Rural development and local self government - class-X

Gram Sabha consists of all adults living in the area covered by a particular Panchayat.

The Gram Sabha is a meeting of all adults who live in the area covered by a Panchayat. Anyone who is 18 years old or more and who has the right to vote is a member of the Gram Sabha.

Sources of funds for the Panchayat :-

The Panchs and the Gram Panchayat are answerable to the Gram Sabha.

Panchayat Raj system is the first level of democratic government. It is the lowest level which is closest to the people. It promotes grass root level democracy.

The people of Hardas village are facing the problem of water shortage. The hand pump water has gone well below the point up to which the ground has been drilled. They hardly get water in the taps. Women have to go to the Suru River which is 3 km away to get water.

The Gram Panchayat is elected for five years.

Gram Panchayat collects taxes houses, market places, etc.

Gram Panchayat meets regularly in order to perform its task efficiently and within given time limit.

Every Gram Panchayat has a secretary who is also the secretary of the Gram Sabha.

Members of Gram Sabha elects the Sarpanch which is the head of Panchayat.

Raghu had illegally occupied some of Mohan's Land and Mohan was worried about picking a quarrel with Raghu as Raghu's uncle was a village sarpanch and his family-owned many fields in the village. Some people suggested him go to the police stations to file a complaint against Raghu as it is sheer injustice while others warned him of consequences because of the influential position of Raghu. But still, he went to Raghu's house. There he was beaten up by Raghu. So later he went to Police station to complain about Raghu.

Nyaya Panchayats were established to provide a local, accessible, and informal mechanism for resolving minor disputes among villagers, thereby reducing the burden on formal courts and saving costs.

A Gram Panchayat (village council) is the grassroots-level of Panchayati Raj formalised local self-governance system in India at the village or small-town level, and has a Sarpanch as its elected head. Gram Panchayats are panchayats at base level in Panchayat Raj Institutions (or PRIs), governed by the 73rd Amendment, which is concerned with Rural Local Governments.

1. District (or apex) Level.
2. Intermediate Level.
3. Base Level.

According to standard provisions for Gram Panchayat composition in many Indian states, a village with a population between 500 and 1500 typically elects 7 members.

The intermediate body at the block level is known by different names in different states, like Panchayat Samiti, Kshetra Samiti, Janapada Panchayat and Panchayat Union Council. 

A gram panchayat is the cornerstone of a local self-government organization in India of the Panchayati Raj system at the village or small town level and has a sarpanch as its elected head. The panchayat is chaired by the president of the village, known as a Sarpanch. The term of the elected representatives is five years.

During the Municipal Corporation and Panchayat elections, the town or the village is split into wards according to its population and people directly elect their representatives from each ward. Post elections, the elected members select a president among themselves to preside over the meetings of the municipality. Hence, Option A is correct. The rest of the factors are not the primary basis for electoral process, hence, incorrect. 

Zilla panchayat is also called as district council. It is the third tier of panchayat raj system.

Functions of ZillParishads:

• It has to approve the budgets of Samitis in the district.
  
• It must distribute funds given by the government to the Panchayat Samiti.
  
• It has to coordinate and consolidate the block plans in the district.
  
• It has to process the request for grants to the state government.
  
• It has to supervise the functions of Panchayat Samiti in the district.
  

73rd Constitutional Amendment in the area of Panchayat Raj states following

Thirty per cent seats in all elected rural local bodies will be reserved for women candidates at all levels.

The States will constitute their Finance Commissions to allocate resources to Panchayat Raj institutions.

The elections will be held in six months' time if Panchayat Raj bodies are superseded or dissolved by the State government.

• A few Gram Panchayats are grouped together to form Panchayat Samiti.
  
• It is also called as a block or Mandal Samiti.
  
• The Panchayat Samiti collects all the prospective plans prepared at Gram Panchayat level and processes them for funding and implementation by evaluating them.
  

As per article 243 D, 1/3 seats of Panchayati Raj Institutions and 1/3 offices of chairperson at all level of Panchayati Raj Institutions are reserved for women. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Tripura, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa have implemented 50% reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institution.

• A council consisting of several ward members, often called Panch is called Gram Panchayat.
  
