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THE STATE OF PANCHAYATS

Prof. R.Suryanarayana Reddy,Centre Head, CDP&A

AMR-APARD

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Panchayats

• Panchayats have been an intimate part of the Indian culture. During the time of the Ring-Veda (1200 BC), evidences suggest that self-governing village bodies called ‘Sabhas’ existed. With the passage of time, these bodies became panchayats (council of five persons). Panchayats were functional institutions of grassroots governance in almot every village. The Village Panchayat or elected council had large powers, both executive and judicial.

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Panchayats

• Panchayats or council of five members (Pancha) were closely equated with parameshwara (meaning God), and that God himself spoke through the pancha – a belief which has sustained the institution through the ages and to an extent continued despite all the politicking, deceit and chicanery of life in India today.

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Panchayats

• Land was distributed by this panchayat which also collected taxes out of the produce and paid the government’s share on behalf of the village. Above a number of these village councils there was a larger pachayat or council to supervise and interfere in necessary.

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Panchayats

• Casteism and feudalistic system of governance under Mughal rule in the medieval period slowly eroded the self government in villages. A new class of feudal chiefs and revenue collectors (Zamindars) emerged between the rule and the people. And, so began the stagnation and decline of self-government in villages.

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Panchayats

• During the British rule, the autonomy of panchayats gradually disappeared with the establishment of local civil and criminal courts, revenue and police organizations, the increase in communications, the growth of individualism and the operation of the individual Ryotwari (landholder-wise) system as against the Mahalwari or village tenure system.

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Panchayats

• Panchayat was never the priority of the British rules. The rulers were interested in the creation of ’controlled’ local bodies, which could help them in their trading interests by collecting taxes for them. When the colonial administration came under severe financial pressure after the 1857 uprising, the remedy sought was decentralization in terms of transferring responsibility for road and public works to local bodies.

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Panchayats

• 1870 that Viceroy Lord Mayo’s Resolution (for decentralisation of power to bring about administrative efficiency in meeting people’s demand and to add to the finances of colonial regime) gave the needed impetus to the development of local institutions.

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Panchayats

• The government policy on decentralisation can, however, be attributed to Lord Ripon who, in his famous resolution on local self-government on May 18, 1882, recognised the twin considerations of local government: (i) administrative efficiency and (ii) political education.

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• The Ripon Resolution, which focused on towns, provided for local bodies consisting of a large majority of elected non-official members and presided over by a non-official chairperson. Rural decentralisation remained a neglected area of administrative reform.

Panchayats

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Panchayats

• Royal Commission on Decentralisation (1907) under the chairmanship of C.E.H. Hob house recognized the importance of panchayats at the village level. The commission recommended that ‘it is most desirable, alike in the interests of decentralisation and in order to associate the people with the local tasks of administration, that an attempt should be made to constitute and develop village panchayats for the administration of local village affairs’.

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Panchayats• Montague-Chemsford reforms (1919) brought local

self-government as a provincial transferred subject, under the domain of Indian ministers in the provinces. Due to organisational and fiscal constraints, the reform was unable to make panchayat institutions truly democratic and vibrant. However, the most significant development of this period was the ‘establishment of village panchayats in a number of provinces, that were no longer mere ad hoc judicial tribunal, but representative institutions symbolizing the corporate character of the village and having a wide jurisdiction in respect of civic matters’. By 1925 eight provinces had passed panchayat acts and by 1926, six native states had also passed panchayat laws.

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Panchayats

• Inauguration of provincial autonomy under the Government of India Act, 1935, marked the evolution of panchayats in India. Popularly elected governments in provinces enacted legislations to further democratise institutions of local self-government.

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Panchayats

• In spite of various committees such as the Royal Commission on Decentralisation (1907), the report of Montague and Chemsford on constitutional reform (1919), the Government of India Resolution (1918), etc., a hierarchical administrative structure based on supervision and control was evolved. The administrator bacame the focal point of rural governance.

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Panchayats

• The British were not concerned with decentralised democracy but only with fashioning an administration that met their colonial objectives.

• 1920s to 1947 emphasising the issue of all-India Swaraj, was busy in campaigning and organising movements for Independence under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. The task of preparing any sort of blueprint for the local level was neglected as a result.

