The Gazetteers Department

Historical Background.- The villages in ancient India were autonomous units and enjoyed freedom in the administration. Efforts were made to revive these institutions, by the British Government with a view to train the people in the administration of such local self-government institutions by giving them representation in these local bodies.

With the attainment of freedom, India initiated efforts towards economic and social advancement and planned economy was accepted as the basis of future progress. Community Development Programmes and National Extension Service were envisaged to improve the lot of the rural population. However, after a certain lapse of time the Government realised that the progress of rural development was not commensurate with expectations and this was mainly due to non-participation of villagers in the implementation of development schemes. To investigate into the causes behind such a state of affairs, the Government appointed a committee called the 'Balwantrai Mehta Committee'.

The Committee visited development activities, interviewed many Government officials and social workers. It was pointed out that the Government could not succeed in appealing and attracting leadership of the masses in participating in various schemes, as self-governing institutions did not take keen interest in such work. There was too much interference in the working of such local bodies, at the district level, with Government accepting the role of guiding, supervising and planning from a higher level, making available the required finance etc. It recommended the formation of local committees on par with Block Development committees to be named as Panchayat Samitis and at district level a district committee to be named as Zilla Parishad. Thus the Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad subsequently came to be entrusted with the implementation of the development schemes.

Accordingly, the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis Act was passed in 1961. The Act provides for the establishment of Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samitis in rural areas and assigns to them the functions of local government.

The basic conception behind the formation of Zilla Parishad in each district is to assign to such Zilla Parishad the local government functions, to entrust the execution of certain works and developmental schemes of the State Five-Year Plans and to provide for the decentralisation of powers and functions under certain enactments for the purpose of promoting the development of democratic institutions and further to secure a greater measure of participation by the people in the said plans and Government schemes.

The Zilla Parishad, Buldhana, came into existence in the year 1962. The area under the jurisdiction of the Zilla Parishad and the Panchayat Samitis corresponds to the district and taluka boundaries, respectively, except in the case of municipal towns which are not covered by them. The Zilla Parishad covers 98.62 per cent of the area and 83.44 per cent of the total population of the district. The population covered by the Zilla Parishad is entirely rural.

The Buldhana Zilla Parishad is thus the local self-Government agency at the district level with the following 13 Panchayat Samitis under it, viz.:

(1) Buldhana: (2) Motala; (3) Malkapur; (4) Nandura; (5) Jalgaon; (6) Sangrampur; (7) Khamgaon; (8) Shegaon; (9) Mehkar; (10) Lonar; (11) Chikhli; (12) Deulgaon-Raja; and (13) Sindkhed-Raja.

In practice, the jurisdiction of each of the above Panchayat Samitis corresponds with the jurisdiction of the erstwhile development block. The above 13 Panchayat Samitis are part and parcel of the Zilla Parishad and do not have separate legal entity.

The Zilla Parishad carries out its functions through the following authorities: -

(1) 13 Panchayat Samitis mentioned above,

(2) the standing committee,

(3) six subjects committees, viz., one sub-committee each for agriculture, education, works, industries and co-operation, health and finance,

(4) presiding authorities,

(5) the Chief Executive Officer; and

(6) the Block Development Officers (one for each Panchayat Samiti).

Powers and Functions.- In what follows are described in brief the powers and functions of the President, the Vice-President and other official and non-official authorities: -

President: The President: -

(a) has to preside over the meetings of the Zilla Parishad; (b) has access to the Zilla Parishad records;

(d) supervises the financial and executive administration and submits to the Parishad all problems connected therewith which require its orders and

(e) exercises administrative supervision and control over the Chief Executive Officer for securing implementation of resolutions or decisions of the Zilla Parishad or of the standing committee, or any subjects committee, or of any Panchayat Samiti.

The President, in case of emergency, directs the execution or suspension or stoppage of any work or the doing of any act which requires the sanction of the Zilla Parishad or any authority thereof, and immediate execution or doing of which in his opinion, is necessary for the service or safety of the public, and may direct that the expenses of executing such works or doing of such act shall be paid from the District Fund.

