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Constitution 73rd Amendment and Panchayati Raj in India

The 73rd Amendment 1992 added a new Part IX to the constitution titled The
Panchayats covering provisions from Article 243 to 243(O); and a new Eleventh
Schedule covering 29 subjects within the functions of the Panchayats.
The passage of the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 (or simply
the Panchayati Raj Act) marks a new era in the federal democratic set up of
the country. It provided the much needed constitutional sanction to the
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for functioning as an organic and integral part
of the nations democratic process. It came into force with effect from April 24,
1993 and did not apply to the Schedule V areas of the nine states, Schedule VI
Areas of the North-East and the District of Darjeeling in West Bengal as well as
J&K.
The Amendment provided a Constitutional status to the
Panchayati Raj Institutions in India and left no discretion with the State
governments in several important matters pertaining to these Institutions.
Articles 243, 243A to 243-O were added as parts of newly inserted Part IX of the
Constitution.
The Amendment introduced across the board three-tier system of the PRIs at
village
Panchayat, Block and District levels. The electorates at Gram Panchayat level
have been named as the Gram Sabha which elects the representatives to Gram
Panchayat by way of direct election. Further, Article 243D provides for
reservation of seats at all levels for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes
(STs) and women.
However, states have been given enough freedom to take their geographical,
politico-administrative and others conditions into account while adopting the
Panchayati Raj System.
Duration of Panchayats: A clear term for 5 years has been provided for the
Panchayats and elections must take place before the expiry of the terms.
However, the Panchayat may be dissolved earlier on specific grounds in
accordance with the state legislations. In that case the elections must take place
before expiry of 6 months of the dissolution.
Salient features of Panchayati Raj System
Panchayats have been the backbone of the Indian villages since the beginning of
recorded history.
73rd Amendment Act, 1992
The Salient Features of the Act are:
a. To provide 3-tier system of Panchayati Raj for all the States having population
of over 20 Lakhs.
b. To hold Panchayat Elections regularly every 5 years.

c. To provide reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and


Women (not less than 33%)
d. To appoint State Finance Commission to make recommendations as regards
the financial powers of the Panchayats.
e. To constitute District Planning Committee to prepare draft development plan
for the district as a whole.
Powers and Responsibilities:
According to the Constitution, Panchayats shall be given powers and authority to
function as institutions of self-government. The following powers and
responsibilities are to be delegated to Panchayats at the appropriate level :a. Preparation of Plan for economic development and social justice.
b. Implementation of schemes for economic development and social justice in
relation to 29 subjects given in Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution.
c. To levy, collect and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls and fees.

Importance of Rural Non-Farm Sector


The non-farm sector, particularly in rural areas is being accorded wide
recognition in recent years for the following reasons:

Employment growth in the farm sector has not been in consonance with
employment growth in general.

A planned strategy of rural non-farm development may prevent many


rural people from migrating to urban industrial and commercial centers.

When

the

economic

base

of

the

rural

economy

extends

beyond

agriculture, rural-urban economic gaps are bound to get narrower along


with salutary effects in many other aspects associated with the life and
aspirations of the people.

Rural industries are generally less capital-intensive and more labour


absorbing.

Rural

industrialization

has

significant

spin-offs

for

agricultural

development as well.

Rural income distribution is much less unequal in areas where a wide


network of non-farm avenues of employment exists; the lower strata of
rural societies participate much more intensely in non-farm activities,
though their involvement is much less remunerative as compared with
that of the upper strata.

Extent of poverty:
The Expert Group (Rangarajan) estimates that the 30.9% of the rural population
and 26.4% of the urban population was below the poverty line in 2011-12. The
all-India ratio was 29.5%. In rural India, 260.5 million individuals were below
poverty and in urban India 102.5 million were under poverty. Totally, 363 million
were below poverty in 2011-12. xi. The poverty ratio has declined from 39.6% in
2009-10 to 30.9% in 2011-12 in rural India and from 35.1% to 26.4% in urban
India. The decline was thus a uniform 8.7 percentage points over the two years.
The all-India poverty ratio fell from 38.2% to 29.5%. Totally, 91.6 million
individuals were lifted out of poverty during this period.

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