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Panchayats

• Regarding the status and role to be assigned to the institution of rural local self-government; rather there were divergent views on the subject. On the one end Gandhi was in favour of Village Swaraj and strengthening the village panchayat to the fullest extent and on the other end, Dr.B.R.Ambedkar was opposed to this idea. He believed that the village represented regressive India, a source of oppression. The model state hence had to build safeguards against such social oppression and the only way it could be done was through the adoption of the parliamentary model of politics.

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Panchayats• One the serious drawbacks of the national leaders who

drafted the Constitution, in which Panchayati Raj Institutions were placed in the non-justiciable part of the Constitution, the Directive Principles of State Policy, as Article 40.

• The Article read ‘the State shall take steps to organise village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to funtion as units of self-government’. However, no worthwhile legislation was immediately enacted either at the national or state level to implement it.

• Four decades since the adoption of the Constitution, PRI’s have traveled from the non-justiciable part of the Constitution to one where, through a separate amendment, a whole new status has been added to their history.

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Panchayats• Before PRIs could enjoy the consensual support they enjoy

today from different political groups, they had to go through various stages.

• The First Five Year Plan failed to bring about active participation and involvement of the people in the Plan processes, which included Plan formulation implementation and monitoring.

• The Second Five year Plan attempted to cover the entire countryside with National Expensive Service Blocks Assistant Development Officers, Village Level Workers, in addition to nominated representatives of village panchayats of that area and some other popular organisations like co-operative secieties. But the plan failed to satisfactorily accomplish decentralisation.

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THE BALWANTRAI MEHTA COMMITTEE (1957)

• The Committee held that community development would only be deep and enduring when the community was involved in the planning, decision-making and implementation process. It suggested the following.

• An early establishment of elected local bodies and evolution to them of necessary resources, power and authority,

• That the basic unit of democratic decentralisation was at the block samiti level since the area of jurisdiction of the local body should neither be too large nor too small. The block was large enough for efficiency and economy of administration, and small enough for sustaining a sense of involvement in the citizens,

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• Such body must not be constrained by too much control by the government or government agencies,

• The body must be constituted for five years by indirect elections from the village panchayats,

• Its functions should cover the development of agriculture in all its aspects, the promotion of local industries and other

• Services such as drinking water, road building, etc., and

• The higher level body, Zilla Parishad, would play an advisory role.

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• The PRI structure did not develop the requisite democratic momentum and failed to the needs of rural development.

• Various reasons for such an outcome which include political and bureaucratic resistance at the state level to share power and resources with local level institutions, domination of local elites over the major share of the benefits of welfare schemes, lack of capability at the local level and lack of political will.

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K.SANTHANAM COMMITTEE (1963)

The K.Santhanan Committee was appointed to look solely at the issue of PRI finance, in 1963. The fiscal capacity of PRIs tends to be limited, as rich resources of revenue are pre-empted by higher levels of government, and issue is still debated today. The Committee was asked to determine issues related to sanctioning of grants to PRIs by the state government, evolving mutual financial relations between the three tires of PRIs, gifts and donation, handing over revenue in full or part to PRIs.

The Committee recommended the following:

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• Panchayats should have special powers to levy special tax on land revenues and home taxes, etc.,

• People should not be burdened with too many demands (taxes)

• All grants and subventions at the state level should be mobilised and sent in a consolidated form to various PRIs,

• A Panchayat Raj Finance Corpration should be set up to look into the financial resource of PRIs at all levels, provide loans and financial asistance to these grasroots level governments and also provide non-financial requirements of villages.

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ASHOK MEHTA COMMITTEE (1978)

• Janata Party into power at the Centre in 1977, a serious view was taken of the weaknesses in the functioning of Panchayati Raj. It was decided to appoint a high level committee under the chairmanship of Ashok Mehta to examine and suggest measures to strengthen PRIs. The Committee had to evolve an effective decentralised system of development for PRIs. They made the following recommendations.

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ASHOK MEHTA COMMITTEE (1978)

• The district is a viable administrative unit for which planning, co-ordination and resource allocation are feasible and technical expertise available,

• PRIs as a two-tier system, with mandal Panchayat at the base and Zilla Parishad at the top,

• The PRIs are capable of planning for themselves with the resources available to them,

• District planning should take care of the urban-rural continuum,

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ASHOK MEHTA COMMITTEE (1978)

• Representation of SCs and STs, in the election to PRIs on the basis of their population,

• Four-year term of PRIs,

• Participation of political parties in elections,

• Any financial devolution should be committed to accepting that much of the developmental functions at the district level would be played by the panchayts.