Provided that, he shall report forthwith the action taken under this section, and the full reasons thereof to the Zilla Parishad, the standing committee and the appropriate subjects committee at their next meeting and the Zilla Parishad or the committee may amend or annul the direction made by the President.

Vice-President: The Vice-President-

(a) in the absence of the President, presides over the meetings of the Zilla Parishad;

(b) exercises such of the powers and performs such of the duties of the President as the President from time to time, subject to the rules made by the State Government in this behalf, delegates to him by an order in writing; and

(c) pending the election of a President, or during the absence of the President, exercises the powers and performs the duties of the President.

Chairman of Standing Committee or Subjects Committee: Subject to the provisions of the Act, and the rules made thereunder by the State Government, the Chairman of the standing committee or a subjects committee-

(i) convenes, presides over and conducts the meetings of the committee; and

(ii) has access to the records of the committee.

The Chairman of any such committee, in relation to the subject allotted to the committee can-

(i) call for any information, return, statement, accounts or report from any officer employed by or holding office under the Zilla Parishad or any servant thereof; and

(ii) enter and inspect any immoveable property occupied by the Zilla Parishad or any institution under the control and management of the Zilla Parishad or any work or development scheme in progress undertaken by the Zilla Parishad or under its direction:

Provided that, the Chairman of the standing committee may, in relation to any subject allotted to any subjects committee, also exercise the powers under this clause;

(iii) The Chairman of the standing committee can grant leave of absence for any period exceeding two months, but not exceeding four months, to any officer of class I service (other than the Chief Executive Officer) or class II service holding office under the Zilla Parishad.

Save as otherwise provided by or under this Act, the powers to be exercised and the duties to be discharged by the standing committee and each of the subjects committees, are such as may be prescribed by regulations; but all subjects in relation to social welfare enumerated in the district list are allotted to the standing committee.

A Chief Executive Officer, a Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Block Development Officers, and the heads of various departments of the Zilla Parishad are the executive officers and are transferable by the State Government to other districts. The Chief Executive Officer belongs to the cadre of Indian Administrative Service and his rank is equal to that of a Collector. The Deputy Chief Executive Officer is an officer of the rank of the Deputy Col-lector. The Block Development Officers are class II officers while the heads of the departments are either class I or class II officers. All the executive officers draw their pay and allowances from the consolidated fund of the State except travelling allowance (other than travelling allowance on transfer) which is drawn from the District Fund.

Chief Executive Officer: The Chief Executive Officer-

(i) shall lay down the duties of all the officers and servants of or holding office under the Zilla Parishad in accordance with the rules made by the State Government;

(ii) shall be entitled to call for any information, return, statement, accounts or report from any officer or servant of, or holding office under the Zilla Parishad;

(iii) shall supervise and control all the activities of the Zilla Parishad;

(iv) shall have power to possess papers and documents connected with the proceedings of meetings of the Zilla Parishad and of its committees (excluding Panchayat Samitis);

(v) shall draw and disburse money out of the District Fund;

(vi) shall exercise supervision and control over the officers and servants holding office under the Zilla Parishad in matters of executive administration and those relating to accounts and records of the Zilla Parishad;

(vii) shall be entitled to attend the meetings of the Zilla Parishad or any of its committees (including any Panchayat Samiti);

(viii) any of the powers conferred or duties or functions imposed upon or vested in the Chief Executive Officer by or under the Act, are also exercised, performed or discharged under the control of the Chief Executive Officer and subject to such conditions and limitations, if any, as he may think fit to lay down, by any officer or servant holding office under the Zilla Parishad to whom the Chief Executive Officer generally or specially empowered by order in writing; all such orders of the Chief Executive Officer are(however, to be laid before the President, the standing committee and relevant subjects committees for information;

(ix) He shall assess and give his opinion confidentially every year on the work of the officer of class I service and class II service holding office under the Zilla Parishad; forward them to such authorities as are prescribed by the State Government and lay down the procedure for writing such reports about the work of officers and servants of class III service and class IV service under the Zilla Parishad.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer : The Deputy Chief Executive Officer is the Secretary, ex-officio, of the Zilla Parishad, as well as the standing committee.