• The rural local self-governing bodies are called panchayats. Mahatma Gandhi advocated panchayat raj as the foundation of India's political system. 
  
• The head of panchayat is Sarpanch.
  

• In India, seats are reserved for women in Panchayat Raj bodies which are local self-governing bodies.
  
• According to 73rd amendment out of the total number of seats to be filled by the direct elections for local self-governing bodies, 1/3rd have to be reserved for women. 
  

• The Directive Principles of State Policy are the guidelines or principles given to the central and state governments of India, to be kept in mind while framing laws and policies. 
  
• The need of establishing Panchayat Raj institutions is prescribed in Directive Principles of state policy.
  

People of India get right to vote which is universal adult franchise.

Universal adult franchise is the right to vote which is given to all adults irrespective of caste, creed, race etc

In India people get right to vote from the age of 18.

Therefore to cast vote in panchayat raj elections minimum one should have is 18.

• President: President is the Head of the country.
  
• Governor: Governor is the nominal head of state. Any decision at the state level is made with his approval.
  
• Mayor: He is the highest-ranking official at the municipal level. He heads Municipal Corporation.
  
• Sarpanch is an elected head of a village-level statutory institution of local self-government called the panchayat.
  

• A few gram panchayats are grouped together to form Panchayat Samiti.
  
• It is also called as a block or Mandal Samiti.
  
• The Panchayat Samiti collects all the prospective plans prepared at Gram Panchayat level and processes them for funding and implementation by evaluating them.
  

A sarpanch is an elected head of a village-level statutory institution of local self-government called the panchayat. Members of the Panchayat are called Panches and are elected by Gram Sabha by secret ballot in all the States.

The three-tier Panchayati Raj system consists of the Gram Panchayat (village level), Panchayat Samiti (block level), and Zila Parishad (district level), with the Zila Parishad at the apex.

The source of maximum income to Panchayati Raj institution is Government grants.

In India, the Panchayati Raj generally refers to the system of local self-government in India introduced by a constitutional amendment in 1992, although it is based upon the traditional panchayat system of the Indian subcontinent. This Panchayati Raj system was formalized in 1992, following a study conducted by a number of Indian committees on various ways of implementing more decentralized administration. It also keeps an eye on the elected representatives and in making them responsible to the persons who elected them. Hence, Option A is correct. The rest of the factors are not the main aim of the function of Panchayati Raj, hence, incorrect. 

• On basis of decentralization, three-tier Panchayat Raj system has been introduced.
  
• When power is taken away from central and state governments and given to local government, it is called decentralization.
  
• Decentralisation of powers is the sharing of powers among local self-governing bodies. It helps in proper functioning of government and can be reached to even remote parts of the country.
  

• Under Panchayat Raj system the lowest unit is gram Sabha.
  
• A Gram Sabha consists of members that include every adult of the village. It is generally formed in villages with population at least exceeding 1500 people.
  

A Gram Panchayat is the cornerstone of a local self-government organization in India of the Panchayati Raj system at the village or small town level and has a sarpanch as its elected head. Gram Sabha consists of the entire adult with age above 18 members of a village or a cluster of villages. It is generally formed in villages with the population at least exceeding 1500 people.

Article  40 of the Constitution which enshrines one of the Directive Principles of State Policy lays down that the State shall take steps to organize village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government. In the light of the experience in the last forty years and in view of the shortcomings which have been observed, it is considered that there is an imperative need to enshrine in the Constitution certain basic and essential features of Panchayati  Raj Institutions to impart certainty, continuity, and strength to them.

In 1989 the central government introduced two constitutional amendments. Later in 1992, the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments were passed by the parliament. The 73rd amendment is about rural local government which is also known as Panchyati Raj Institutions and the 74th amendment made the provisions related to urban local govt known as Nagarpalikas. The 73rd and 74th amendments came into force in 1993.

The minimum age limit for a person to be a member of the Panchayat Samiti is 21 years. It is the local government body at the tahsil level in the India. It joints between the Gram Panchayat and Zilla Parishad. It is called as Mandal Panchayat in Karnataka and Taluka Panchayat in Gujarat.