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• The states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal passed new legislation based on this report. However, the flux in politics at the state level did not allow these institutions to develop their own political dynamics.

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G.V.K. Rao Committee (1985)

• The G.V.K.Rao Committee was appointed to once again look at various aspects of PRIs. The Committee was of the opinion that a total view of rural development must be taken in which PRIs must play a central role in handling people’s problems. It recommended the following:

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• PRIs have to be activated and provided with all the required support to become effective organisations,

• PRIs at the district level and below should be assigned the work of planning, implementation and monitoring of rural development programmes, and

• The block development office should be the spinal cord of the rural development process.

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L.M.Singhvi Committee (1986)

• More thinking on PRIs was initiated by the L.M.Singhvi Committee. The Gram Sabha was considered as the base of a decentralised democracy, and PRIs viewed as institutions of self-governance which would actually facilitate the participation of the people in the process of planning and development. It recommended:

• Local self-government should be constitutionally recognised, protected and preserved by the inclusion of new chapter in the Constitution

• Non-involvement of political parties in Panchayat elections.

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• The suggestion of giving PRIs constitutional status was opposed by the Sarkaria Commission but the idea, however, gained momentum in the late 1980s especially because of the endorsement by the late Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who introduced the 64th Constitutional Amendment Bill in 1989. The 64th Amendment Bill was prepared and introduced in the lower house of Parliament. But it got defeated in the Rajya Sabha as non-convincing. He lost the general elections too. In 1989, the National Front introduced the 74th Constitutional Amendment Bill, which could not become an Act because of the dissolution of the Ninth Lok Sabha.

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• These various suggestions and recommendations and means of strengthening PRIs were considered while formulating the new Contitutional Amendment Act.

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The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act

• The idea that produced the 73rd Amendment was not a response to pressure from the grassroots, but to an increasing recognition that the institutional initiatives of the preceding decade had not delivered, that the extent of rural poverty was still much too large and thus the existing structure of government needed to be reformed. It is interesting to note that this idea evolved from the Centre and the state governments.

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• The Constitutional (73rd Amendment) Act, passed in 1992 by the Narasimha Rao government, came into force on April 24, 1993. It was meant to provie constitutional sanction to establish ‘democracy at the grassroots level as it is at the state level or national level.

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Its main features are as follows:

The Gram Sabha or village assembly as a deliberative body to decentralised governance has been envisaged as the foundation of the Panchayati Raj System.

A uniform three-tire structure of panchayats at village (Gram Panchayat-GP), intermediate (Panchayat Samiti-PS) and district (Zilla Parishad-ZP) levels.

All the seats in a panchayat at every level are to be filled by elections from respective territorial constituencies.

Not less than one-third of the total seats for membership as well as office of chairpersons of each tier have to be reserved for women.

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Reservation for weaker castes and tribes (SCs and STs) have to be provided at all levels in proportion to their population in the panchayats.

To supervise, direct and control the regular and smooth elections to panchayats, a State Election Commission has to be constituted in every State and UT.

The Act has ensured constitution of a State Finance Commission in every State/UT, for every five years to suggest measures to strengthen finances of PRIs.

To promote bottom-up-planning, the District Planning Committee (DPC) in every district has been accorded constitutional status.

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An indicative list of 29 items has been given in in Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution. Panchayats are expected to play an effective role in planning and implementation of works related to these 29 items

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Today, there are about 3 million elected representatives at all levels of the pancyat. These members represent more than 2.4 lakh Gram Panchayats, about 6,000 intermediate level tiers and more than 500 district panchayats (see Table 1.1). Spread over the length and breadth of the country, the new panchayats cover about 96 per cent of India’s more than 5.8 lakh villages and nearly 99.6 per cent of rural population

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This is the largest experiment in decentralization of governance in the history of humanity.

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The Constitution visualizes panchayats as institution of self-governance. However, giving due consideration to the federal structure of our polity, most of the financial powers and authorities to be endowed on panchayats have been left at the discretion of concerned state legislatures.

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Consequently, the powers and functions vested in PRIs vary from state to state. These provisions combine representative and direct democracy into a synergy and are expected to result in an extension and deepening of democracy in India. Hence, panchayats have journeyed from an institution within the culture of India to attain constitutional status.

