Panchayati Raj

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The Panchayati Raj ( Hindi : पंचायती राज Pāncāyatī Raj [ pɑːntʃɑːjʌtiː rɑːdʒ ] "Panchayat rule") is a decentralized form of government of village self-government through elected councils, especially in India , Pakistan and Nepal is widespread. Panchayat ( पंचायत Pāncāyat [ pɑːnˈtʃɑːjʌt ]) literally means assembly ( yat ) of five ( panch ) wise and respected elders who are elected and accepted by the village community. Traditionally, these gatherings settle disputes between villagers or villages. The modern Indian government has decentralized various administrative tasks at the local level and empowered elected Gram Panchayats . The Gram Panchayats should not be confused with the unelected khap panchayats (caste panchayats) in some parts of India.

Panchayati Raj

The Panchayati or Panchayati Raj is a communal form of government in which Gram Panchayats form the basic administrative units. It consists of three levels: village, block and district. The relatively new term Panchayat Raj comes from the period of British colonial rule in India. Raj literally means government.

Panchayati Raj in India

Mohandas Gandhi already advocated the Panchayati Raj as a decentralized form of government in which each village is responsible for its own affairs, as the basis of the Indian political system. His term for this concept was Gram Swaraj (village self-government). For a politician like Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar , who campaigned for the legal and social equality of the Dalits , on the other hand, as he said in a speech to the constituent assembly on November 4, 1948, village self-government through provincialism and the promotion of ethnic and religious conflict (communalism) led to the destruction of India.

Legal basis, goals, structure and financing

Several Indian states introduced this system in the 1950s and 1960s and passed laws establishing panchayats. In the constitution of India , the idea of ​​local self-government was underpinned by Panchayats in 1992 with the introduction of Amendment 73. The amendment decrees the transfer of power and responsibility for the preparation of economic development plans, for social justice and for the implementation of 29 areas listed in the 12th appendix of the constitution.

The Panchayats receive funding from three sources: 1. Loans to local bodies on the recommendation of the Central Finance Commission; 2. Central government funds for the implementation of state-sponsored programs, 3. State government funds on the recommendation of the respective finance commissions.

The 73rd Amendment to the Constitution, adopted by the Indian Parliament in 1992, entered into force on April 24, 1993 and gave the Panchayati Raj institutions constitutional status. This law was extended on December 24, 1996 to panchayats in the tribal areas of the seven states of Andhra Pradesh , Gujarat , Himachal Pradesh , Maharashtra , Madhya Pradesh , Odisha and Rajasthan . Today the Panchayati Raj system exists in all states except Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram and in all Union territories except Delhi. The aim of the law is to create three-tier Panchayati Raj in all states with more than two million residents. It provides for panchayat elections to be held regularly every five years and quotas for low castes and casteless people ( Scheduled Castes ), indigenous people ( Scheduled Tribes ) and women. The casteless and natives should be represented according to their share in the population of the respective area. One third of the seats are reserved for women. The modern form of village self-government differs significantly from the traditional panchayat institution. The members of the traditional Panchayats "were not elected, they did not exercise their office for a limited period of time, caste and religious affiliation were decisive selection factors for membership, and women and casteless people were not represented in Panchayats."

The states should appoint finance committees to make recommendations on the funding of the panchayats, and to set up planning committees in the districts responsible for drafting the district's development plans. The three-tier system of Panchayati Raj consists of Panchayats at village, block and district level.

The tasks and areas of responsibility are delegated to the panchayats of the appropriate level and mainly include:

  • Prepare plans for economic development and social justice
  • Implementation of the economic development and social justice programs in relation to the 29 areas of Annex 12 to the Constitution
  • Collection, collection and allocation of taxes, duties, duties and fees

The Panchayat at the block level: Panchayat Samiti

The Panchayat Samiti is a local government agency at the administrative level of blocks ( Tehsils or Taluks, the villages of which form a so-called development block ). The Panchayat Samiti is the link between the Gram Panchayat and the district government. This institution occurs in different forms in different states. In Andhra Pradesh it is called Mandal Praja Parishad, in Karnataka Mandal Panchayat, etc. In general, it is a Panchayati Raj at a higher level.

