A Simple Note on Elections, Auditing, Powers and Authority of Panchayat

Panchayati Raj is a three-tiered Indian governance framework for rural development alleviation. The Panchayati Raj aims to foster elected locals in regions, regions, and localities.

In a Panchayati raj, the panchayat head is elected directly by the people of the village known as the panch that governs the village the sarpanch being the head. The panchayat above that is the block panchayat and above that is the district panchayat. 

Panchayati Raj

Development of rural areas is among one of the primary goals of Panchayati Raj, which has been implemented in all Indian states save Nagaland, Mizoram, and Meghalaya, as well as in all the UTs excluding Delhi and a few other places. These are some examples:

•       The provinces’ designated regions and tribal territories
•       hill region of Manipur, which has a district council, and Darjeeling in West Bengal
•       A District, that has the Gorkha Hill Council

Elections at the panchayat or Panchayati raj level

Panchayati Raj encouraged marginalised individuals in rural areas to organise their communities. The 73rd Amendment Act,1992 went into effect on 24th April 1993, giving Panchayati Raj organizations a legal standing. Panchayat elections at the community scale is held every 5 years under this legislation.Since olden history, India has had a long heritage of village panchayat. The panchayat system is mentioned multiple times in ancient literature. Furthermore, there is now a separate ministry in both the federal and state governments.

The Act established a three-tiered Panchayati Raj structure for all provinces, with the Panchayat election held every five years. It provides for a seat reservation system for SCs, STs, and women, as well as the appointment of Finance committees of the state to make advisories on the Panchayat financial powers and the formation of a District Planning Board to make preparations a draught development strategy for the area.Panchayati Raj is divided into three levels. Local-level Parishad (Gram Sabha) are democratically chosen by the inhabitants. They vote for the Gram Pradhan. their panchayat Panchayat of the block tier is available on a higher rank in that village.  Village-level elected politicians and the Gram Pradhans choose Block Pramukh. The very next tier is the Panchayat of the district often known as the Zila Parishad.

The Panchayat Authority

The term Panchayat refers to a five-person assembly, while the term raj denotes rule.  Panchayats were typically made up of aged and knowledgeable persons chosen by that the surrounding area to handle conflicts between communities and individual people. The sarpanch or the mukhiya has always been the title of the panchayat’s head. This role is usually filled by the individual who is the oldest or most experienced and senior.

Today there is three-level of panchayat democracy. The lowest the level is the gram panchayat then comes the block panchayat and the higher authority is the district panchayat which is the regulatory body of the complete district.The gram panchayat is the panchayat of a small village or a group of the village inside the district. The people of the village select five people and one among the five people becomes the sarpanch. Both the panch and the sarpanch are elected for five years.Then comes the middle level which is the block panchayat. This is an organization that acts as an interlinking between the gram panchayat and a district panchayat. There holds no election and the organization consists of a panch of every village and the MLAs, MPs and other members.The higher rank is of the district panchayat. It is also called the Zila Parishad. Here the chief authority is appointed by the government along with some other people such as the chief account and chief planning officers. The members of the district panchayat are the same members that are in the block panchayat such as the  MLAs and the MPs, and no elections take place for the seats here.

Powers and responsibilities of a Panchayati Raj

State governments may confer on Panchayati raj whatever authority and power as are required to allow Panchayats to function as local self-government entities.They may be tasked with developing strategies for sustainable growth and social fairness. They may design economic growth and social equality plans for the 29 major issues listed in the schedule XI, such as farming, education for children, health care and education, water supplies, countryside housing, the wellbeing of vulnerable groups, forest protection, etc.Most Panchayati Raj political authorities carry out the tasks outlined in state legislation governing Panchayati raj. Certain states discriminate between required and voluntary Gram Panchayat duties, whereas others do not.

A few objectives of the Panchayati raj system are mentioned below

•       Local rural panchayats are required to perform civic operations such as sanitation, route clean-up, minor water management, public bathrooms and toilet facilities, medical services, vaccination, drinking supply of water, building public boreholes, and infrastructure maintenance, wellbeing, and principal and individual schooling, among others
•       Recipients are chosen via Gram Sabhas, the open distribution infrastructure, non-conventional sources of energy, upgraded stoves and chullhas, and geothermal energy, which is also supplied to Village Panchayats in some provinces
•       All Gram Panchayat’s duties were expanded with the 73rd Amendment. Panchayats now are required to execute crucial responsibilities such as preparing a yearly development strategy for the panchayat region, preparing a yearly budget, giving aid in natural disasters, removing infringement on public properties, and managing and evaluating income-generating projects

Conclusion

To sum up, a panchayat is a village-level democracy regulating body that has come into significance after the 73rd amendment. It helps the government to reach local rural areas and help India to grow from its root. A panchayat authority consists of three tiers namely, the gram panchayat, the block panchayat and the district panchayat which is the head of the whole district. A gram panchayat election in India is directly participated by the people of the village and one among them is elected by the panch to be the sarpanch of the village. One panchayat holds the village in his rule for five years of his/her term. Their function is similar to the function of democracy regulating the authority of other bodies such as maintenance of roadways, electricity, distribution of gas supplies, water bodies, maintenance of infrastructure, etc.