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Initially, a two-tier planning was initiated at the National and State levels. The planners and policy-makers did, however, realise the limitations of this system for a country as big in size and diversity as India. They felt that multi-level planning was meeded if the fruits of development were to reach the grass-root level, otherwise there was always a possibility of losing sight of problems, requirements and potentials of the local areas while planning form the State headquarter.

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• Under the Constitutional arrangements, various subjects were divided into three categories-Central, State and Concurrent.

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• Rural Development is a concurrent subject, wherein the national policies are framed with the consensus of all the States.

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• The idea of decentralised planning below the State level has featured consistently in all the Five-Year Plans. The First Five-Year Plan talked about breaking the National and State plans into local units based on district, town and villages. It did not, however, elaborate the way decentralisation would be put into operation.

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• First experiment in this regard, the Community Development Blocks were established so that infrastructure was created at the block level for integration of the administrative and development functions. The block level staff was entrusted with the responsibility of initiating all round development of the villages. However, it certainly lacked the popular involvement, as its scope was limited. The programme was empowered only with economic and administrative decentralisation and not with political decentralisation, which was vital for its success.

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• Second Five –Year Plan, It was clearly stated that district would be the pivot of the structure of democratic planning. In emphasising planning at the district level and below, the objective was to carry the district and State plans as close to the people as possible through local community participation and co-operative self-help.

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• Balwantrai Mehata Committee constituted by Government in 1958 on community development and plan projects, recommended decentralisation of administration and democratization of power. Under the scheme of “democratic decentralisation”, a democratic body in each development block for all the development activities at that level was suggested, i.e. A three-tier integrated organic structure with Gram Panchayats at the base, Zilla Panchayat (ZP) at the apex and Panchayat Samities or Kshetra Samities in-between.

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• Acceptance of these recommendations by the National Development Council (NDC)

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• The State legislatures passed legislations to create these bodies in their states.

• These legislations provided for development of districts as their main unit. Simultaneously, these bodies were given enough powers not only to raise resources but also to requisition the machinery at the district and lower levels to implement development plans to Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs)

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• Third Five-Year Plan and it was proposed that the States should formulate their annual plans, at least in the following activities on the basis of district and block level plans.

1. Agriculture, including minor irrigation, soil conservation, village forests, animal husbandry, dairying, etc.,

2. Development of co-operatives;

3. Village industries;

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4. Elementary education, especially provision of school buildings for local communities;

5. Rural water supply, programme of minimum rural amenities, including construction of approach roads linking each village to the nearest road or rail head; and.

6. Works/programmes for fuller utilisation of manpower resources in rural areas

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• The Administrative Reform Commission in 1967 examined the question of planning at the district level. Thereafter the Planning Commission issued a set of detailed guidelines for preparation of district plans. These guidelines also visualised preparation of a perspective plan along with medium-term and annual plans. On the basis of Planning Commission’s guidelines, the State of Maharashtra started preparation of district plans in 1972. It not only identified the schemes for district planning boards known as District Development and Planning Councils at the district level. Gujarat initiated district planning in 1979. Karnataka was the third state to start district level planning around this time. All these States evolved their own procedures of devolution of plan funds to the districts as well as formulation of plans.

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• The new Government at the Union Level in 1977 set-up a Working Group under the Chairmanship of M.L.Dantwala to draw up guidelines for the block-level planning. The Working Group noted that the remoteness of the planning agencies from the areas of implementation and vastness of geographical coverage hamper matching of sectoral financial allocations with location-specific needs as well as potential for regulating the distribution of the developmental gains.

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• Another committee, headed by Ashok Mehta, was appointed to inquire into the working of the panchayat Raj Institutions and to suggest measures to strenghten them so as to enable the decentralised system of planning and development to be effective. Ashok Mehta Committee felt that development work in future needs intricate designing and greater co-ordination, which would be unwise to attempt at the State level. It also suggested that district planning unit consisting of a professionally qualified team should be placed with the ZP.

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• The Planning Commission again set-up a Working Group on district planning under the chairmanship of C.H.1984, recommending the ‘stage approach’ to district planning.

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• The Seventh Plan document (1985-90) re-affirmed its faith in the process of decentralisation and resolved to follow the process on the lines suggested by the Rao Committee.

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• In 1985, the Planning Commission appointed a committee under the chairmanship of G.V.K. Rao to review existing administrative arrangements for rural development and to suggest appropriate structural mechanism to activate PRI’s.