Organization and financing

A Panchayt Samiti consists of official members (all Sarapanchas of the bloc, the members of the Indian parliament and the government of the state of the bloc and the subdivisional officers ), co-opted members (representatives of the casteless, indigenous people and women), associate members (a farmer from the Area and one representative each from the cooperatives and one representative from marketing services) as well as some elected members. The Samiti is elected for five years and is chaired by a chairman (mukhiya / sarpanch) and a deputy chairman. A Samiti has the following departments: General Administration, Finance, Public Works, Agriculture, Health, Education, Social Services, Information Technology and others. Panchayat Samiti is funded primarily through grants and loans from the state government.

Functions

  • Implementation of agricultural development programs
  • Operation of primary health care facilities and primary schools
  • Drinking water supply, sewage, road construction and maintenance
  • Development of handicrafts and small industry, establishment of cooperatives
  • Founding and supporting youth organizations

The Panchayat at the district level

The Zilla Parishad is the government agency of the Panchayati Raj at the district level. Parishad means council in Hindi, Zilla Parishad means district council. The Zilla Parishad is responsible for the administration of the rural areas of the district, its office is located in the district administration. He is the liaison between the state government and the Panchayat Samiti at the block level. At its head is the district head (called District Collector , District Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner ).

Organization and financing

Zilla Parishad members are elected from the district for five years. A Zilla Parishad has a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 75 seats. Some of the seats are reserved for casteless people, natives and women. Financing is provided on the one hand by taxes and fees, e.g. For example, for water, pilgrims, and markets, the state government pays fixed grants proportional to tax revenue as well as funds for programs and work that have been assigned to the parishad.

Functions

The Zilla Parishad are responsible for providing basic services and facilities for the rural population and for planning and implementing development programs in the district. In detail, this includes:

  • Providing farmers with improved seeds, informing and training farmers in new agricultural methods; Construction of small irrigation systems and water filter systems; Maintenance of pastureland
  • Establishment and operation of village schools and libraries, implementation of adult literacy programs
  • Opening of primary health care facilities and hospitals in larger villages and mobile hospitals in very small villages; Conducting vaccination programs and family welfare campaigns
  • Construction and maintenance of bridges and roads, schools and public buildings
  • Implementation of development plans for the casteless and indigenous people; Running schools for the children of the indigenous peoples; Construction of dormitories for casteless students
  • Support for the creation of small businesses, e.g. B. in the processing of landscape products, cotton farming, dairy farming and handicrafts; Implementation of rural employment programs
  • Creation of job opportunities for the casteless, lower castes, and indigenous people

Box panchayati

In addition to these institutions, there are also so-called Khap Panchayats (khap ( Hindi खाप ; Tamil நாட்டாமை = clan / caste)) in North India . They play a role within the castes or clans.

literature

  • Luise B. Rürup: Case study: India. In: Decentralization and communal self-administration: on the communal political project work of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Africa, Asia, Latin America. Bonn 1999, pp. 70-81. (on-line)
  • Subrata K. Mitra , VB Singh: Democracy and Social Change in India: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the National Electorate . Sage Publications, New Delhi 1999, ISBN 0-7619-9344-4 .
  • Subrata K. Mitra: Making local government work: Local elites, panchayati raj and governance in India. In: Atul Kohli (Ed.): The Success of India's Democracy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2001, ISBN 0-521-80144-3 .
  • Subrata K. Mitra: Politics in India. In: Gabriel Almond, Bingham Powell, Russell Dalton, Kaare Strøm (Eds.): Comparative Politics Today. 8th edition. Addison-Wesley-Longman, New York 2003, pp. 634-684.

Web links

Commons : Panchayati Raj  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Glossary - (Nepal) Nepal and Bhutan. on the Library of Congress website .
  2. panchayat. in the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
  3. ^ Rohit Mullick, Neelam Raaj: Panchayats turn into kangaroo courts. In: The Times of India. September 9, 2007.
  4. Ramachandra Guha: Makers of Modern Indi. New Delhi 2010, p. 317.
  5. a b India 2007. Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting , Government of India, S. 696th
  6. The Constitution (73rd Amendment) ACT, 1992 - Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 5, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / indiacode.nic.in
  7. ^ Luise B. Rürup: Case study: India. In: Decentralization and communal self-administration: on the communal political project work of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Africa, Asia, Latin America. Bonn 1999. (online)
  8. ^ Rohit Mullick, Neelam Raaj: Panchayats turn into kangaroo courts. In: The Times of India. September 9, 2007, accessed April 20, 2017 .