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Panchayati Raj

Chapter 20 paNChayati raj

Panchayati Raj is a system of self government or local government at the village level.
Villagers can directly contact Panchayat to solve their problems. Village Panchayat can
easily understand the problems of villagers.
Panchayati Raj is an effort to establish a true democracy at the village level because
people living in villages are given the right of administration and development of villages
according to their needs.
In our country, the system of Panchayats is very old because India lives in the villages.
Panchayat means a group of five persons. Villagers elect a group of five persons by general
voting. They settle disputes and look after the problems of the village.
The government began programmes for the development of the country, but participation of the
people at local level was missing. Therefore, in 1992, the constitution was amended and rules
formulated for the Panchayati Raj System. These rules became effective from April, 1993.
they are as follows:

• It must be a three-tier system—the village level, block level and district level.
• Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes should have reservation in proportion to their
population in the area.
• A member of a Panchayat should not be less than 21 years of age.
• The State Election Commission should hold regular Panchayat elections.
• One-third of the total number of seats are reserved for women.

• Time-period of Panchayats is five years. Elections must be held within six months if a
Panchayat is dissolved due to any reason.
• Panchayats at the block level may not be constituted in states having population of
less than 20 lakhs. There should be direct election for all the seats in a Panchayat.
structure of the Panchayati raj

The Panchayati Raj is a three-tier system. It works at three levels:

Panchayati Raj
Village level Block level District level

Gram Gram Nayaya
Sabha Panchayat Panchayat
Block Samiti
Zila Parishad

1. Panchayati raj at village level

A village has a Gram Sabha, Gram Panchayat and a Nyaya Panchayat to look after the
welfare of the residents.
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