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• The Eighth Five-Year Plan (1992-97) was launched from 1st April 1992 against the background of two years of poor economic performance. It offered a package of structural adjustments in the form of economic liberalisation, privatisation and fiscal disciplinary reforms. The Government recognised that under the evolved system, people have become mere passive observers and receivers of doles. Hence, the emphasis Institutions (PRI’s) as the focal point for organising and implementing rural development programmes. Tjis approach was consistent with the views of Mahatma Gandhi and the Recommendations of Ashok Mehta Committee on PRIs. The socio-economic activities like education and literacy, health and family planning, land improvement, minor irrigation, recovery and development of waste-land and afforestation were treated as “core activities” in which people’s participation could be maximum and more fruitful. It would also result in lowering financial outlays on these activities. Government envisaged a happy marriage between integrated area development approach and democratic decentralisation of rural development.

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• The Ninth Plan (1997-2002) provides that the PRIs should prepare plans for economic development and social justice for an integrated development of the district.

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• Certain broad principles are laid down for assigning a role to each of the three-tiers; the actual devolution could be based on the rule that what can be done at a lower level should be done at that level, and not at a higher level. Initially, the Gram Sabha would list out developmental priorities and assist in the fair selection of beneficiaries under various programmes and schemes. Thereafter, the planning process would begin from below with the preparation of village plans, which would be incorporated into the intermediate level Block plans and finally merged into a District Plan.

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• Union Government has set apart 41 per cent of plan resources for decentralised planning, including ‘un-tied funds’ and’incentive grants’ to match the contributions raised by PRIs. Thereafter sectoral allocations at the State level should be on the basis of demands made from below by the districts and in keeping with the national priorities. In this way, it would be possible to bring about both a vertical and a horizontal integration of resources and services.

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• The Ninth Plan aslo lays emphasis on a comprehensive time bound training policy for the functionaries, in order to equip them with updated information and modern technologies, which in turn have to be disseminated amongst the rural people.

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• Hitherto, the question of decentralised planning has been restricted to one of planning techniques but it needs to be extended to the whole process of socio-political changes.

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• The electorate, elected representatives and the bureaucracy, has to jointly create an environment conducive for these institutions to take roots.

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• There are at least six areas where local government empowerment is sought to be achieved through constitutional means. These are:

(i) typology and size,(ii) electoral representation,(iii) institutional existence and autonomy,(iv) local functions,(v) local finance, and(vi) external accountability.

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• While ‘social audit and transparency’ in the functioning of PRIs is crucial for evoking peoples’ participation, the institutional structure should support financial and administrative devolution of power. While rural development necessitates decentralisation, political compulsions, many a times, pull towards centralisation.

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• Political parties in power are always uncertain of their position. So they tend to resist and resent any attempt at setting up of local organisations outside their control. The Central and Stae leaderships look with suspicion at the emergence of any strong decentralised institutional political leadership and hence evolve ways and means of controlling the power and authority of the lower tiers.

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• Despite the obvious struggle for power and control. The Central Government has shown the political will to constitutionalise the status of PRIs in larger public interest, the Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 has therefore been cherished as a watershed event for achieving rural development through democratic decentralisation. It has laid down certain mandatory provisions in terms of structural organisation of PRIs while the functional aspects are left to the option of respective states.

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• The catch lies in the areas where each state has to frame its own laws to operationalise the mandate given in favour of strengthening the PRIs.

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• Rural development so far has been characterised by centralised planning withemphasis on macro-level targets than on ground level realities and felt needs of the people. The bureaucratic system sought little involvement of the community for whom these programmes were not evaluated against the end objectives viz., removal of poverty or improvement of standards of living in the rural areas.

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• Based on the Directive Principles enshrined in the Constitution, various Governments made attempts towards setting-up of multi-structured Panchayat Raj system, but did not endow it with requisite powers and resources.

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• It is only now, after more than 45 years of independence, that 73rd Amendment of the Constitution enables Panchayats to play a substantial role in the local self-government.

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• The emergence of PRIs is leading to changes in rural poor structure as well as the equation between the officials and non-officials. Within the Panchayat Raj set-up there is a grim fight, directly or indirectly, among the political parties, to capture power, as it facilitates their political power struggle, at higher levels, as well as among different tiers of PRIs for appropriating maximum resources. PR system has to surmount many challenges by evolving consensus in the long-run, if it has to survive and play an important role in ensuring growth and equity in rural areas.