Block Development Officer: The Block Development Officer-

(i) shall have the custody of all papers and documents connected with the proceedings of meetings of the Panchayat Samitis;

(ii) shall be the secretary, ex-officio, of the Panchayat Samiti;

(iii) shall, subject to the general orders of the Chief Executive officer, grant leave of absence to officer or servant of class III service or of class IV service of the Zilla Parishad working under the Panchayat Samiti;

(iv) shall call for any information, return, statement, account's, report, or explanation from any of the officers or servants working under the Panchayat Samiti;

(v) shall draw and disburse money out of the grant of rents payable to the Panchayat Samiti under section 185; and

(vi) shall in relation to the works and development schemes to be undertaken from the block giants, exercise such powers of sanctioning acquisition of property, sale or transfer thereof, as are specified by the State Government.

Heads of the Departments: (i) Every head of the Department of the Zilla Parishad in respect of works and development schemes pertaining to his department accords technical sanction thereto.

(ii) He assesses and gives his opinion confidentially every year on the work of officers of class II service working in his department and forwards them to the Chief Executive Officer.

(iii) The head of department, specified in this behalf, shall be the secretary ex-officio, of such subjects committees as the Zilla Parishad may direct.

Organisation.-The Zilla Parishad, Buldhana, is composed of 47 elected councillors, two co-opted women councillors, five associate councillors (Chairmen of five federal co-operative societies) and 13 ex-officio councillors. The Chief Executive Officer is the administrative head of the Zilla Parishad.

As per the provisions contained in section 78 of the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis Act, 1961, the Zilla Parishad has appointed the following committees, viz., standing committee, finance committee, works committee, agriculture committee, co-operative committee, education committee and health committee.

General Administration Department.-The General Administration department of the Zilla Parishad deals with non-technical matters such as establishment, parishad revenue, panchayats, social welfare and planning. The General Administration department is controlled and directed by the standing committee of the Zilla Parishad. The Deputy Chief Executive Officer is its secretary and he heads the General Administration department. He is assisted by an administrative officer, a revenue officer, a social welfare officer and two area organizers for tribal welfare. The social welfare section of the department is in charge of a District Social Welfare Officer. He is entrusted with the work of implementation of various schemes for the uplift and welfare of the backward classes. The amelioration of the backward classes is sought by granting them various educational and financial concessions and through cultural activities. An amount of Rs. 3,98,000 was spent for social welfare schemes during 1972-73.

Finance Department.-The Finance department of the Zilla Parishad is divided into four branches, viz., audit, budget, compilation and works. It is headed by the Chief Accounts and Finance Officer, who is Class I Gazetted Officer. He is assisted by the Accounts Officer. The Finance department is controlled by the finance committee of the Zilla Parishad with the Chief Accounts and Finance Officer as its secretary.

The total revenue receipts of the Zilla Parishad during the year 1972-73 were Rs. 31,175,000 comprising Government grants of Rs. 28,196,000; local fund cess including stamp duty grants of Rs. 9,60,000, and other taxes and fees Rs. 76,000.

During the same period the total revenue expenditure amounted to Rs. 3,25,43,000, while the debt section amounted to Rs. 41,224,000.

Agriculture Department.-The Agriculture department of the Zilla Parishad is headed by the Agricultural Development Officer who has to exercise technical and administrative control and to execute and supervise the departmental activities in the district. The department is controlled by the agriculture committee of the Zilla Parishad. Since the formation of the Zilla Parishad, the Agriculture department has made good progress in the programme of intensive and extensive cultivation for kharif and rabi crops especially of jowar, groundnut and cotton. The department has installed 74 pumps and has constructed 364 wells towards expanding irrigation facilities. Under the rural compost scheme, 44,870 pits have been dug. The department in 1962-63 distributed ammonium sulphate 3,486 tons; ammonium-sulphate-nitrate 383 tons; urea 3,507 tons; nitro phosphate 255 tons and super phosphate 120 tons. Side grafting was done on 130 local mango trees with improved variety along with 345 bor trees. Spraying operations were completed on 1,393 acres of citrus plantation in the district. Loans amounting to Rs. 50,000 were released to the cultivators for the plantation of new orchards. Under the rust resistant wheat scheme 212 quintals of wheat seed of HY 65 variety was distributed. Under the green manuring programme 99 maunds of sann seed was distributed.

