THE PROVISIONS OF THE PANCHAYATS (EXTENSION TO
THE SCHEDULED AREAS)
ACT, 1996
(No. 40 of 1996)
(24th December, 1996)
An Act to provide for the
extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution
relating to the Panchyats to the Scheduled Areas.
Be it enacted by Parliament
in the Forty-seventh Year of the Republic of India as follow:-
1.
Short Title –
This Act may be called the Provisions of the Panchayats
(Extension to the Schedule Areas) Act, 1996.
2.
Definition –
In this Act, unless the context otherwise require, “Scheduled
Areas” means the Scheduled Areas as referred to in clause (1) of
article 244 of the Constitution.
3.
Extension of Part IX
of the Constitution –
The provision s of Part IX of the Constitution relating to
Panchayats are hereby extended to the Scheduled Areas subject to
such exceptions and modifications as are provided in Section 4.
4.
Exceptions and
Modifications to Part IX of the Constitution –
Notwithstanding anything contained under Part IX of the
Constitution, the Legislature of a State shall not make any law
under that part which is inconsistent with any of the following
features, namely:-
(a)
a State legislation
on the Panchayats that may be made shall be in consonance with
the customary law, social and religious practices and
traditional management practices of community resources;
(b)
a village shall
ordinarily consist of a habitation or a group of habitations or
a hamlet or a group of hamlets comprising a community and
managing its affairs in accordance with traditions and customs;
(c)
every village shall
have a Gram Sabha consisting of persons whose names are included
in the electoral rolls for the Panchayats at the village level;
(d)
every Gram Sabha
shall be competent to safeguard and preserve the traditions and
customs of the people, their cultural identity, community
resources and the customary mode of dispute resolution;
(e)
every Gram Sabha
shall –
(i)
approve the plans,
programmes and projects for social and economic development
before such plans, programmes and projects are taken up for
implementation by the Panchayat at the village level;
(ii)
be responsible for
the identification or selection of persons as beneficiaries
under the poverty alleviation and other programmes;
(f)
every Panchayat at
the village level shall be required to obtain from the Gram
Sabha a certification of utilisation of funds by that Panchayat
for the plans, programmes and projects and referred to in cause
(e);
(g)
the reservation of
seats in the Scheduled Areas at every Panchayat shall be in
proportion to the population of the communities in that
Panchayat fro whom reservation is sought to be given under Part
IX of the Constitution:
Provided that the reservation
for the Scheduled Tribes shall not be less than one-half of the
total number of seats:
Provided further that all
seats of Chairpersons of Panchayats at all levels shall be
reserved for the Scheduled Tribes;
(h)
the State Government
may nominate persons belonging to such Scheduled Tribes as have
no representation in the Panchayat at the intermediate level or
the Panchayat at the district level;
Provided that such
nomination shall not exceed one tenth of the total members to be
elected in that Panchayat;
(i)
the Gram Sabha or
the Panchayats at the appropriate level shall be consulted
before making the acquisition of land in the Scheduled Areas for
development projects and before re-settling or rehabilitating
persons affected by such projects in the Scheduled Areas; the
actual planning and implementation of the projects in the
Scheduled Areas shall be coordinated at the State level;
(j)
planning and
management of minor water bodies in the Scheduled Areas shall be
entrusted to Panchayats at the appropriate level;
(k)
the recommendations
of the Gram Sabha or the Panchayats at the appropriate level
shall be made mandatory prior to grant of prospecting licence or
mining lease for minor minerals in the Scheduled Areas;
(l)
the prior
recommendation of the Gram Sabha or the Panchayats at the
appropriate level shall be made mandatory for grant of
concession for the exploitation of minor minerals by auction;
(m)
while endowing
Panchayats in the Scheduled Areas with such powers and authority
as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions
of self-government, a State Legislature shall ensure that the
Panchayats at the appropriate level and the Gram Sabha are
endowed specifically with –
(i)
the power to enforce
prohibition or to regulate or restrict the sale and consumption
of any intoxicant;
(ii)
the ownership of
minor forest produce;
(iii)
the power to prevent
alienation of land in the Scheduled Areas and to take
appropriate action to restore any unlawfully alienated land of a
Scheduled Tribe;
(iv)
the power to manage
village markets by whatever name called;
(v)
the power to
exercise control over money lending to the Scheduled Tribes;
(vi)
the power to
exercise control over institutions and functionaries in all
social sectors;
(vii)
the power to control
over local plans and resources for such plans includes tribal
sub-plans;
(n)
the State
legislations that may endow Panchayats with powers and authority
as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions
of self-government shall contain safeguards to ensure that
Panchayats at the higher level do not assume the powers and
authority of any Panchayat at the lower level or of the Gram
Sabha;
(o)
the State
Legislature shall endeavour to follow the pattern of the Sixth
Schedule to the Constitution while designing the administrative
arrangements in the Panchayats at district levels in the
Scheduled Areas.
