Ans.
·
The idea which 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.
·
It was a political drive to see PRIs as a
solution to the governmental crises that India was experiencing. The Constitutional
(73rd Amendment) Act, passed in 1992 by the Narasimha Rao government, came into
force on April 24, 1993. It was meant to provide constitutional sanction to
establish "democracy at the grassroots level as it is at the state level
or national level". 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-tier structure of panchayats
at village (Gram Panchayat — GP), intermediate or block (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.
·
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
FinanceCommission in every State/UT, for every five years, to suggest measures
to strengthen finances of panchayati raj institutions.
·
To promote bottom-up-planning, the District
Planning Committee (DPC) in every district has been accorded constitutional
status.
·
An indicative list of 29 items has been given
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.
·
The 3-tier system
of Panchayati Raj consists:
1.
Village-level Panchayats
2. Block-level
Panchayats
3.
District-level Panchayats.
|
In
the history of Panchayati Raj in India, on 24 April 1993, the Constitutional
(73rd Amendment) Act 1992 came into force to provide constitutional status to
the Panchayati Raj institutions. This act was extended to Panchayats in the
tribal areas of eight states, namely Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan starting 24 December 1996.
Currently, the Panchayati Raj system exists in all the states except Nagaland,
Meghalaya and Mizoram, and in all Union Territories except Delhi.
·
The Act aims to provide a 3-tier system of
Panchayati Raj for all States having a population of over 2 million, to hold
Panchayat elections regularly every 5 years, to provide seats reservations for
scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and women; to appoint a State Finance
Commission to make recommendations as regards to the financial powers of the
Panchayats and to constitute a District Planning Committee to prepare a
development plan draft for the district. Powers and responsibilities are
delegated to panchayats at the appropriate level:
·
Preparation of the economic development plan
and social justice plan.
·
Implementation of schemes for economic
development and social justice in relation to 29 subjects given in the Eleventh
Schedule of the Constitution.
·
To levy and collect appropriate taxes, duties,
tolls and fees.