The whole district is now brought under the activities of the farmers' unions. About 1,244 villages in the district are covered by 1,041 farmers' unions with 33,291 members. Taluka farmers' unions have been established in all the five tahsils while the district farmers' union has also been organized at the district level.

The animal husbandry section controlled by the District Animal Husbandry Officer deals with the treatment of sick animals, and carries out vaccination against the various diseases of live-stock and with breeding of animals.

There are 13 full fledged veterinary dispensaries located at the following places in the district, viz., Buldhana, Chikhli, Kham-gaon, Shegaon, Jalgaon, Dasarkhed, Motala, Lonar, Sarangpur, Nandura, Deulgaon-Raja and Malkapur. In addition, there are veterinary aid centres located at 36 different places. Treatment of animal diseases, castration of scrub bulls, etc., are the main services rendered in these dispensaries. Breeding bulls are located for selective breeding at four key village centres under the key village scheme. Natural service as well as artificial insemination method are practised at these centres. Cattle development work is also taken up through the Gorakshan Sanstha at Khamgaon.

Industries and Co-operation Department: The Industries and Co-operation department of the Zilla Parishad is under charge of a Co-operation and Industries Officer. The department is controlled and directed by the co-operation committee of the Zilla Parishad with Co-operation and Industries Officer as its secretary. The department administers the extension and promotional activities of the co-operative societies as the regulatory functions have been retained by the Co-operation department in the State sector. The department also deals with the grant of loans to small scale and cottage industries under State Aid to Industries Rules, 1961, grant of loans to educated unemployed, grant of financial assistance to bona fide craftsmen and backward class artisans, grant of subsidies to industrial co-operatives and loans to industrial societies.

Since the formation of the Zilla Parishad, the department has registered 88 co-operative societies comprising 16 sewa sahakari societies; 12 dairy societies; 5 labour contract societies; 11 farming societies; 8 housing societies; and a crop protection society. The department has sanctioned Rs. 11,711 to 37 industrial cooperative societies as management subsidy. An amount of Rs. 3,000 has been sanctioned to an industrial society under the handicraft scheme. A sum of Rs. 8,852 as loan and an equal amount as subsidy have been sanctioned to 21 industrial co-operative societies for tools and equipment.

Education Department: The Parishad Education Officer heads the Education department of the Zilla Parishad. He also works as the secretary of the education committee. The education committee of the Zilla Parishad guides and directs the working of the Education department. Technical guidance and suggestions for improvement are made by the Director of Education. Maharashtra State.

The Zilla Parishad has under its control 1,120 boys' and 46 girls' primary schools; 6 Indian-English middle schools and 15 and 2 high schools and higher secondary schools, respectively. The department had spent during 1972-73 Rs. 16,978,000. The department also participates in the gramshikshan mohim aimed at imparting social education.

Public Health Department: The Public Health Officer is the head of the Health department of the Zilla Parishad. He is also the secretary of the health committee of the Zilla Parishad which guides and directs the functioning of the Health department. He is responsible for effecting measures to control epidemics, for maintaining the sanitation of the district and for all the medical and public health activities in the district except the civil hospital and the State controlled schemes. There are 12 primary health centres, 75 Ayurvedic dispensaries, 21 Allopathic dispensaries along with two sub-centre dispensaries of the primary health centres, 7 family planning centres and 6 leprosy survey, education and treatment units in the district. The total budget estimates for the Health department for the year 1974-75 amounted to Rs. 22,46,000.

Works Department: The Works department of the Zilla Parishad is headed by the Parishad Executive Engineer who works as the secretary of the works committee of the Zilla Parishad. The works committee guides and controls the activities of the department. The department maintains roads transferred to it from Buildings and Communications department which measure 667 km (417 miles). The department controls five public ferry services. It has also undertaken five minor irrigation schemes.

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