a institutional structure of panchayati raj in assam
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Panchayati Raj Institutions“Assam”
With a view to incorporate the provisions of the 73rd Amendment Act’ 1992 of the Indian Constitution, the Assam Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 was introduced and it replaced the Assam Panchayati Raj Act, 1986.
Panchayati Raj in Assam
Gaon Panchayats – Village level
Anchalik Panchayat – Block Level
Zilla Parisad – District Level
Gram Sabha/Word Sabha(Para/Mouza level)
Three tier Structure of PRI(As per The Assam Panchayati Raj Act, 1994)
ZP Member
Member of Legislative Assembly /Member of Parliament
AP Member (Councillor)
President
GP Member/Ward Member
Ward/Village
Chief Councillor
President
Standing Committee
Standing Committee
Standing Committee
Vice President
Vice Chief Councillor
Vice President
GP Member/Ward Member
Ward/Village
GP Member/Ward Member
Ward/Village
GP Member/Ward Member
Ward/Village
GP Member/Ward Member
Ward/Village
Three Tier Panchayati Raj System (Decentralize Structure)Top Down Approach
Bottom Up Approach
Anchalik Panchayat
Gram Panchayat
Zilla Parishad
Gaon Panchayats:1. President – (directly elected by people.)
2. One Vice President – (to be elected from among the members of Gaon Panchayat.)
3. Ten Ward members – (directly elected by people.)
4. AP member are also the member of Gaon Panchayat (directly elected by people.)
Structure GP Level
Anchalik Panchayats1. President – to be elected by the elected members(Councillor) of the
Anchalik Panchayats.
2. Vice President- to be elected by the elected members(Concillor) of the Anchalik Panchayats.
3. Members (AP Member) a) One member(Councillor) from each Gaon Panchayat area to be directly
elected by people from the territoril constituencies of the Gaon Panchayat under the jurisdiction of Anchalik Panchayat.
b) The President of the Gaon Panchayats falling within the jurisdiction of the Anchalik Panchayat
c) The member of the House of People represntating constituencies which comprieses wholly or partly, the Anchalik Panchayat
d) Members of Parliament and Legislative Assembly of the State represting constituencies which comprises wholly or partly, the Anchalik Panchayat.
Structure Block Level
Zilla Parishad
1. President – elected from among the directly elected members of Zilla Parishad.
2. Vice President - elected from among the directly elected members of Zilla Parishad.
3. Members – Members directly elected from the Zilla Parishad
constituencies of the district. Presidents of the Anchalik Panchayats. Members of House of people & member of
Legislative Assembly.
Structure District Level
Gaon Panchayat: (Three standing committees, these are)a. Development Standing Committee.b. Social Justice Standing Committee.c. Social Welfare Standing Committee.(The President of Gaon Panchayat shall be ex-officio member and Chairman of all the three committees)
Standing committees (Internal structure of each tier )
Anchalik Panchayat: (Three committees, they are)a. General standing committee.b. Finance, Audit and Planning committee.c. Social justice committee.(The President of the Anchalik Panchayat shall be the president of the General Standing Committee and Finance, audit and Planning Committee. The Vice President of Ancholik Panchayat shall be the Chairman of Social Justice Committee. No member of the Anchalik Panchayt Shall be eligible to serve in more then one standing committee)
Zilla Parishad:
(Four committees, they are)
a. General standing committee.b. Finance and Audit committee.c. Social justice committee.d. Planning and development committee.
Standing committees(Internal structure of each tier )
(The term of the standing committee is one year and no member of the Zila Parisad Shall be eligible to serve in more then one standing committee at a time. The president of the Zila Parisad shall be the chairman of the General Standing Committee and Finance and Audit Committees. The other standing committees shall elect the chairman from among their members)
PRI Planning Process
District Plan/Zilla Parishad Plan(Convergence with Line Department)
Ancholik Panchayat Plan/Block Plan(Convergence with Line Department)
Ward level Plan/Gram Sansad Plan
Gram Panchayat Plan
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
PRIs
convergence
Plan
Devolution off Functions
For devolution of functions, functionaries and funds to Zilla Parisads, Anchalik Panchayat and Gaon Panchayat. Activity mapping has been prepared meticulously for 23 subjects demarcating responsibilities of each tier of Panchayats.
