LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT

VILLAGE PANCHAYATS

Village Panchayats form local units of administration for Village under the Bombay Village Panchayats Act, 1958 (Bombay Act No. III of 1959). In every local area which has a population of not less than 500 a panchayat has to be established. It is also permissible for the State, if sufficient reasons exist, to direct the establishment of a panchayat in a local area having a population of 250 and above but less than 2,000.

Constitution.

The maximum number of members for a panchayat is fifteen and the minimum is seven. The members are elected on the basis of adult franchise. The State Government have been empowered under the constitution to reserve seats (in joint electorate) for the representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, unless Government are of opinion that the reservation is not necessary having regard to the population in the village of such castes and tribes. In every panchayat two seats shall be reserved for women. The term of office of panchayat is for four years which is extendable up to five years by the Collector if and when occasion demands such extension. Every panchayat has to elect a Sarpanch and a Up-sarpanch from amongst its members. The Sarpanch presides over the Panchayat and is also the executive officer of the panchayat. Every village panchayat or group of panchayats has a Secretary. With the Samitis Act 1961, the Village Panchayat Secretaries have become Zilla Parishad servants and are at present designated as Assistant Gram Sevaks. They are the full time servants and their appointments are made on time scale basis.

Functions.

The State. Government makes every year a grant to every panchayat equivalent to 30 per cent of the ordinary land revenue realised in the preceding year within the limits of the village. The State Government has. also levied a cess at the rate of 25 paise [Under Section 127 of the Village Panchayat Act.] on every rupee of every sum payable to the State Government as ordinary land revenue in the area within the jurisdiction of a panchayat and the collection of the above cess will be transferred to the panchayat; then the panchayat shall be entitled to an equalisation grant equal to the difference between 30 per cent of land revenue grant and the amount arrived at on the basis of population of 1961 census equivalent to one rupee per head.

Section 45 of the Bombay Village Panchayat Act, 1958 lays down that so far as the village funds at its disposal will allow and subject to the general control of the Zilla Parishad, it shall be the duty of a panchayat to make reasonable provisions within the villagy in regard to the following matters:—

In the sphere of sanitation and health.—Supply of water, cleansing roads, sanitation and preservation and maintenance of public health, maintaining and regulating cremation and burial grounds, village layouts, provision of facilities such as garden, parks, welfare centres and providing medical relief.

In the sphere of public works.—Removing of obstructions in public places, construction and maintenance of roads, drains, public buildings, dharmashalas, markets, slaughter houses, cattle pounds, regulation and use of grazing and forest lands, tanks and wells, control of fairs and bazars, provision of employment in rimes of scarcity, water supply to animals, etc.

In the sphere of education and culture.—Establishment and maintenance of akhadas, theatres, libraries and promotion of social and moral welfare by means of promoting prohibition, removing untoucbability, eradicating corruption and discouraging gambling.

In the sphere of self defence and village defence.—Watch and Ward, regulating and checking offensive or dangerous trades, extinguishing fires, etc.

In the sphere of administration.—Numbering of premises, drawing up programmes for increasing agricultural and non-agricultural output, preparation of statement showing financial requirements for developmental purposes, control of cattle stands, threshing floors, grazing grounds and community lands, regulation of fairs and festivals, prepartion and maintenance of panchayat records, registration ot births, deaths and marriages, preparation of village development plans, etc.

In the sphere of welfare of people.—Implementation of land reform schemes, relief to disabled, assistance to residents, making arrangement for co-operative and collective farming,, organising credit and multipurpose co-operative societies, reclamation of agricultural waste lands, organising voluntary labour and opening of lair price shops.

In the sphere of agriculture and preservation of forest.—Establishment of model farms and granaries, bringing fallow and waste land under agriculture, establishment of nurseries for improved seeds, preparing compost and conserving manurial resources, crop protection experiments, minor irrigation works and preservation and improvement of forests, breeding and protecting cattle promotion, and encouragement of cottage and village industries.

In the sphere of the collection of land revenue.—The village panchayat has to undertake collection of land revenue under section 169 and maintenance of village records relating to land revenue in such manner and such forms as may be prescribed from time to time by or under any law relating to land revenue.

A panchayat may with the previous sanction of the President of the Zilla Parishad, also make provision for carrying out outside the village any work of the nature specified in sub-section (1).

A panchayat may also make provision for carrying out within the village any other work or measure which is likely to promote the health, safety, education, comfort, convenience, or social or economic or cultural well-being of the inhabitants of the village.