It is the second layer of the three-tier Panchayat system. It’s member elected for five years. The members are all the pradhans of the Gram Panchayat within the block area.

Local Governance in India has been formalized under the Panchayati Raj System since 1992. The Panchayati Raj system is a three-tier system with elected bodies at the village, taluka and district levels.

The Zila Panchayat or District Council or Zilla Parishad or District Panchayat is the third tier of the Panchayati Raj system. Zila Parishad is an elected body. 

Democratic decentralization covers a system of governance in which citizens of any locality possess the right to hold local public officials accountable through various democratic means.

A Nyaya Panchayat is a system of dispute resolution at and is created at the village level in India. Nyaya panchayats can be endowed with functions based on broad principles of natural justice and can tend to remain procedurally as simple as possible. They can be given civil and minor criminal jurisdiction. But they should never follow civil and criminal procedure code in toto.

The Block Development Officer (BDO) is the Executive Officer of the Panchayat Samiti. He runs the day to day administration of the Samiti. Besides this, there is a Panchayat Officer. The Executive Officer and the Panchayat Officer work in co-operation with each other. Though there are specialised officers for each department in the Panchayat Samiti, BDO has to ensure that there is coordination among various wings.

The 73rd and 74th CAA deal with local self government in rural and urban areas respectively. They provide for the reservation of not less than one-third of the total number of seats for women including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the SCs and the STs.

The Panchayat Samiti is the tehsil or taluka or block level of rural local-self government system in India. They form the middle level of the Panchayati Raj Institutions in India. It acts as a link between Village Panchayats (Gram Panchayats) and Zila Parishad (District Council). Thus, it acts primarily as a coordinating agency between the two extremes.

It was by the 73rd Amendment of the Indian Constitution that rural self-government was constitutionally recognized. It introduced the Three-tier Panchayati Raj system.

Balwant Rai Mehta Committee was appointed by the government of India in 1957. It aimed to examine the working of Community Development Programme (1952) and the National Extension Service (1953) and to suggest measures for their better working. It recommended ‘democratic decentralization’

 A third tier of federalism was added in the form of Panchayats and Municipalities. 

The committee related with Rural Local Government are as below:-

• 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.
• In December 1977, the Janata  Government appointed a committee on Panchayati Raj institutions under the chairmanship of Ashoka Mehta.
• Rural development activities under Government sponsorship was started
  with the introduction of community development programme on 2nd October
  1952. The National Extension Service programme was formulated in April 1953
  and it was inaugurated one year after the 55 community projects that
  is, on October 2, 1953.
  
  

At the local level it is possible for people to directly participate in decision making. This helps to inculcate a habit of democratic participation. Local government is the best way to realise one important principle of democracy, namely local self-government.

Gram Swaraj or village self rule was often stressed upon by Mahatma Gandhi because he believed that villages were the backbone of the nation and every village should be self-reliant, thus promoting welfare of all people. Mahtama Gandhi believed in individual freedom that could be attained only in autonomous, self-reliant communities like the Gram Raj aimed for. 

The Zilla Panchayat or District Council or Zilla Parishad or District Panchayat is the third tier of the Panchayati Raj system. Zilla Parishad is an elected body. Block Pramukh known as the president of Panchayat Samiti of a block are also represented in Zilla Parishad. 

Rajasthan is the state in which first Panchayat Raj Institute was established in Independent India. Panchayat Raj system or local self-governing institutions were inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru on 2 October 1959 at Nagaur in Rajasthan.

According to a recent study, 76 percent of Indians now listen to FM radio via their mobile phones, while an average of 22.5 percent tunes in while driving. With mobile phone penetration growing in rural India, radio as a medium of mass communication is now reaching the remotest corners of the country via handsets.

Local self-government institutions help in the local matters only. It is an administrative body for a small geographic 
area, such as a city, town, county, or state. A local government only has control over their specific geographical region, and
can not pass or enforce laws that will affect a wider area.

Panchayati Raj generally refers to the system introduced by constitutional amendment in 1992, although it is based upon the traditional panchayat system of South Asia. The Panchayati Raj system was formalized in 1992, following a study conducted by a number of Indian committees on various ways of implementing more decentralized administration in the Democracy.