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• With the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution envisaging the establishment of Panchayats as units of local government, it is mandatory for the States to devolve adequate powers and responsibilities upon the PIRs. The success of this system essentially depends upon the external as well as the internal politico-administrative set-up. Although political will is said to have been demonstrated by away of constitutional amendment at the Centre and through the State legislation, yet it needs to be further reiterated in terms of devolution of funds, functions and functionaries to the PRIs.

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An overview of the mandatory and discretionary provisions of the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act. It outlines the basic structure of PRI bodies at various levels.

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Institutional Overview

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Mandatory Provisions

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Constitution of Panchayats:The Central act has prescribed a three-

tier system of panchyaths and in each state, there shall be panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels. However, panchayats at the intermediate level may not be constituted in a state having a population not exceeding 20 lakh.

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Constitution of Panchayats:All the seats in a panchayat shall be

filled by persons chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the panchayat area. For this purpose, this panchayat area shall be divided into territorial constituencies in such a manner that the ratio between the population of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to it shall, so far as it is practical, be the same. A person who has attained the age of 21 years can contest the election from being elected as a member of a panchayat. The validity of any law relating to the delimitation shall not be called in question in any court.

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Similarly, no election to any panchayat shall be called in question, except by an election petition presented to such authority and in such manner as is provided by the legislature of that state. The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of all elections to the panchayats shall be vested in the State Election Commission, comprising the State Election Commissioner, comprising the State Election Commissioner appointed by the state government.

The chairperson of a panchyat at the intermediate and district levels shall be elected by and from amongst the elected members thereof. Also, the chairperson and other members of a panchayat, whether or not chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the pancyat area shall have the right to vote in the meetings of the panchayats.

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Reservation of the Seats:Seats shall be reserved for both

scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in every panchayat and the number of such seats shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats filled by direct election in that panchayat area as the population of scheduled castes and schedules tribes in that area bears to the total population of that area. Also, such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a panchayat.

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Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved for scheduled castes or scheduled tribes shall be reserved for women from these castes or tribes. Similarly, in case of general seats also, one-third of them shall be reserved for women belonging to any class or category and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a panchayat.

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Such numbers of offices of chairpersons at each level shall be reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes so that their proportion to the total number of such offices in the panchayat at each level is the same as the population of scheduled castes or tribes in the state bears to the state’s total population. Also, not less than one-third of the offices so reserved will be for women belonging to the concerned category. Similarly, one-third of the number of offices left for the general category at each level shall be reserved for women belonging to any class or category and all reservations shall be done on a rotation basis.

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Duration of PanchayatsA panchayat shall have a term of five years and if it is dissolved for any reason, fresh elections shall be held within six months from the date of such dissolution. In case the remainder of the period is less than six months, it shall not be necessary to hold any election for constituting the panchayat for such period. A panchayat constituted following the dissolution of its predecessor before the latter’s normal duration expires shall continue only for the remainder of the period for which the dissolved panchayat would have continued.

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Constitution of the State Finance Commission

The Governor of a state shall constitute a Finance Commission within one year and thereafter every fifth year to review the financial position of the panchayats and to make recommendations to the governor as to:

(a)The principles which should govern

(i)The distribution between the state and the panchayats of the net proceeds of the taxes, duties, tools and fees leviable by the state, which may be divided between the under this part and the allocation between the panchayats at all levels of their respective shares of such proceeds;

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ii) The determination of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees, which may be assigned to or appropriated by the panchayats;

iii) The grants-in-aid to the panchayats from the Consolidated Fund to the states;

b) The Measures needed to improve the financial position of the panchayats; and

c) Any other matter referred to the Finance Commission by the Governor in the interest of sound finance of the panchayats.

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Through the Constitution (73rd) Amendment Act, 1992, a sub-clause (bb) has been inserted in Article 280 of the Constitution. According to this sub-clause, the Central Finance Commission, in addition to other recommendations, shall make recommendations to the President as to the measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a state to supplement the resources of the panchayats in the state on the basis of the recommendations made by the State Finance Commission.

