DR.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIA NAIONAL LAW

UNIVERSITY
2016-17

SOCIOLOGY
PROJECT ON:
PANCHAYTI RAJ
(Empowerment of Marginalized Section (Women, Dalits and Tribal)
and their Participation)

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

DR.SANJAY SINGH VIPIN KUMAR VERMA

Professor (Sociology) SECTION B,
RMLNLU ROLL NO. 168
III SEMESTER
TABLE OF CONTENT
 Introduction
In a country like India, Panchayati Raj institutions assume great importance from the point of
view of democratization in the political system. As Gandhi often pointed out, India lives in
villages and unless village life can be revitalized the nation as a whole can hardly come alive.
After independence, Article 40 of the Indian constitution enshrines one of the directive
principles of state policy, which lays down that the state shall take steps to organize village
Panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable
them to function as units of self-government. The architects of Panchayati Raj Institution
envisaged that not only men but also women should participate in the village Panchayat. In this
race, women have been failed to involve actively in politics due to the existing social structure
in the Indian society. As a result, they did not achieve an equal status in the society compared
to their male counterparts.

In order to improve the structure of Panchayati Raj institutions, Balwant Rai Mehta Committee
(1952); Ashok Mehta committee (1977); CAARD Commission (1985); Sarkaria Commission
(1988); Sixty Fourth Amendment Bill were formed and finally 73rd and 74th amendment was
enacted in 1992. The 73rd and 74th amendment acts are an important event in the Indian history
in which 33 per cent reservation has been given to Indian women at the Panchayat and
Municipal level. The reservation for women in Panchayat have provided a possibility for
demolishing traditional gender, caste and religious biasness but it is a long and difficult process
for bringing about social change.1

One of the important reasons why marginalised sections- Scheduled Castes (SCs) ,Scheduled
Tribes (STs) and women could not fully enjoy the fruit of development for more than 50 years
of planning and development in India was their inadequate and ineffective participation and
involvement in decentralised governance, planning and development. But the Constitution
(73rd Amendment) Act 1992 has made provisions for reservation of these groups for the post
of members and chairpersons at three levels of Panchayats. India is a country of villages.
Panchayati Raj system has influenced the village life extensively as one of the most important
units of democratic decentralization. Decentralization of powers is nothing but transfer of
powers from one tier of governance to another and, in same way, from one segment of
population to another. Accordingly the new laws, elections have been conducted. Reservations
have been provided to the excluded and marginalized groups. With these developments an

1
https://www.thecho.in/files/Imam-Uddin-Ansari_o4o8n9w0.pdf.
impression has been created that the whole representative democracy has been transformed
into a participatory democracy and the hitherto excluded have been included in governance and
administration through the device of reservation of seats in local bodies. However, there are
still several problems when we examine the issues of substantive inclusion of the marginalized
in the functioning of these elected bodies and in what they are able to achieve for their
constituents in terms of promoting Good Governance. By merely creating institutions or
providing formal training to people who hitherto lived and continue to live at the periphery of
society and economy does not guarantee their entry into local governance. The forces of
patriarchy and caste are the two socially powerful forces that deter the participation of the
marginalised sections. Bringing such marginalized groups into the political sphere requires
addressing the issues of dominance and exclusion both at the level of institutional structures
and processes as well as at the larger social setting which the marginalized groups inhabit.

The Scheduled tribes or adivasis (original inhabitants) include around 400 aboriginal
communities, mainly inhabiting remote and forested areas of India. They constitute 7.5 per cent
of India's population. The 73rd Constitution Amendment's importance was that it aimed at
achieving grass roots democracy guaranteeing adequate representation to the marginalised
groups like the scheduled castes, the scheduled tribes and women. However, the 73rd
amendment was not automatically applicable to the scheduled areas (geographical area where
the adivasis are concentrated) because of their unique characteristics and special needs. An
amendment act was subsequently enacted in December 1996 titled, 'The Provisions of the
Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996. The scheduled areas and the tribal
areas are specified in accordance with the provisions in article 244 and fifth and sixth schedules
of the Indian Constitution. The Extension Act is one of the potent legislative measures of recent
times, which recognises the tribal peoples' mode of living, aspirations, their culture and
traditions. However, studies to assess the implementation of the Extension Act and to examine
as to what extent the 1996 Act was able to establish grass roots democracy in scheduled areas
in accordance with the ethos of the tribal people reveal that nothing notable has taken place in
these areas and that the condition of the tribals remain more or less what it was before.
Decentralisation

Meaning: Decentralisation can be viewed as an extension of delegation. When a part of the

work is entrusted to others, it is known as delegation. Decentralisation extends to the lowest
level of the organisation.