A panchayat may by resolution passed at its meeting and supported by two-thirds of the total number of its members make provision for any public reception, ceremony, or entertainment within the village or may make contribution towards an annual gathering or such other gathering of panchayats in the district or the State—

Provided that with the previous sanction of the Chairman of the Panchayat Samiti, the panchayat shall not incur expenditure exceeding Rupees fifteen on any such reception, ceremony, entertainment or gathering.

If it comes to the notice of a panchayat that on account of the neglect of a land holder or dispute between him and his tenant the cultivation of his estate has seriously suffered, the panchayat may bring such fact to the notice of the Collector.

Taxation.

A panchayat shall in regard to the measures for the amelioration of the condition of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and other backward classes and in particular, in the removal of untoucha bility, carry out directions or orders given or issued in this regard from time to time by the State Government, the Collector or any officer authorised by the Collector. A panchayat shall perform such other duties and functions as are entrusted to it by any other law for the time being in force.

Under Section 124 of the Bombay Village Panchayat Act, 1958, every panchayat is under an obligation to levy a house tax and a tax on lands not subject to payment of agricultural assessment at such rates as may be decided by it (but subject to the minimum and maximum rates which may be fixed by the State Government) and in such manner subject to such exemptions as may he prescribed, namely:—

(i) a tax on building (whether subject to payment of agricultural assessment or not) and lands (which are not subject to payment of agricultural assessment) within the limits of the village:

(ii) octroi;

(iii) a pilgrim tax;

(iv) a tax on fairs, festivals and other entertainments;

(v) a tax on bicycles and on vehicles drawn by animals;

(vi) subject to the provisions of article 276 of the Constitution, a tax on the following professions, trades, callings or employments, that is to say—

(a) shop keeping and hotel keeping,

(b) any trade or calling (other than agriculture) which is carried on with the help of machinery run by steam, oil or electric power or by manual labour, and

(c) the profession or calling of brokers in cattle markets;

(vii) a general sanitary cess for the construction or maintenance, or both, of public latrines and for the removal and disposal of refuse;

(viii) a general water rate which may be imposed in the form of rate assessed on buildings and lands or in any other form as may be best adapted to the circumstances of any class of cases.

(ix) any other tax (not being a toll on motor vehicles or trailers, save as provided by section 14 of the Bombay Motor Vehicles Tax Act, 1935) which the State Legislature has, under the Constitution, power to impose in the State and which has been sanctioned by the State Government;

(x) a fee on markets and weekly bazars;

(xi) a fee on cart-stands and tonga-stands;

(xii) a special water rate for water supplied by the panchayat through pipes, which may be imposed in any form including that of charges for such water supplied, fixed in such mode or modes as shall be best adapted in the circumstances of any class of cases;

(xiii) a fee for the supply of water from wells and tanks owned by it, for purposes other than domestic use and for cattle;

(xiv) a fee for temporary erection on, or putting up projections over, or temporary occupation of any public street or place;

(xv) a special sanitary cess upon private latrines, premises or compounds cleansed by the panchayat agency;

(xvi) a fee for cleansing a cess pool constructed on land whether belonging to panchayat or not;

(xvii) a fee for grazing cattle on grazing lands vesting in a panchayat:

(2) The tax on buildings or lands referred to in clause (i) of sub section (1) shall be leviable from the owners or occupiers thereof:

Provided that when an owner of a building or land has left the village or cannot otherwise be found, any person to whom such building or land has been transferred shall be liable for the tax leviable from the owner.

(3) The State Government may, by notification in the official Gazette direct that the tax upon buildings or lands referred to in clause (i) of sub-section (1) shall not be levied on all buildings and lands or on any class of buildings or lands situated in an area predominantly populated by members of scheduled castes or scheduled tribes.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) where a tax on professions, trades, or callings and employments has been imposed by any Zilla Parishad under the provision of any law for the time being in force in the district including the area within the limits of a panchayat, it shall not be lawful for that panchayat so long as the tax is being so imposed to levy any such tax within such limit.

(5) Any person aggrieved by the assessment, levy or imposition of any tax or fee may appeal to the panchayat samiti. The decision of the Panchayat Samiti thereon shall be final.

(6) The State Government may suspend the levy or imposition of any tax or fee and may at any time rescind such suspension.

Section 128 of the Bombay Village Panchayat Act, 1958 gives the panchayat samiti power to compel a panchayat to levy or increase any of the taxes or fees specified if it appears to the panchayat samiti that the regular income of the panchayat falls below what is necessary for the proper discharge of the obligatory duties of the panchayat.

Control over Panchayats.

