Panchayats and Municipalities

Panchayats

» Part IX of the Constitution envisages a three tier system of Panchayats:
  ★ Panchayat at the village level
  ★ The District Panchayat at the district level
  ★ The Intermediate Panchayat in States where the population is above 20 lakhs.

» All the seats in a Panchayat is filled by direct election.
» The electorate is named "Gram Sabha'.
» The Chairperson of each Panchayat is elected according to the law passed by a State.
» Seats are reserved in Panchayat for Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their population [Art. 243D].
» Out of the reserved seats, 1 / 3 is reserved for women belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. 1 / 3 of the total seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat is reserved for women.
» A State can make similar reservation for Chairpersons in the Panchayats.
» Every Panchayat can continue for 5 years from the date of its first meeting. It can be dissolved earlier in accordance with State law.
» A Panchayat reconstituted after premature dissolution, continues only for the remainder of the period. But if the remainder of the period is less than 6 months it is not necessary to hold elections.
» All persons above 21 years of age and qualified to be a member of the State Legislature are qualified as a member of a Panchayat [Art. 243F].
» Panchayats can be entrusted to prepare and implement plans for economic development and social justice.
» A State can authorize a Panchayat to levy, collect and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls etc.
» After the 73rd amendment of the Constitution (25 April, 1993), every 5 years the States appoint a Finance Commission to review the financial position of the Panchayats and make recommendations.
» State Election Commission consisting of a State Election Commissioner is appointed by the Governor for superintendence, direction and control of elections to Panchayats [Art. 243K].
» The Community Development Programme was launched on Oct. 2, 1952.
» The Democratic Decentralisation was implemented for the first time in 1958 in some areas of Andhra Pradesh on experimental basis.
» The Panchayati Raj was introduced for the first time on Oct. 2,1959 in Nagaur District of Rajasthan by the Prime Minister Jawahar Lai Nehru.
» Rajasthan is the first state in India, where Panchayati Raj was implemented in the whole state.

Municipalities

» PART IXA gives a constitutional foundation to the local self government units in urban area.
» Most provisions for municipalities are similar to those contained in PART IX, e.g. Structure, Reservation of Seats, Functions, Sources of Income etc.
» Nagar Panchayat, is for an area being transformed from a rural area to an urban area.
» Municipal Council is for a smaller urban area.
» Municipal Corporation is for a larger urban area. The municipal corporation is the topmost urban local government.
» The members of a municipality are generally elected by direct election.
» The Legislature of a State can provide for representation in municipalities of:
  ★ Persons having special knowledge or experience in municipal administration.
  ★ Members of Lok Sabha, State Assembly, Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council.
  ★ The Chairpersons of Ward Committees.

» Two Committees constituted for preparing development plan are :
  ★ A District Planning Committee at the district level
  ★ A Metropolitan Planning Committee at the metropolis level