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District Planning Committee:The provision for constituting a District Planning Committee was made under the Constitution(74th) Amendment Act, 1992. According to this Act, there shall be a District Planning Committee at the district level to consolidate the plans prepared by the panchayats and municipalities and to prepare a draft development plan for the district as a whole

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Discretionary provision• The subject of Panchayat Raj Institutions

comes under the State List in the Indian federal system. Hence, any interference by the Centre relating to these institutions may be construed as an intrusion in the working of the states. The Central Act has, therefore, given adequate discretionary powers on subjects like composition of the panchayats, devolution of powers to them, their financial matters, etc.,

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• Under the Central Act, the following areas have been left to the state legislatures to make suitable provisions in their Acts on the subject, keeping in view the over-all objectives as laid down in the Constitutional Amendment Act.

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1. Nomenclature of the panchayats at different levels.2. Nomenclature of the chairpersons of panchayats at

various levels.3. Size in terms of population and area for determination of

panchayats at the village and intermediate levels.4. Powers and functions of the Gram Sabha.5. Composition of the panchayats at different levels:

Provided that the ratio between the popluation of the territorial area of a panchayat at any level and the number of seats in such panchayat to be filled by election shall, so far as practicable, be the same throughout the state.

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6. To provide or not for the representation of:(a) The chairpersons of village panchayats in the panchayats at the intermediate level and of the chairpersons of the intermediate level panchayats at the district level;(b) The members of the House of People and the members of the state legislative assembly representing constituencies that comprise wholly or partly a panchayat area at levels other than the village level;(c) The members of the Council of States and the members of the state legislative council where they are registered as electors.

7. The mode of election of the chairperson of a panchayat at the village level.

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8.The manner in which the seats of the members of the panchayats at different levels shall be reserved forscheduled castes/tribes and women. Provided that the number of seats reserved shall be allotted by rotation to different territorial constituencies at each level.

9.The manner in which the offices of the chairpersons at different levels shall be reserved for scheduled castes/tribes and women. Provided that the number of offices reserved shall be allotted by rotation to different panchayats at each level.

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10.To provide or not for reservation of seats in favour of backward class in any panchayat or offices of chairpersons in the panchayats at any level.

11.To endow the panchayats at various levels with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-government and to make provisions for the development of powers and responsibilities upon panchayats at the appropriate level with respect to;

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(a) The preparation of plans for economic development and social justice;

(b) The implementation of schemes for economic development and socal justice entrusted to them, including those in relation to the matters listed in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution (See Annexure –I).

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12.To decide the taxes, duties, tolls and fees for which a panchayat is authorised and also lay down the procedure and limits for the same.

13.To decide the limits and the conditions of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied and collected by the state government but assigned to the panchayats

14 To decide the amount of grants-in-aid provided to the panchayats form the Consolidated Fund of the state.

15 To authorise the panchayats at different levels to crate a fund for crediting all money received by or on behalf of the panchayats and also for the withdrawal of such money.

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16. To provide for the composition of the Finance Commission, the qualifications which shall be requisite for appointment as members thereof and the manner in which they shall be selected. The Commission shall determine their procedure and shall have such powers in the performance of their functions as the legislature of the state by law confers on them. The Governor shall cause every recommendation made by the Commission under this article together with an explanatory memorandum as to the action taken thereon to be laid before the state legislature.

17. To make provisions with respect to the maintenance of accounts by panchayats and the auditing of such accounts.

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18. To determine the conditions of service and tenure of office of the State Election Commissioner and to make provision with respect to all matters relating to or in connection with election to the panchayats.

This is provided that the State Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and on the like grounds as a judge of a High Court. The conditions of service of the State Election Commissioner shall ot be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment. The Governor, when so required by the State Election Commission, make available such staff as may be necessary for the discharge of the functions conferred on it.

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19. To make provision with respect to all matters relating to, or in connection with, elections to the panchayats.

20. To make provisions with respect to:(a) The composition and functions of the

District Planning Committee;(b) The manner in which the chairperson of the District Planning Committee shall be filled, provided that not less than four-fifths of the total number of members of the committee shall be elected by and form amongst, the elected members of the panchayat at the district level and of the municipalities in the district in proportion to the ratio between the population of rural and urban areas.

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21. Any provision or any law relating to panchayats in force in a state immediately before the commencement of the Constitution (Seventy-third) Amendment Act, 1992, which is consistent with the provisions of this part, shall continue to be in force until the expiration of one year from such commencement, whichever is earlier, provided that all the panchayats existing immediately before such commencement shall continue till the expiration of their, duration, unless dissolved by a resolution passed to that effect by the legislative assembly of that state, or in the case of a state having a legislative council, by each House.

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Thank You