5.
Continuance of
existing Laws and Panchayats –
Notwithstanding anything in Part IX of the Constitution with
exceptions and modifications made by this Act, any provision of
any law relating to Panchayats in force in the Scheduled Areas
immediately before the date on which this Act receives the
assent of the President, which is inconsistent with the
provisions of Part IX with such exceptions and modifications
shall continue to be in force until amended or repealed by a
competent Legislature or other competent authority or until the
expiration of one year from the date on which this Act receives
the assent of the President:
Provided that all
the panchayats existing immediately before such date shall
continue till the expiration of their duration unless sooner
dissolved by a resolution passed to that effect by the
Legislative Assembly of that State or, in the case of a State
having Legislative Council, by each House of the Legislature of
that State.
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THE CONSTITUTION
(SEVENTY – THIRD AMENDMENT)
ACT, 1992
(20th April, 1993)
An Act further to amend the
Constitution of India.
BE it enacted by Parliament
in the Forty-third Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
1. Short tile and
commencement – (1)
This Act may be called the Constitution (Seventy-third
Amendment) Act, 1992.
(2) It shall come
into force on such date as the Central Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Insertion of news
Part IX – After
Part VIII of the Constitution, the following Part shall be
inserted, namely:-
PART IX
THE PANCHAYATS
243. Definitions –
In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a)
“district” means a
district in a State;
(b)
“Gram Sabha” means a
body consisting of persons registered in the electoral rolls
relating to a village comprised within the area of Panchayat at
the village level;
(c)
“Intermediate level”
means a level between the village and district levels specified
by the Governor of a State by public notification to be the
intermediate level for the purposes of this Part;
(d)
“Panchayat” means an
institution (by whatever name called) of self-government
constituted under article 243B, for the rural areas;
(e)
“Panchayat area”
means the territorial area of a Panchayat;
(f)
“population” means
the population as ascertained at the last preceding census of
which the relevant figures have been published;
(g)
“village” means a
village specified by the Governor by public notification to be a
village for the purpose of this Part and includes a group of
village so specified.
243A. Gram
Sabha – A Gram
Sabha may exercise such powers and perform such functions at the
village level as the Legislature of a State may, by law,
provide.
243B. Constitution
of Panchayats –
(1) there shall be constituted in every State, Panchayats at the
village, intermediate and district levels in accordance with the
provisions of this Part.
(2) Notwithstanding
anything in clause (1), panchayats at the intermediate level may
not be constituted in the State having a population not
exceeding twenty lakhs.
243C. Composition
of Panchayats –
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, the Legislature of
State may, by law, make provisions with respect to the
composition of Panchayats:
Provided that the
ratio between the population of the territorial area of a
Panchayat at any level and the number of seats in such Panchayat
to be filled by election shall, so far as practicable, be the
same throughout the State.
(2) All the seats
in a Panchayats shall be filled by persons chosen by direct
election from territorial constituencies in the Panchayat area
and; for this purpose, each Panchayat area shall be divided into
territorial constituencies in such manner that the ratio between
the population of each constituency and the number of seats
allotted to it shall, so far as practicable, be the same
throughout the Panchayat area.
