Since ancient times, India has always possed a good system of local administration even at rural level.
This was rooted through the institution of Panchayati Raj at the rural level.
Literally Panchayat means a committee of five people.
• Panchayati Raj in India:
(i) Panachayati Raj consists of three levels:
(a) Gram Sabha at the village level.
(b) Panchayat Samiti at the block level.
(c) Zila Parishad at the district level.
• Gram Sabha:
(i) Gram Sabha is a general body consisting of all the village voters residing in village.
(ii) Every village Panchayat is divided into wards,i.e.smaller areas.Each ward elects a representative who is known as Ward Member or Panch.
(iii) All the members of the Gram Sabha also elect a Sarpanch who is the Panchyat President.The Ward Member or Panch,and the Sarpanch form the Gram Panchayat.The Gram Panchayat is elected for five years.
(iv) The Gram sabha acts as a legislative body whereas the gram panchayat is an executive body at the village level.
(v) Nyaya Panchayat is established for providing justice and resolving minor disputes .
Gram Panchayat at Village Level: pic 3
(i) Gram Panchayat is elected by Gram Sabha.The Gram Panchayat has a Secretary who is also the Secratary of the Gram Sabha. This person is not an elected person but appointed by the government. The Secretary is responsible for calling the meeting of the Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayat and keeping a record of the proceedings.
(ii) Gram Panchayat elects Sarpanch who presides over the meetings of the Panchayat.
(iii) Gram Panchayat performs public welfare activities, looks after the health and education and records death and birth in the village.
Works of Gram Panchayat:
(i) The work of the Gram Panchayat has to be approved by the Gram Sabha.It is the place where all plans for the work of the Gram Panchayat are placed before the people.
(ii)The Gram Sabha prevents the Panchayat from doing wrong things and plays an important role in keeping an eye on the elected representatives.
(iii) The work of a Gram Panchayat includes construction and maintenance of water resources,roads,drainage,school buildings and other common property resources.
(iv) The Gram Panchayat also levys and collects local taxes,executes government schemes related to generating employment in the village.
Panchayat Samiti at Block Level:
(i) To examine the working of Gram Panchayat, there is provision of Panchayat Samiti at the block level.
(ii) The panchayat samiti has many gram panchayats under it . It supervises the working of panchayats in a block .
Zila Parishad at District Level:
(i) Zila Parishad is the highest governing body under panchayati raj system .The Zila Parishad makes the developmental plans at the district level.
(iii) It coordinates the functioning of Panchayat Samitis and finanaces the gram panchayats and panchayat samiti for public welfare works.
The constitution of India provides guidelines within which each state of the countryhas its own laws with respect to Panchayats.The idea is to provide more and more space for people to participate and raise their voices.
Exercise
Question 1. What problem did the villagers in Hardas village face? What did they do to solve this problem?
Answer: The main problem faced by the people of the Hardas village are:
- Acute shortage of water. The hand pump water has gone well below the point up to which the ground has been drilled. They hardly get any water in the taps.
- Women have to go to the Suru river which is 3 k.m. away to get water.
The solution they found is:
- Piping water from the river Suru and making an overhead tank in the village.
- Deepen the hand pumps and clean the wells for this session.
- Finally, they came with the permanent solution of conserving water or watershed development.
Question 2. What, in your opinion, is the importance of the Gram Sabha? Do you think all members should attend Gram Sabha meetings? Why?
Answer: Gram panchayat plays an important role in providing some benefits for the community life of the rural people. Some of the functions are meant for improving the economic life of the rural people. Local problems of the villagers can be discussed in the meeting and can recommend solutions to the problems and their needs.
Yes, it is important to all the members to attend the meeting of Gram Sabha. It secures the participation of the villagers in the commodity development. It is the forum where they can discuss the welfare programmes of the village.
Question 3. What is the link between a Gram Sabha and a Gram Panchayat?
Answer: The link between a Gram Sabha and a Gram Panchayat are:
- Gram Sabha elects the members of the Gram Panchayat.
- The Gram Panchayat is answerable to the members of Gram Sabha.
- Gram Sabha comes to know about the problems of the people and try to solve them.
Question 4. Take an example of any one task done by a Panchayat in your area/nearby rural area and find out the following:
a. Why it was taken up.
b. Where the money came from.
c. Whether or not the work has been completed.
Answer (a) Task: A connecting road from the village to the main road.
(b) Fund: Major part of the money came from the State Government and a minor part of the money came from the Gram Panchayat Fund.
(c) Yes, the work has been completed on time.
Question 5. What is the difference between a Gram Sabha and a Gram Panchayat?
Answer: Gram Sabha Gram panchayat (i) Grama Sabha is a meeting of all adults who live in the area covered by a panchayat. Every adult man and woman in the village who has attained the age of 18 years or above are the members of the Gram Sabha. (i) A Gram Panchayat is elected by the people of the village. (ii) The number of members can be between 100 to 1000. (ii) The number of members can be from 7 to 31. (iii) There is no concept of reservation. (iii) Out of the total, l/3rd seats are reserved for women and some for scheduled caste and scheduled tribes. (iv) The members and the body are permanent Ward members, panchs and the panchayat president are the members question
6. Read the following news item.
Nimon is a village on the Chauphula -Shirur Road. Like many others, this village has also been facing a severe water shortage for the last few months and villagers depend on tankers for all their needs. Bhagvan Mahadeo Lad (35) of this village was beaten with sticks, iron rods and axes by a group of seven men. The incident came to light when some villagers bought a badly injured Lad to the hospital for treatment. In the FIR, recorded by the police Lad said that he was attacked when he insisted that the water in the tanker must be emptied into the storage tank constructed as part of water supply scheme by Nimon Gram Panchayat so that there would be an equal distribution of water. However, he alleged that the upper caste men were against this and told him that the tanker water was not meant for the lower castes.
Adapted from Indian Express, May 1, 2004.
a. Why was Bhagavan beaten?
b. Do you think the above is a case of discrimination? Why?
Answer: a. There was an acute water shortage in Nimon village and the villagers had to depend on tankers for their needs. So when the tanker came in the village, Bhagvan insisted that the water in the tanker must be emptied into storage tanks constructed as part of the water supply programme by Nimon Gram Panchayat so that there would be an equal distribution of water. But the upper caste men were against this and therefore they beat Bhagavan to suppress his demand.
b. Yes, it is a clear-cut case of discrimination as the higher cast people do not want to give comfort to the lower caste people. They also want to deny the lower caste people even the basic need for drinking water.
Question 7. Find out more about watershed development and how it benefits an area?
Answer: Watershed development refers to the conservation regeneration and the judicious use of all the resources – natural ( like land, water plants, animals) and human – within the watershed area.
Benefits of watershed development are:
- It makes the land fertile and supports the growth of trees, plants, and cultivation.
- It helps in the preservation of water and its resources.
- Prevents soil erosion.
- It helps in conservation of water by plantation.
