Panchayati Raj and Municipality_240913_124517.pdf

In this Part... 39. Panchayatl Raj 40. Municipalities l.' CHAP'iJj." m39 Panchayati Raj Join @...

In this Part... 39. Panchayatl Raj 40. Municipalities l.' CHAP'iJj." m39 Panchayati Raj Join @thehindu444 Or Search Thenewsmaster T he term Panchayari Raj in India sig- Panchayati Raj. The specific recommenda- nifies the system of rural local self- tions made by it are: government. It has been established in 1. Establishment of a three-tier panchayati all the states of India by the Acts of the state raj system- gram panchayat at the village legislatures to build democracy at the grass level, panchayat samiti at the block level root level. It is entrusted ""'ith rural develop- and zila parishad at the district level. ment. It was constitutionalised through the These tiers should be organically linked 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992. through a device of indirect elections. In the scheme of division of powers 2. The vi1lage panchayat should be consti- between the Centre and the states in the tuted with directly elected representa- Indi an federal system, the item of 'local Gov- tives, whereas the panchayat samiti and ernment' is given to the states. Thus, the fifth zila parishad should be constituted with entry of the State List of the Seventh Schedule indirectly elected members. to the Constitution of India deals with 'local 3. All planning and development activities government'. should be entrusted to th ese bodies. l ~~LUTION OF PANCHAYATI 4. The panchayat samiti should be the execu- tive body while the zila parishad should be the advisory, coordinating and super- visory body. 5. The district collector should be the Balwant rai Mehta Committee chairman of the zila parishad. In January 1957, the Government of India 6. There should be a genuine transfer appointed a committee to examine the of power and responsibility to these working of the Community Development democratic bodies. Programme (1952) and the National Exten- 7. Adequate resources should be transferred sion Service (1953) and to suggest measures to these bodies to enable them to dis- for their better working. The chairman of charge their functions and fulfil their this committee was Balwantrai G Mehta. The responsibilities. committee submitted its report in November 8. A system should be evolved to effect fur- 1957 and recommended the establishment ther devolution of authority in future. of the scheme of 'democratic decentraHsa- These recommendations of the committee tion', which ultimately came to be known as were accepted by the National Development  Counci l in January 1958. Th e co uncil did not three-tier system while Tdmi l Nadu adopted in s ist on a single r igid patte rn and left it to the two-tier system. West Benga l, on tJle other the states to evol ve their own patterns suitable hand, adopted the four-tier system. Further, to local conditions. But the basic principles in the Rajasthan-Andhra Pradesh pattern, and broad fundamenta ls shou ld be identical panchayat samiti was powerful as the block throughout the country. wa s the uni t of p lanning a nd deve lopment, Ra; asthan was the first state to establish while in Mahara shtra-Gujarat patte rn, zila Pan chayati Raj. The scheme was inaugurated parishad wa s powerful as the d istrict was the by the prime m ini ster on October 2, 1959, unit of planning and development. So me in Naga ur district. Rajasthan was followed states also established nyaya panchayats, that by Andhra Pradesh , whi ch a lso adopted the is, judicia l pan ch ayats to try pctty civil and system in 1959. Thereafter, most of the states criminal cases. adopted the system. Join @thehindu444 Or Search Thenewsmaster Though most of the states c r eate d Study Teams and Committees Panchayati RaI _ure 4. 5. 1963 Study Team on the Position of Gram Sabha in Panchayatl Raj Movement RR Diwakar 6- 7. 8. 1963 1963 1965 - SIudy Group on 8udgaIfng and Accounllng Study Team on Panchayatl Raj Finances Committee on Panchoyo1I Raj EIoc1Ions of PanchayoU Raj M.1Iomo Krlshnayya K. Santhanam K. santhanem 9. 1965 Study Team on the Audit and Accounts of Panchayatl Raj Bodies RK Khanna 10. 1966 COromftloe on Panchayotl Raj Training CentNs G. Ramachandran 11. 1969 Study Team on Involvement of Community Development Agency V. Ramanathan and Panchayatl Raj Institutions in the Implementation of Basic land Reform Measures 12- 1972 _119 Group far /'OnnUII11On of fifth _ veer Pion on Community N.Ramakllshnayyo _ _ and PanchayoU RoJ 13. 