Local Self-Government (Panchayati Raj System) – Indian Polity Notes for APSC Exam

Local Self-Government (Panchayati Raj System) in India

APSC Exams Indian Polity Notes

Go To Indian Polity & Governance Notes                             Go To Assam Polity Notes

The foundation of the present local self-government in India was laid by the Panchayati Raj System (1992). But the history of Panchayati Raj starts from the self-sufficient and self-governing village communities. In the time of the Rig-Veda (1700 BC), evidence suggests 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 almost every village. They endured the rise and fall of empires in the past, to the current highly structured system.

Local self-government implies the transference of the power to rule to the lowest rungs of the political order. It is a form of democratic decentralization where the participation of even the grass root level of the society is ensured in the process of administration.

The village panchayat, as a system of administration, began in the British days, as their offer to satisfy the demands for local autonomy. They opened up the governance of the lowest levels to the citizens. The GoI act, 1935 also authorizes the provinces to enact legislations.

Even though such minor forms of local governance was evident in India, the framers of the constitutions, unsatisfied with the existing provisions, included Article 40 among the Directive Principles, whereby:

“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.”

Later, the conceptualisation of the system of local self-government in India took place through the formation and effort of four important committees from the year 1957 to 1986. It will be helpful if we take a look at the committee and the important recommendations put forward by them.

1. Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957)

Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957) was the first committee that recommended the establishment of the scheme of ‘democratic decentralization’ which ultimately came to be known as Panchayati Raj. 

Rajasthan was the first state to establish Panchayati Raj. It was inaugurated in 1959 in Nagaur district. Rajasthan was followed by Andhra Pradesh, which also adopted the system in 1959.

Some of the major recommendations made by the committee are: 

  1. Establishment of a three-tier Panchayati raj system 

  2. The village Panchayat should be constituted with directly elected representatives, whereas the Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad should be constituted with indirectly elected members

  3. All planning and developmental activities should be entrusted to these bodies. 

  4. The Panchayat Samiti should be the executive body while the Zilla Parishad should be the advisory, coordinating and supervisory body.

  5. The District Collector should be the Chairman of the Zilla Parishad.

  6. There should be a genuine transfer of power and responsibility to these democratic bodies. 

  7. Sufficient 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. 

  9. Irrespective of political parties, elections has to be constituted for every 5 years in a genuine way.

2. Ashok Mehta Committee (1977-1978)

The committee was constituted by the Janata government of the time to study Panchayati Raj institutions. Most important ones recommendations are:

  • Three-tier system to be replaced by a two-tier system.
  • Political parties should participate at all levels in the elections.
  • Compulsory powers of taxation to be given to these institutions.
  • Zila Parishad to be made responsible for planning at the state level.
  • A minister for Panchayati Raj to be appointed by the state council of ministers.
  • Constitutional recognition to be given to Panchayati Raj institutions.

3. G V K Rao Commitee (1985)

The committee concluded that the developmental procedures were gradually being taken away from the local self-government institutions, resulting in a system comparable to ‘grass without roots’.

  • Zila Parishad to be given prime importance and all developmental programs at that level to be handed to it.
  • Post of DDC (District Development Commissioner) to be created acting as the chief executive officer of the Zila Parishad.
  • Regular elections to be held

Go To Indian Polity & Governance Notes                             Go To Assam Polity Notes

4. L M Singhvi Commitee (1986)

Constituted by the Rajiv Gandhi government on ‘Revitalisation of Panchayati Raj institutions for Democracy and Development’, its important recommendations are:

  • Constitutional recognition for PRI institutions.
  • Nyaya Panchayats to be established for clusters of villages

Though the 64th Constitutional Amendment bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 1989 itself, Rajya Sabha opposed it. It was only during the Narasimha Rao government’s term that the idea finally became a reality in the form of the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment acts, 1992.

Panchayati Raj System under 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment acts, 1992

The acts of 1992 added two new parts IX and IX-A to the constitution. It also added two new schedules – 11 and 12 which contains the lists of functional items of Panchayats and Municipalities. It provides for a three-tier system of Panchayati Raj in every state – at the village, intermediate and district levels.

What are Panchayats and Municipalities

  • Panchayat and Municipality are the generic terms for the governing body at the local level. Both exist as three tier systems – at the lower, intermediate and upper levels.
  • The 73rd Constitutional Amendment act provides for a Gram Sabha as the foundation of the Panchayati Raj system. It is essentially a village assembly consisting of all the registered voters in the area of the panchayat. The state has the power to determine what kind of powers it can exercise, and what functions it has to perform at the village level.
  • The 74th Constitutional Amendment act provides for three types of Municipalities:
    Nagar Panchayat for a transitional area between a rural and urban area.
    Municipal Council for a small urban area.
    Municipal Corporation for a large urban area.
  • Municipalities represent urban local self-government.
  • Most of the provisions of the two acts are parallel, differing only in the fact that they are being applied to either a Panchayat or a Municipality respectively.
  • Each Gram sabha is the meeting of a particular constituency called ward.
  • Each ward has a representative chosen from among the people themselves by direct election.
  • The chairperson of the Panchayat or Municipality at the intermediate and district level are elected from among these representatives at the immediately lower level by indirect election.

Types of Urban Local Government

There are eight types of urban local governments currently existing in India:

  • Municipal Corporations.
  • Municipality.
  • Notified area committee.
  • Town area committee.
  • Cantonment board.
  • Township.
  • Port trust.
  • Special purpose agency.


Elections in local government bodies

  • All seats of representatives of local bodies are filled by people chosen through direct elections.
  • The conduct of elections is vested in the hands of the State election commission.
  • The chairpersons at the intermediate and district levels shall be elected indirectly from among the elected representatives at the immediately lower level.
  • At the lowest level, the chairperson shall be elected in a mode defined by the state legislature.
  • Seats are reserved for SC and ST proportional to their population.
  • Out of these reserved seats, not less than one-third shall be further reserved for women.
  • There should be a blanket reservation of one-third seats for women in all the constituencies taken together too (which can include the already reserved seats for SC and ST).
  • The acts bar the interference of courts in any issue relating to the election to local bodies.

Qualification
Any person who is qualified to be a member of the state legislature is eligible to be a member of the Panchayat or Municipality. A person needs to attain only 21 years of age to be a member of panchayat/municipality.

Duration of the Local Government bodies

  • The local governing bodies are elected for a term of five years.
  • Fresh elections should be conducted before the expiry of the five-year term.
  • If the panchayat/municipality is dissolved before the expiry of its term, elections shall be conducted within six months and the new panchayat/municipality will hold office for the remainder of the term if the term has more than six months duration.
  • And for another five years if the remaining term is less than six months.

Powers invested on these Local Government bodies

  • The powers of local bodies are not exclusively defined. They can be tailor-fitted by the state governments according to the environment of the states.In general, the State governments can assign powers to Panchayats and Municipalities that may enable them to prepare plans for economic development and social justice. They may also be authorized to levy, collect, or appropriate taxes.

Go To Indian Polity & Governance Notes                             Go To Assam Polity Notes