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Aparna
Aparna

Aparna

  • Lucknow, India
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Asked: 2021-11-01T19:51:50+05:30 In:

What is Panchayati Raj System?

Describe Pandemic & Panchayat?

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      Context:

      Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed elected representatives in local governments on April 24, 2020, to mark the National Panchayati Raj Day.

      Panchayati Raj System

      • It was in 1992 that it was officially established by the Indian Constitution as the third level of India’s federal democracy through the 73rd Amendment Act.
      • The Panchayat Raj System was first adopted by the state of Rajasthan in Nagaur district on 2nd October 1959. The second state was Andhra Pradesh.
      • The Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) consists of three levels:
        • Gram Panchayat at the village level
        • Block Panchayat or Panchayat Samiti at the intermediate level
        • Zilla Panchayat at the district level
      • The Panchayati Raj system is also recognized as a form of direct democracy (i.e they exercise all powers of a government at a village level), as opposed to the popular notion that it is a type of representative democracy.
      • In modern India, Mahatma Gandhi was one of the leading advocates of Gram Swaraj. e village self-governance where the village would be responsible for its own affairs.

      Salient features of Panchayat:

      • The Gram Sabha is a body consisting of all the people registered in the electoral rolls who belong to a village comprised within the area of the Panchayat at the village level.
      • Permanent: Gram Sabha is the smallest and the only permanent unit in the Panchayati Raj system. The powers and functions of Gram Sabha are fixed by the state legislature according to the law on the subject.
      • Reservation: Seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and chairpersons of the Panchayats at all levels are reserved for SCs and STs in proportion to their population.
        • Women: One-third of the total number of seats are to be reserved for women. One-third of the seats reserved for SCs and STs are also reserved for women. This policy extends to the office of the chairperson at all levels as well (Article 243D). The reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the Panchayat.
      • There is a uniform policy with each term being five years. Fresh elections must be conducted before the expiry of the term. In the event of dissolution, elections compulsorily within six months (Article 243E).

      National Panchayati Raj Day:

      • The first National Panchayati Raj Day was celebrated in 2010. Since then, the National Panchayati Raj Day is celebrated on April 24 every year in India.
      • Every year on this National Panchayati Raj Day Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj organizes National Conference and awards best performing Gram Panchayats with ‘The Panchayat ShashakatikaranPuraskar/Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar’.

      Major committees on Panchayat:

      • BalwanthRai Mehta Committee
      • Sadik Ali Committee
      • G. L. Vyas Committee
      • Ashok Mehta Committee
      • L. N. Singhvi Committee.

      E-panchayat:

      • E-panchayat is one of the Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) under the National e-Governance Programme (NeGP).
      • It is aimed at making Panchayats more efficient, transparent and symbols of modernity by leveraging ICT to become modern institutions of self-governance by ensuring greater openness through transparency, disclosure of information, social audit, efficient delivery of services, improving internal management of Panchayats, procurement, etc.

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