(3) The Legislature
of a State may, by law, provide for the re-presentation-
(a)
of the Chairpersons
of the Panchayats at the village level, in the Panchayats at the
intermediate level or, in the case of a State not having
Panchayats at the intermediate level, in the Panchayats at the
district level;
(b)
of the Chairpersons
of the Panchayats at the intermediate level, in the Panchayats
at the district level;
(c)
of the members of
the House of the People and the members of the Legislative
Assembly of the State representing constituencies which comprise
wholly or partly a Panchayat area at a level other than the
village level, in such Panchayat;
(d)
of the members of
the Council of States and the members of the Legislative Council
of the State, where they are registered as electors within –
(i)
a Panchayat area at
the intermediate level, in Panchayat at the intermediate level;
(ii)
a Panchayat area at
the district level, in Panchayat at the district level.
(4) The Chairperson of a
Panchayat and other members of a Panchayat whether or not chosen
by direct election from territorial constituencies in the
Panchayat area shall have the right to vote in the meetings of
the Panchayats.
(5) The Chairperson of –
(a)
a Panchayat at the
village level shall be elected in such manner as the Legislature
of a State may, by law, provide; and
(b)
a Panchayat at the
intermediate level or district level shall be elected by, and
from amongst, the elected members thereof.
243D.
Reservation of seats –
(1) Seats shall be reserved for –
(a)
the Scheduled
Castes; and
(b)
the Scheduled Tribe,
in every Panchayat and the
number of seats of reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the
same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by
direct election in that Panchayat as the population of the
Scheduled Castes in that Panchayat area or of the Scheduled
Tribes in that Panchayat area bears to the total population of
that area such seats may be allotted by rotation to different
constituencies in a Panchayat.
(2) Not less than
one-third of the total number of seats reserved under clause (1)
shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes,
or as the case may be, the Scheduled Tribes.
(3) Not less than
one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women
belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of
the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in
every Panchayat shall be reserved for women and such seats may
be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a
Panchayat.
(4) The offices of
the Chairpersons in the Panchayats at the village or any other
level shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled
Tribes and women in such manner as the Legislature of a State
may, by law, provide:
Provided that the
number of offices of Chairpersons reserved for the Scheduled
Castes and the Scheduled Tribe in the Panchayats at each level
in any State shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same
proportion to the total number of such offices in the Panchayats
at each level as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the
State or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State bears to the total
population of the State:
Provided further
that not less than one-third of the total number of offices of
Chairpersons in the Panchayats at each level shall be reserved
for women:
Provided also that
the number of offices reserved under this clause shall be
allotted by rotation to different Panchayats at each level.
(5) The reservation
of seats under clauses (1) and (2) and the reservation of
offices of Chairpersons (other than the reservation for women)
under clause (4) shall cease to have effect on the expiration of
the period specified in article 334.
(6) Nothing in this
Part shall prevent the Legislature of a State from making any
provision for reservation of seats in any Panchayat or offices
of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at any level in favour of
backward class of citizens.
243E. Duration of
Panchayats, etc. –
(1) Every Panchayat, unless sooner dissolved under any law for
the time being in force, shall continue for five years from the
date appointed for its first meeting and no longer.
(2) No amendment of
any law for the time being in force shall have the effect of
causing dissolution of a Panchayat at any level, which is
functioning immediately before such amendment, till the
expiration of its duration specified in clause (1).
(3) An election to
constitute a Panchayat shall be completed –
(a)
before the expiry of
its duration specified in clause (1);
(b)
before the
expiration of a period of six months from the date of its
dissolution:
Provided that
where the remainder of the period for which the dissolved
Panchayat would have continued is less than six months, it shall
not be necessary to hold any election under this clause for
constituting the Panchayat for such period.
(4) A Panchayat constituted
upon the dissolution of a Panchayat before the expiration of its
duration shall continue only for the remainder of the period for
which the dissolved Panchayat would have continued under clause
(1) had it not been so dissolved.
243F.
Disqualifications for membership –
(1) A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for
being, a member of a Panchayat –
(a)
if he is so
disqualified by or under any law for the time being in force for
the purposes of elections to the Legislature of the State
concerned:
Provided that no
person shall be disqualified on the ground that he is less than
twenty-five years of age, if he has attained the age of
twenty-one years:
(b)
if he is so
disqualified by or under any law made by the Legislature of the
State.
