Ashok Mehta Committee

The Ashok Mehta Committee was one of the committees that were launched in the late 1970s to investigate the operations and functions of the Panchayat Samiti. The Committee was tasked to find out what improvements had to be introduced for the Panchayat system to be a well-functioning system. The Ashok Mehta Committee was tasked with finding out the activities of Mandal Parishad and the Zila Parishad. It was from the late 1970s that the Government had tasked the committee chaired by Ashok Mehta to revisit the self-governing institutions. They were tasked with finding out ways to implement the Gandhian vision.

Ashok Mehta Committee

The Gandhian vision was that there would be village institutions that were self-governing bodies based on a democratic model. These institutions would be like village republics and the government had wanted the committee to find out how best to bring that about. Through the 1960s after the recommendations made by the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee, the process was riddled with problems and challenges. The Committee was responsible for drawing attention to the positive side of the project rather than looking at the process as a failure. Another key thing that the Committee was successful in bringing out was how these institutions had helped bridge the distance between common people and the administrative elites. The Ashok Mehta Committee was responsible for bringing many innovative approaches to the politicization of these institutions at the village level.

Two-tier System

From the thorough investigations that were carried out by the Ashok Mehta Committee, it was recommended that the existing Panchayat System needed to change and instead become a two-tier system, consisting of the Mandal Parishad and the Zila Parishad. This two-tier system was an innovative feature of the new improvements that were provided by the Ashok Mehta Committee. The two-tier system was the advice given by the Committee to be incorporated into the structure of forming the Panchayat Raj in December 1977. Under the two-tier system, it was recommended that the Zila Parishad would be established at the district level with the Mandal Parishad being under it having a total population between the range of 15000-20000. The Committee was formed under the guidance of the Janata Party and it was responsible for carrying out these implementations. However, the party lost its favour and therefore most of its vision was never carried out as envisioned.

Zila Parishad

Under the two-tier system, the Zila Parishad was to be the highest level of control and authority. It was at the district level and would have under it the Mandal Parishad or the villages. The Zila Parishad was to be:

• The primary point of decentralisation
• It was the executive body at the regional level and was the main authority at the district level
• It was mandated that political participation was important at all levels
• This was to be called the Nyaya panchayat

Mandal Parishad

The Mandal Parishad was the lowest level of rural administration and would be under the authority of the Zila Parishad. Elections were to be held in tandem with the political participation of all the people. Voluntary agencies were empowered. Constitutional recognition would be accorded to these institutions.

Conclusion

The committee had pointed out how through the establishment of these self-governing models, the common people were made aware of their rights. political consciousness at the grass-root level was disseminated due to tot the help of the Panchayat system. This model is visible in some of its aspects in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh as well as Karnataka.