Powers of control over panchayats are given to the Zilla Pari- shad and to the Collector. Both have concurrent powers to call for information and to compel the panchayat to take into consideration any objection they have to any act of the panchayat, either of commission or or omission, of any information which necessitates the commission of any act by panchayat. The Standing Committee of Zilla parishad can also compel the panchayat to reduce the number of the staff maintained by it or the remuneration paid to them. In addition the Standing Committee has powers of suspension and prohibition in respect of execution of any order or resolution of a panchayat which in its opinion, is likely to cause injury or annoyance to the public or to lead to a breach of the peace. In cases of emergency the Standing Committee may also provide for the execution of any work or the doing of any act which a panchayat is empowered to execute or to do, and the immediate execution or doing of which is, in their opinion, necessary for the health or safety of the public, and may direct that the expenses shall be forthwith paid by the panchayat.

The Collector is authorised to carry out each year the audit of the accounts of a panchayat and forward a copy of the Audit Note to the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti. If it appears to the Collector that a panchayat has made default in the performance of its obligatory duties, he may order the duty to he performed within a specified period, and if the duty is not performed within that period, the Collector can appoint some person to perform it and direct that the expenses be paid by the defaulting panchayat.

The State Government also is given powers to carry out at the cost of the panchayat any of the panchayat's obligatory duties when it appears to it that the panchayat samiti has neglected to take action. The State Government after consultation with the Zilla Parishad can dissolve or supersede a panchayat, if, in its opinion, the panchayat had exceeded or abused its powers or made persistent default in the performance of its obligatory duties, or persistently disobeyed any of the orders of the Standing Committee. If a panchayat is superseded, all its powers and duties will be exercised and performed by a person or persons appointed by the State Government.

In pursuance of a resolution, dated the 5th June 1962, Government have appointed in the Sangli district, an administrative Officer in the grade of Deputy Collector, who has been entrusted with the duties of the District Village Panchayat Officer for the development of village panchayats on sound and proper lines.

An Annual Administration Report on the working of the village panchayats has to be prepared by the Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Parishad and submitted to the Commissioner before the 31st May and within one month thereafter the Commissioner has to forward that report to the Government. With the introduction of the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samities Act, 1961, an integrated system of Panchayati Raj has come into existence. A village panchayat at the village level is now the basic unit of Panchayati Raj.

Nyaya Panchayats.

As per section 63 of the Bombay Village Panchayat Act, 1958, there shall be a nyaya panchayat for the administration of civil and criminal justice in a group of not leas than 5 villages as the State Government may by notification in the official Gazette determine. A nyaya panchayat shall he known by such name as may be specified in the notification. Unlike other local self-governing units, every group of village panchayats is empowered to constitute a body called nyaya panchayat. It shall consist of one person elected by each panchayat (from amongst it members) in the prescribed manner and one person from the gramsabha. It elects its Chairman from among its members and its term of office is co-extensive with that of the panchayat. The State Government have powers to remove any member of the nyaya panchayat, for reasons of misconduct in the discharge of his duties, or any disgraceful conduct, or for neglect, refusal or incapacity in regard to the performance of his duties.

The Secretary of the panchayat acts as the judicial clerk of the nyaya panchayat. Conviction by a nyaya panchayat is not deemed to be previous conviction for the purposes of the Indian Penal Code.

As per section 73 of the Bombay Village Panchayats Act, 1958, the nyaya panchayat shall—(i) try civil suits not affecting any interest in immoveable property up to the value of Rs. 25 and with the consent of the parties, up to the value of Rs. 100. (ii) shall take cognizance of and try all or any of the following offenders, namely:—

(a) Under the Indian Penal Code—

(b) (1) Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1890, in its application to (i) the pre-reorganisation State of Bombay excluding the transferred territories (ii) the Vidarbha region of the State of Bombay and (iii) the Saurashtra and Kutch areas of the former State of Bombay—

(c) (1) Under the Bombay District Vaccination Act, 1892, and that Act in its application to the Saurashtra and Kutch areas of the former State of Bombay—

(2) Under the Vaccination Act, 1880 in its application to the Vidarbha region of the Stare of Bombay—

(3) Under the Hyderabad Vaccination Act, 1951—

(d) (1) Under the Bombay Primary Education Act, 1497—

(2) Under the Madhya Pradesh Primary Education Act, 1956—

(3) Under the Hyderabad Compulsory Primary Education Act, 1952—

(4) Under the Saurashtra Primary Education Act, 1956—

(e) Under this Act—

(f) Such compoundable offence under any law for the time being in force as the State Government may specify in this behalf by a notification published in the Official Gazette:

Provided that no offence of theft shall be cognizable by any Nyaya Panchayat unless an accused person has been apprehended or recognised and named.

Pleaders, Vakils, etc., are not permitted to appear on behalf of any party in any suit or case before Nyaya Panchayat. Appeals are allowed to the District Court in Civil suits and to the Sessions Court in criminal cases.

TOP