(2) If any
question arises as to whether a member of a Panchayat has become
subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in clause (1),
the question shall be referred for the decision of such
authority and in such manner as the Legislature of a State may,
by law, provide.
243G.
Poers, authority and responsibilities of Panchayats –
Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Legislature
of State may, by law, endow the Panchayats with such powers and
authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as
institutions of self-government and such law may contain
provisions for the devolution of powers and responsibilities
upon Panchayats at the appropriate level, subject to such
conditions as may be specified therein, with respect to –
(a)
the preparation of
plans for economic development and social justice;
(b)
the implementation
of schemes for economic development and social justice as may be
entrusted to them including those in relation to the matters
listed in the Eleventh Schedule.
243H.
Powers to impose taxes, by, and Funds of, the Panchayats –
The legislature of a State may, by law, -
(a)
authorise a
Panchayat to levy, collect and appropriate such taxes, duties,
tolls and fees in accordance with such procedure and subject to
such limits;
(b)
assign to a
Panchayat such taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied and
collected by the State Government for such purposes and subject
to such conditions and limits;
(c)
provide for making
such grants-in-aid to the Panchayats from the Consolidated Fund
of the State; and
(d)
provide for
Constitution of such Funds for crediting all moneys received,
respectively, by or on behalf of the Panchayats and also for the
withdrawal of such moneys therefrom, as may be specified in the
law.
243I. Constitution
of Finance Commission to review financial position –
(1) The Governor of a State shall, as soon as may be within one
year from the commencement of the Constitution (Seventy-third
Amendment) Act, 1992 and thereafter at the expiration of every
fifth year, constitute a Finance Commission to review the
financial position of the Panchayats and to make recommendations
to the Governor as to –
(a)
the principles which
should govern –
(i)
the distribution
between the State and the Panchayats of the net proceeds of the
taxes, duties, tolls and fees leviable by the State, which may
be divided between them under this Part and the allocation
between the Panchayats at all levels of their respective shares
of such proceeds;
(ii)
the determination of
the taxes, duties, tolls and fees which may be assigned to, or
appropriated by, the Panchayat;
(iii)
the grants-in-aid to
the Panchayats from the Consolidated Fund of the State;
(b)
the measures needed
to improve the financial position of the Panchayats;
(c)
any other matter
referred to the Finance Commission by the Governor in the
interests of sound finance of the Panchayats.
(2) The legislature of a
State may, by law, provide for the composition of the
commission, the qualifications which shall be requisite for
appointments as members thereof and the manner in which they
shall be selected.
(3) The Commission shall
determine their procedure and shall have such powers in the
performance of their functions as the Legislature of the State
may, by law, confer on them.
(4) The Governor shall cause
every recommendation made by the Commission under this article
together with an explanatory memorandum as to the action taken
thereon to be laid before the Legislature of the State.
243J. Audit of
accounts of Panchayats –
The Legislature of a State may, by law, make provisions with
respect to the maintenance of accounts by the Panchayats and the
auditing of such accounts.
243K. Elections to
the Panchayats –
(1) The superintendence, direction and control of the
preparation of electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all
elections to the Panchayats shall be vested in a State Election
Commission consisting of a State Election Commissioner to be
appointed by the Governor.
(2) Subject to the
provisions of any law made by the Legislature of a State, the
conditions of service and tenure of office of the State Election
Commissioner shall be such as the Governor may by rule
determine:
Provided that the
State Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office
except in like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of a
High Court and the conditions of service of the State Election
Commissioner shall not be varied to his disadvantage after his
appointment.
(3) The Governor of
a State shall, when so requested by the State Election
Commission, make available to the State Election Commission such
staff as may be necessary for the discharge of the functions
conferred on the State Election Commission by clause (1).
(4) Subject to the
provisions of this Constitution, the Legislature of a State may,
by law, make provision with respect to all matters relating to,
or in connection with, elections to the Panchayats.
243L. Application
to Union territories –
The provisions of this Part shall apply to the Union territories
and shall, in their application to a Union territory, have
effect as if the references to the Governor of a State were
references to the Administrator of the Union territory appointed
under article 239 and references to the Legislature or the
Legislative Assembly of a State were references, in relation to
a Union territory having a Legislative Assembly, to that
Legislative Assembly:
Provided that the
President may, by public notification, direct that the
provisions of this Part shall apply to any Union territory or
part thereof subject to such exceptions and modifications as he
may specify in the notification.
