Page 206 - SST Class 06

who belong to a village comprised within members of the Gram Panchayat is called the
the area of the Panchayat at the village
level. Gram Sabha is the smallest and the
only permanent unit in the Panchayati Raj
system. The powers and functions of Gram
Sabha are fixed by state legislature accord-
ing to the law on the subject.
g Seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes
(SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and
chairpersons of the Panchayats at all levels
are reserved for SCs and STs in proportion
to their population.
g One-third of the total number of seats are to
be reserved for women. One-third of the
seats reserved for SCs and STs, are also
reserved for women. This policy extends to
the office of the chairperson at all levels as
well (Article 243D). The reserved seats may
be allotted by rotation to different constitu-
encies in the Panchayat.
g There is a uniform policy with each term
being five years. Fresh elections must be
conducted before the expiry of the term. In
the event of dissolution, elections compulso-
rily within six months (Article 243E).
g Panchayats have the responsibility to
prepare plans for economic development
and social justice with respect to the subjects
as per the law put in place, which also
extends to the various levels of Panchayat
including the subjects as illustrated in the
Eleventh Schedule (Article 243G).
THE VILLAGE LEVEL
The panchayat system at the village level consists
of three main bodies—the Gram Sabha, the
Gram Panchayat and the Nyaya Panchayat.
These three bodies have different function to
perform.
Gram Sabha
In most of the states, each constituency of the
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Gram Sabha and all the voters of the same
constituency are members of this body.
However, in some states this is called Ward
Sabha or Palli Sabha. In West Bengal, it is called
Gram Sansad (village parliament). Gram Sabha
in West Bengal has a different meaning. Here, all
the voters of the Gram Panchayat as a whole
constitute the Gram Sabha.
Under the constitution there can be only three
tiers of the Panchayat. The Gram Sabha is not a
tier of the Panchayat Raj system. It does not have
any executive function and operates as a recom-
mending body only.
Gram Sabhas hold meetings normally 2 to 4
times a year, but can meet as and when neces-
sary. In some states dates of these meetings are
fixed (Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat etc.) while in
others dates are fixed by the Gram Panchayats.
Issues to be discussed in the meetings can be
wide ranging, but the essential agenda should
include— Annual Action Plan and Budget,
Annual Accounts and Annual report of the GP,
selection of beneficiaries for different social
service programmes (Indira Awas Yojana (IAY),
Pension Schemes, etc.), identification of schemes
for preparation of Annual Plan for development
programmes (e.g., MGNREGS) of GP, consider-
ation of the Audit reports, analyses of GP’s
performance, etc.
Gram Sabha