A few definitions are given below:

1. Decentralisation refers to tire systematic effort to delegate to the lowest levels all authority
except that which can only be exercised at central points. Louis A. Allen

2. Decentralisation means the division of a group of functions and activities into relatively
autonomous units with overall authority and responsibility for their operation delegate to timd
of cacti unit.Earl. P. Strong

3. Decentralisation is simply a matter of dividing up the managerial work and assigning

specific duties to the various executive skills. Newman, summer and Wairen.2

Background of Panchayati Raj Institutions: In spite of the long history of

grassroots level political participation and its importance in India whatever be the institutional
mechanism that was followed the first draft of India's Constitution did not include a provision
for panchayats. Later a provision was included in Part IV of Art 40 of the Constitution (in the
Directive Principles of State Policy). By this constitutional provision, India may not give an
importance to the village Panchayat and it was used in some of the Indian states as an
experiment. In the early 1950s, the Planning Commission introduced the Community
Development (CD) programmes. The panchayats were supposed to help bureaucracy in
implementing these programmes and schemes of the central and state governments. A
committee was appointed in 1957 to examine the practicality of CD programmes under the
chairmanship of Balwant Rai Mehta, who was a Member of Parliament. The committee
reported that the CD programmes failed to involve the local community participation. On the
basis of that, the committee also recommended a framework for the decentralization. Rajasthan
was the first state in India to implement the framework suggested by Balwant Rai Mehta
Committee. In 1977 the Ashok Mehta Committee was appointed to assess the working of the

2
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/organization/decentralisation-meaning-advantages-and-disadvantages-
of-decentralisation/25703/.
PRIs and to provide suggestions to strengthen them. The committee opined that there were
second-generation panchayats in few states where the panchayats emerged as political
institutions. Even though the Constitution (64th Amendment) bill was introduced in 1989 in
the Parliament, it was defeated in the Rajya Sabha. Then the 73rd Amendment act was enacted
in 1992 and it came into force from April 24, 1993. The present PRIs came in its newer
allocation is the consequence of the 73rd Amendment. The essential prerequisites of the self-
governance of PRIs are: (a) clearly demarcated constituencies; (b) clear power and authority
on one hand and responsibilities on the other; (c) availability of enough human and financial
resources to manage and realize the planned goals; and( d) functional autonomy within the
structure of the third-tier of governance. Till the introduction of this constitutional amendment,
there were two levels of Panchayat structures. The 73rd Amendment Act has made panchayats
instruments of local government with potentials pace for women and marginalized groups in
the federal setup. Some of the major features of this act are:

(i) A three-tiers system at village, block/ Mandal/ and district levels

(ii) Direct election to all posts at all levels
(iii) Reservation on a rotational basis for the SCs and STs in proportion to their population
(iv) Reservation of not less than one-third of the seats and offices for women
(v) Five-year term
(vi) Devolution of powers and responsibilities by the state in preparation and
implementation of schemes relating to the subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule of
the Act
(vii) Setting up a State Finance Commission after every five years to review the financial
position of these institutions
(viii) Setting up a State Election Commission for holding Panchayat elections.

According to this act, panchayats should be the institutions of self-governance. If

panchayats have to function as institutions of self-governance at the grass-root level
they have to fulfil three basic conditions, namely, (a) institutional existence in the sense
the decisions are taken by the people's representatives (b) institutional capacity in the
form of empowering in situations to make their rules independently and (c) financial
viability in terms of sufficiently empowering panchayats in raising resources to meet
 their responsibilities. In other words, the panchayats should enjoy functional,
administrative and financial autonomy.3

Evolution of Panchayati Raj System in Uttar Pradesh: Uttar

Pradesh brought in Panchayati Raj immediately after independence through the
enactment of the UP Panchayat Raj Act, 1947. Following the recommendations of
Balwant Rai Mehta Committee a three-tier system of panchayats was established
through the enactment of the U.P. Kshettra Samitis and Zilla Parishads Act, 1961(now,
renamed as UP Kshetra panchayats and Zilla Panchayats Adhiniyam, 1961). Following
with the provisions of the Constitution, the Government of U.P. amended the two Acts
named above, through the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Laws (Amendment) Act, 1994.

The nomenclature for the 3 levels of Panchayats:

Level of Panchayat Name used

District Panchayat Zila Panchayat
Intermediate Panchayat Kshettra Panchayat
Village Panchayat Gaon Panchayat

Basic Statistics Concerning Panchayati Raj in Uttar Pradesh:

1. Zila Panchayat 70
2. Kshetra Panchayat 820
3. Gaon Panchayat 52000
TOTAL 52890.4

Sanyukt Prant Panchayat Raj Act 1947 was signed by the Governor General on 7th December,
1947 and Panchayats were established in the state from 15th August 1949. After this when the
constitution of the country was drafted, it had broad arrangements for the establishment of the
Panchayats. During 1953-54 a committee of the members of Vidhan Sabha was appointed to
coordinate various development programmes of the Panchayats. In year 1960-61 to make the

3
https://www.thecho.in/files/Imam-Uddin-Ansari_o4o8n9w0.pdf.
4
http://www.nrcddp.org/file_upload/Status%20of%20Panchayati%20Raj,%20Uttar%20Pradesh.pdf.
villages self-sufficient and prosperous various cultivation and welfare committees were
established in Gram Panchayat areas. During the year 1972-73 fourth general elections
successfully completed. During this period 72834 Gram Panchayats and 8792 Nyay Panchayats
were in force. Sixth general elections were successfully completed in year 1988. A 30%
reservation for the women representative was given during the same year. In year 1994, 72nd
amendment was presented in the Lok Sabha in order to streamline the workings of the
Panchayats. This amendment was later implemented nationwide in the form of 73rd
amendment. In year 2000, the second general elections of three-tier Panchayat successfully
completed.