1976 Committee on Community Development and Panchayatl Raj Smt. Daya Choubey  Panchayati Raj ~ 385 Ashok Mehta Committee 10. Development functions shou ld be trans- ferred to the zila parishad and a1l In December 1977, the Janata Government development staff should work under its appointed a com mittee on panchayati raj co ntrol and supervis ion. institutions under the chairm anship of Ashok 11. The voluntary agencies should play an Mehta. It submitted its report in August 1978 important role in mobilising the sup- and made 132 recommendations to revive port of the people for panchayati raj. and stre ngthen the declining pa nchayati raj 12. A ministe r for panchayati raj should be system in the country. Its ma in recommenda· appointed in the state counci l of min- tions were: isters to look after the affairs of the 1. The three-tier syste m of panchayati panchayati raj institutions. ) raj should be replaced by the two-ti er 13. Seats for SCs and STs should be reserved system, that is, zil a parishad at the on the basis of their population. Join @thehindu444 Or Search Thenewsmaster district level, and below it, the manda I 14. A constitutio nal recognition should be panchayat co n sisting of a group of vil- accorded to the Pan chaya ti Raj institu- lages with a total population of 15,000 tions. This would give them the requisite to 20,000. sta tus (sa n ctity and stature) and an 2. A district sho uld be the first point for assurance of co ntinuous functioning. decentralisation under popular supervi· Due to the collapse of the Janata Govern- sion below the state level. ment before the completion of its term, no 3. Zila parishad shou ld be the executive action could be taken on the recommendations body and made responsible for planning of the Ashok Mehta Committee at the central at the distr ict level. level. However, the three states of Karnataka, 4. There should be an official participation West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh took steps to of political parties at all levels of pan- revita lise the panchayati raj, keeping in view chayat elections. so me of the recommendations of the Ashok 5. The panchayati raj institutions should Mehta Committee. have compul sory powers of taxation to mobilise their own financial resources. C. Y.K. Rao Committee 6. There should be a regular social audit by a district level agency and by a commit- The Committee to review the existing Admin- tee of legislators to check whether the ist rative Arrangements for Rural Develop- funds allotted for the vulnerable social ment and Poverty Alleviation Programmes and economic groups are actually spent unde r the chairmanship of G.V.K. Rao was on them. appointed by the erstwhile Planning Co m- 7. The state government should not super- mission in 1985. The Commi ttee came to the sede the panchayati raj institutions. In conclusion that the developmental process case of an imperative supersession, e lec- was gradua ll y bureaucratised and divorced tions should be h eld within six months from the Panchayati Raj. This phenomena of from the date of supersession. burea ucratisation of development administra- 8. The nyaya panchayats should be kept tion as against the democratisation weakened as separate bodies from that of devel- the Panchayati Raj institutions resulting in opment panchayats. They should be what is aptly called as 'grass without roots'. presided over by a qualified judge. He nce/ the Committee made the following 9. The chief electoral officer of a state in recommendations to strengthen and revitalise consultation with the chief election the Panchayati Raj system: co mmissioner should organise and co n- (i) The district level body, that is, the Zila duct the pan chayati raj elections. Parishad should be of pivotal importance  386 ,~ Indian Polity in the sche me of democra[ic decentrali- Hanumantha Rao Committee differed in this satio n. It stated that "the di strict is the respect from those of the Ba lwantrai Mehta proper un it for planning an d devel- Committee, the First Administrative Reforms opment and the ZiJa Parishad should Commission of India , the Ashok Mehta Com- beco me the principal body fo r manage- mitttc and finally the G.V.K. Rao Committee ment of a ll deve lopment programm es which recomm ended red uction in the develop.. which can be handled at that level." mental role of th e District Collector and which (ii) The Panchaya ti Raj in stituti ons at the dis- assigned a 111C:ljor role to th e Panchaya ti Raj in trict and lowe r levels sho uld be assigned d eve lopment administration. an important role wi th respect to plan- ning, implementation and monito ring L M Singhvi Committee of rural development programmes. In 1986, R.