1. Agriculture including Agriculture Extension.2. Land Improvement & Soil Conservation.3. Minor Irrigation, Water Management & WatershedDevelopment.4. Animal Husbandry, Dairy & Poultry.5. Fisheries.6. Social Forestry & Farm Forestry.7. Minor Forest Products.8. Small Scale Industries including Food Processing.9. Handloom, Sericulture, Khadi, Village & Cottage Industries.10. Drinking Water & Sanitation.11. Fuel & Fodder.12. Roads, Culverts, Bridges, Ferries, Waterways & Others means ofCommunication.
The subjects assign to PRIs
13. Rural Electrification including Distribution of Electricity.14. Poverty Alleviation Programme.15. Primary Education.16. Secondary Education.17. Adult & Non Formal Education.18. Sports & Youth Affaires.19. Health Sanitation including Hospitals, Health Centers &Dispensaries.20. Family Welfare.21. Women & Child Development.22. Social Welfare, including Welfa.re of the Handicapped andMentally Retarded.23. Public Distribution System.
Panchayat window in the state budget has been opened and fund has been released directly to the Panchayats.
Meanwhile the Third State Finance Commission has submitted its report. The basic approach of the Commission has been to put the PRIs and ULBs on a sound financial footing in conformity with their empowerment under the Constitutional amendments. Provision of adequate resource to local government commensurate with their duties and responsibility envisaged in the 73rd and 74th amendments and also to safeguard their financial autonomy has been major concern of the Commission.
Devolution off Fund :
Devolution of functionaries will take place after the modalities/guidelines are finalized with the line departments.
Orientation programmes have been organized for the officials of the line departments on Activity Mapping.
Devolution of Functionaries
Participatory development through Gram Sabha became more realistic and meaningful in the state after 73rd Constitution Amendment.
• Mobilizing voluntary labour and contribution in kind and cash for the Community Welfare Programmes.
• Identification of beneficiaries for the implementation of development schemes pertaining to the village.
• Rendering all kinds of assistance in the implementation of development schemes pertaining to village and rendering service in the villages.
(The Gram Sabha shall also consider the following matters and may make recommendation and suggestions to the Gram Panchayats.)
As per Assam Panchayati Raj Act 1994 the Gram Sabha shall perform the following functions namely:
Gram Sabha in Assam :
District Planning Committee (DPC)
District planning committee (DPC) is the committee created as per article 243 ZD of the Constitution of India
The committee in each district should consolidate the plans prepared by the PRI and the Municipalities in the district
District planning committees have been constituted and efforts are on strengthen those committees so that holistic district plans can be prepared for sustainable development of the districts.
Necessary training and guidelines are being provided to the district level officials so that they can extend technical support to the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the preparation of their respective plans for social justice and economic development in a participatory manner.
The DPCs have also been able to converge the scrotal departments in the preparation of the District plan.
Guidelines on preparation of District Plan:
The Government of Assam has already notified comprehensive guidelines on the preparation of district plan. As per the guidelines the sequence in the preparation of the district plan can be summed up as follows:
Preparation of district vision, block vision and gram panchayat level vision.
Preparation of participatory plan involving Gram Sabha from Gram Panchayats to Zilla Parishad.
Preparation of plans by Urban Local Bodies.
Consolidation of plans prepared by local bodies by District Planning Committees.
Planning starts with the preparation of vision documents by local bodies. Based on the vision document prepared and adopting a participatory approach, panchayat will prepare development plans in the following sequence highlighting and prioritizing the needs of the rural people and setting goal for a five year period in the following manner:
A. The draft plan preparation should start at the Gram Sabha level. The Gram Panchayat may finalize its plan based on priorities from the Gram Sabha and given suggestions for the Intermediate Panchayat. Projects and activities which can be implemented at the Gram Panchayat level should be included as “Gram Panchayati Plan”. Those projects and activities which can be implemented only in more than one Gram Panchayat, will be forwarded to the Intermediate Panchayats to be considered for inclusion into the “Intermediate Panchayat Plan”. The Gram Panchayat plans should also provide an estimate of the community contribution that can be mobilized for the purpose of implementing the development plan.
B. Based on these suggestions received from Gram Panchayats and its own priorities the Intermediate Panchayat should finalize its plan. Projects and activities, which can be implemented at the Intermediate Panchayat level should be included as “Anchalik Panchayat Plan”. Those projects and activities which need to be implemented in more than one intermediate panchayat will be forwarded to the District Panchayat to be considered for inclusion into the “District Panchayat Plan”.
