Panchayat Raj

PANCHAYAT RAJ

            The word "panchayat" literally means "assembly" (ayat) of five (panch) wise and respected elders chosen and accepted by the local community. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent. However, there are different forms of assemblies. Traditionally, these assemblies settled disputes between individuals and villages. Modern Indian government has decentralized several administrative functions to the local level, empowering elected gram panchayats.

            Mahatma Gandhi advocated Panchayati Raj, a decentralized form of Government where each village is responsible for its own affairs, as the foundation of India's political system. The term for such a vision was Gram Swaraj ("village self-governance").

            The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee was a committee appointed by the Government of India in January 1957 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 recommendations of the committee were approved by NDC in January 1958 and this set the stage for the launching of Panchayati Raj Institutions throughout the country. The committee recommended the establishment of the scheme of ‘democratic decentralisation’ which finally came to be known as Panchayati Raj.

            The term "panchayat raj" is relatively new, having originated during the British administration. Raj literally means "governance or government".  Panchayat Raj is a system of governance in which gram panchayats are the basic units of administration. It has 3 levels: Gram (though it can comprise more than one village), Block and Zilla (district). Horizontally it is a net work of village panchayats. Vertically, it is an organic growth of panchayat rising upto national level.

Three Tiers of Panchayat Raj

The Gram Panchayat: The first formal democratic institution under the directive principle in the Indian constitution is the Gram Panchayat or Panchayat. It is the primary unit of local self-government. Panchayat is a cabinet of the village elders, directly elected by the adult citizens of the village.

The main functions of Gram Panchayats are:

1. Representative function, where the main role is to voice and represent the opinion;
2. Regulatory and administrative functions, which consists of regulating the conduct of individuals and institutions and also collection of taxes;
3. Service or developmental functions, such as promotion of education, health, agriculture, etc.

The panchayats receive funds from three sources:

1. Local body grants, as recommended by the Central Finance Commission
2. Funds for implementation of centrally sponsored schemes
3. Funds released by the state governments on the recommendations of the State Finance Commissions

The Gram Panchayat can be a menace to itself without a continuing check and balance from the people. There must be a wider institution of the people for which the Panchayat can be the cabinet. This institution has now been recognized to be the Gram Sabha.

The Gram Sabha is an assembly which consist of all the adult citizens of the village men and women, young and old. In other words, it is the counterpart of the National Parliament. The Gram Sabha should meet at periodic intervals, a minimum of four times in a year (ie) on january -26th, may -1st, august -15th and october -2nd.They should review the works of the Panchayat.

The Panchayat Samithi or Panchayat Union: This is the second tier of the administration at Block level. It consists of Panchayat Union Chairman, presidents of all panchayats in the area, local MLAs, MLCs, MPs etc

District Development Council (Zilla Parishad or DDC) This is the third tier of Panchayat Raj functioning at district level. The members are all Panchayat Union Chairman, District Collector, MLAs, MLCs, MPs of the district. In Tamilnadu, the DDC has been recently transformed as District Panchayat.

PANCHAYAT RAJ: AFTER 73rd CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ACT

In the history of Panchayati Raj in India, on 24 April 1993, the Constitutional (73rd Amendment) Act 1992 came into force to provide constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj institutions.

Salient features of the 73rd Amendment Act, 1992 Gram Sabha

1. There shall be a Gram Sabha in each village

2. Panchayats shall be constituted in every state at the village, intermediate and district levels, thus bringing about uniformity in the population