor irrigation, water management and watershed development, 4. Animal husbandry, dairying and poultry, 5. Fisheries, 6. Social forestry and farm forestry, 7. Minor forest produce, 8. Small-scale industries, including food processing industries, 9. Khadi, village and cottage industries, 10. Rural housing, 11. Drinking water, 12. Fuel and fodder, 13. Roads, culverts, bridges, ferries, waterways and other means of
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communication, 14. Rural electrification, including distribution of electricity, 15. Non-conventional energy sources, 16. Poverty alleviation programme, 17. Education, including primary and secondary schools, 18. Technical training and vocational education, 19. Adult and non-formal education, 20. Libraries, 21. Cultural activities, 22. Markets and fairs, 23. Health and sanitation including hospitals, primary health centres, and dispensaries, 24. Family welfare, 25. Women and child development, 26. Social welfare, including welfare of the handicapped and, mentally retarded, 27. Welfare of the weaker sections, and in particular, of the, scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes, 28. Public distribution system, 29. Maintenance of community assets.