243M. Part not to
apply to certain areas –
(1) Nothing in this Part shall apply to the Scheduled Areas
referred to in clause (1), and the tribal areas referred to in
clause (2), of article 244.
(2) Nothing in this
Part shall apply to –
(a)
the States of
Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram;
(b)
the Hill Areas in
the State of Manipur for which District Councils exist under any
law for the time being in force.
(3) Nothing in this Part –
(a)
relating to
Panchayats at the district level shall apply to the hill areas
of the District of Darjeeling in the State of West Bengal for
which Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council exists under any law for
the time being in force;
(b)
shall be construed
to affect the functions and powers of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill
Council constituted under such law.
(4) Notwithstanding anything
in this Constitution, -
(a)
the Legislature of a
State referred to in sub-clause (a) of clause (2) may, by law,
extend this Part to that State, except the areas, if any,
referred to in clause (1), if the Legislative Assembly of that
State passes a resolution to that effect by a majority of the
total membership of that House and by a majority of not less
than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting;
(b)
Parliament may, by
law, extend the provisions of this Part to the Scheduled Areas
and the tribal areas referred to in clause (1) subject to such
exceptions and modifications as may be specified in such law,
and no such law shall be deemed to be an amendment of this
Constitution for the purposes of article 368.
243N.
Continuance of existing laws and Panchayats –
Notwithstanding anything in this Part, any provision of any law
relating to in force in a State immediately before the
commencement Panchayats of the Constitution (Seventy-third
Amendment) Act, 1992, which is inconsistent with the provisions
of this Part, shall continue to be in force until amended or
repealed by a competent Legislature or other competent authority
or until the expiration of one year from such commencement,
whichever is earlier:
Provided that all
the Panchayats existing immediately before such commencement
shall continue till the expiration of their duration, unless
sooner dissolved by a resolution passed to that effect by the
Legislative Assembly of that State or, in the case of a State
having a Legislative Council, by each Houses of the Legislature
of that State.
243O. Bar
to interference by courts in electoral matters –
Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution –
(a)
the validity of any
law relating to the delimitation of constituencies or the
allotment of seats to such constituencies, made or purporting to
be made under article 243K, shall not be called in question in
any court;
(b)
no election to any
Panchayat shall be called in question except by an election
petition presented to such authority and in such manner as is
provided for by or under any law made by the Legislature of a
State.
In clause (3) of article 280
of the Constitution, after sub-clause (b), the following
sub-clause shall be inserted, namely:-
“(bb) the measures
needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement
the resources of the Panchayats in the State on the basis of the
recommendations made by the Finance Commission of the State;”.
In the Constitution,
the following Schedule shall be added, namely:-
ELEVENTH SCHEDULE
(Article 243G)
1.
Agriculture,
including agricultural extension.
2.
Land improvement,
implementation of land reforms, land consolidation and soil
conservation.
3.
Minor irrigation,
water management and watershed development.
4.
Animal husbandry,
dairying and poultry.
5.
Fisheries.
6.
Social forestry and
farm forestry.
7.
Minor forest
produce.
8.
Small scale
industries, including food processing industries.
9.
Khadi, village and
cottage industries.
10.
Rural housing.
11.
Drinking water.
12.
Fuel and fodder.
13.
Roads, culverts,
bridges, ferries, waterways and other means of communication.
14.
Rural
electrification, including distribution of electricity.
15.
Non-coventional
energy sources.
16.
Poverty alleviation
programme.
17.
Education, including
primary and secondary schools.
18.
Technical training
and vocational education.
19.
Adult and non-formal
education.
20.
Libraries.
21.
Cultural activities.
22.
Markets and fairs.
23.
Health and
sanitation, including hospitals, primary health centres and
dispensaries.
24.
Family welfare.
25.
Women and child
development.
26.
Social welfare,
including welfare of the handicapped and mentally retarded.
27.
Welfare of the
weaker sections, and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and
the Scheduled Tribes.
28.
Public distribution
system.
29.
Maintenance of
community assets.
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