3. A NOTE ON PANCHAYATI RAJ
In pursuance of the directives of the Constitution several state governments took steps to organise village panchayats. Great importance was attached to the Panchayat System after the adoption of the Five Year Plan and the launching of the Community Development Programme in 1952.
The Second Five Year Plan sought to secure the cooperation of the local people in the implementation of the plants. In January 1957, the Government of India set up a team to study Community Projects and National Extension Service under the Chairmanship of Balwant Rai Mehta. The Committee submitted its report in 1957, in which it favoured popular association in rural work.
The Panchayati Raj system in India is a decentralised form of government, introduced through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992. It aims to bring governance closer to the people by creating local self-governing institutions at the village, block, and district levels. The Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) operate in three tiers:
Gram Panchayat: This is the basic unit at the village level.
Panchayat Samiti: It functions at the intermediate level, typically at the block level.
Zila Parishad: This operates at the district level.
The other notable recommendations of the committee include
(i) genuine transfer of power and responsibility to these institutions and all social and economic development programmes should be channelised through them;
(ii) adequate resources should be provided to these bodies so that they may discharge their responsibilities effectively;
(iii) further devaluation and dispersal of power and responsibilities should be made in future.
Balwant Rai Mehta Committee :- Balwant Rai Mehta Committee was accepted by the Union Government as well as majority of the State governments. These recommendations were approved by the National Development Council in January 1958, which paved the way for the launching of the Panchayati raj institutions.
Rajasthan was the first to adopt a three-tier system of Panchayati Raj on 2nd October 1959, followed by Andhra, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, U.P and West Bengal. Gradually, the other states also introduced the system even though, if considerably differed in details in different states.
Ashok Mehta Committee :- In Dec 1977, the Janta Govt appointed a Committee on Panchayati Raj institutions under the chairmanship of Ashok Mehta. It submitted its report in Aug 1978 and made 132 recommendations to revive and strengthen the declining Panchayati Raj System in the country. Its main recommendations are:
The three tier system of the Panchayati Raj should be replaced by two tier system, that is, the Zila Parishad at the District level, and below it, the Mandal Panchayat consisting of a group of Villages comprising a population of 15,000 to 20,000
A district should be the first point for the decentralisation under the popular supervision below the state level.
The Zila Parishad should be the executive body and be made responsible for planning at the district level.
The Panchayati Raj institutions should have compulsory powers for taxation to mobilise their own financial sources.
There should be a regular social audit by a district level agency and by a committee of legislators to check whether the funds allotted for the vulnerable social and economic groups are actually spent on them.
The state govt. should not supersede the Panchayati Raj Institutions. In case of an imperative super session, an election should be held within the six months from the time of the super session.
The Nyaya Panchayats should be kept as separate bodies from that of development Panchayats. They should be presided over by a qualified judge.
G V K Rao Committee :- The committee on Administrative arrangement for the rural development and the poverty Alleviation Programmes under the chairmanship of G V K Rao was appointed by the planning Commission in 1985. The committee came to the conclusion that the developmental process was being gradually bureaucratized and divorced from the Panchayati Raj. The committee made the following recommendation:
The district level body, that is, the Zila Parishad should be of pivotal importance in the scheme for democratic decentralisation.
Some of the planning functions at state level should be transferred to the district level planning units for effective decentralised district planning.
A post of the District development Commissioner should be created. He should act as chief executive officer of the Zila Parishad and should be in incharge of all the developmental departments at the district level.
In this respect the G V K Rao Committee report (1986) differed from the Dantwala Committee Report on the Block level planning (1978) and the Hanumantha Rao Committee Report on the District Planning (1984)
L M Singhvi Committee :- In 1986, Rajiv Gandhi Government appointed a committee on the 'revitalization of the Panchayati Raj institutions for democracy and development' under the Chairmanship of L M Singhvi. Its major recommendations are:
The Panchayati raj institutions should be Constitutionally recognized, protected and preserved. For this purpose, a new chapter should be added in the Constitution of India. It also suggested some constitutional provisions to ensure regular, free and fair elections to the Panchayati raj bodies.
Nyaya Panchayats should be established for clusters of Villages.
The village should be organised to make the gram Panchayats more viable. It also emphasised the importance of the Gram Sabha and called it as the embodiment of direct democracy.
Narasimha Rao Government :- The Congress Government under the prime ministership of P.V. Narasimha Rao once again considered the matter of the constitutionalisation of panchayati raj bodies. It drastically modified the proposals in this regard to delete the controversial aspects and introduced a constitutional amendment bill in the Lok Sabha in September, 1991. This bill finally emerged as the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 and came into force on 24, April 1993.
Rajasthan was the first state to establish Panchayati Raj. The scheme was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 2 October, 1959, in Nagaur district. Rajasthan was followed by Andhra Pradesh, which also adopted the system in 1959. Thereafter, most of the states adopted the system.
Golaknath Case :- On Feb. 27, 1967, the Supreme Court in I.C. Golaknath and other v. state, delivered a historic 6 to 5 majority judgement holding: '
Parliament will have no power form the date of this decision to amend the provisions of Part III of the Constitution so as to take away or abridge fundamental rights enshrined therein '.
Supreme Court's Judgement in Kesavananda Bharati Case
Background :- In 1972, a batch of six writ petitions were filed in the Supreme Court of India by Swami Kesavanand Bharati, head of a religious match in Kerala, two former Indian princes, and two coal-mining companies and others.
Main Issues :- In the writ petitions filed in the Supreme Court of India by Kesavanand Bharati and others, the main issues at stake were:
(a) The right of parliament to amend the Constitution,
(b) If Parliament has that right, whether the exercise by it of that right is subject to any inherent or implied restrictions, (c) whether the Parliament can delegate the power to amend the Constitution to any State Legislature,
(d) Where precisely do legal and political sovereignty reside?
Majority Verdict: On behalf of the 13-member Bench which, heard the writ petitions, nine judges signed a document setting forth what was described as the majority view which, was summed up as follows:
Golaknath's case is overruled.
Article 368 does not enable Parliament to alter the basic structure or framework of the constitution.