Participation of Women:

It took nearly 40 years for women to find political representation in the formal political
institutions. As stated earlier, this was made possible through the 73rd Constitution
Amendment Act, which had the landmark provision of reserving not less than one-third of the
total number of seats in the local bodies for women.

It provided the much-needed opportunity for women to actively participate in the decision-
making processes of their locality through the political right that was conferred on them
through the Central Act. In this new era of panchayati raj, there are now more than one million
women representatives elected to the three tiers of panchayats who give more meaning for
democratic representation as they become spokespersons of the local community. 5

Women's political empowerment in the last nine years through the Constitution amendments
has exploded several myths, like the belief that they are passive and disinterested in political
institutions; only to the well-to-do, upper strata women will come through reservation; only the
kin of powerful politicians will enter panchayats through political connectivity to keep the seats
for them; and lastly and most importantly, women are only proxy - 'name-sake' - members and
they do not participate in the panchayats. Without discounting the existence in panchayats of
some women who do fit into this patriarchally oriented framework, one can say that these myths
have now been buried. Today the buzzword is that 'women can do it'. It is widely recognised
that decentralisation of power to the local bodies and women's proactive participation on a large
scale (in the state of Karnataka women's representation in the local bodies has reached 43 per

5
http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Law/2003/panchayati-raj.htm.
cent and the time is not too far when women may capture 50 percent of seats) in the
management of the local affairs in the villages has enhanced their status and rights

It has also been proved that wherever women hold positions in local bodies there is greater
efficiency and transparency in the running of public affairs. Gangamma Jayker, president of a
gram panchayat in Malgudi district in the state of Karnataka, is a product of reservations in the
panchayati raj system. She belongs to the scheduled caste category and had the privilege of
completing her primary schooling. She was very keen on promoting education and has been
running literacy classes for women in the village. On hearing of the government program for
girls' education, she got the details of the scheme, and followed the procedures to get a school
opened in her village.

Empowering the Tribals:

The Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (or PESA Act, 1996) is
regarded as a corrective legal measure to the 73rd amendment (Panchayati Raj Act) in order to
extend the provisions of the Panchayat Raj to the Scheduled and Tribal areas falling under the
Schedule Five areas of the nine States, namely Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan. The PESA
Act, 1996 which came into force on 24th December, 1996. It gave radical governance powers
to the tribal community and recognizes its traditional community rights over local natural
resources.6
It not only accepts the validity of customary law, social and religious practices, and traditional
management practices of community resources, but also directs the state governments not to
make any law which is inconsistent with these. Accepting a clearcut role of the community, it
gives wideranging powers to Gram Sabhas, which had hitherto been denied to them by the
lawmakers of the country. The State Governments were required to enact their legislation in
accordance with the Provisions of Act before the expiry of one year i.e. 23rd December, 1997.

6
https://socialissuesindia.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/panchayat-raj-system-in-india/
Poor implementation of PESA 1996:
It also needs to be pointed out that tribal areas represent the last sumps of natural resources on
this planet, simply because tribal lifestyle and culture have inherent respect for the forests and
natural resources and tribal religions and outlook ensures survival of all living beings, through
holistic and ecologically sound belief system. PESA offers a wonderful way to strengthen their
hands in the larger interest of social justice as well as deepen grass-root democracy.
Implementing the following suggestions will achieve both the goals.

Even after a decade and a half after the PESA Act, there is very little awareness about the
Gram Sabha being designated as a selfgoverning body or having legal jurisdiction over
the natural resources and forests. Neither is there any support mechanism for the Gram
Sabhas to play any significant role.
It is a clear indication that sincere implementation of PESA has not been seriously
attempted by the state governments. They still want to govern the PESA areas through the
centralized administration and laws that actually weaken what PESA provisions offer the
tribal community. There is hardly any willingness on the part of the officials of various
departments to relinquish control on resources and functions that are given to the Gram
Sabhas by PESA. Nor do they have any respect for tribal lifestyle and culture. What is
needed is the empowerment and capacity building of the tribal community through a
sustained awareness campaign so they can take charge of their lives as envisioned in the
PESA provisions.
There is an urgent need to amend the Indian Forest Act, Land Acquisition Act, and other
related Acts so that the ownership on minor forest produce, water bodies and land resources
are explicitly handed over to the Gram Sabhas of the PESA areas.
No State Government officer should have the power to over-rule any recommendation of a
Gram Sabha. This legacy of British Raj is anti-democratic and must be abolished
immediately.
The current system of governance is still largely colonial in nature and the bureaucracy
conditioned on centralized authority has been unable to accept the radical change
envisioned in the PESA Act. Therefore, in order to sensitize them an immediate extensive
training-cum-awareness campaign for all relevant officials of various ministries should be
initiated.
 There is a need that Gram Sabha institutions should be developed as institutions ofself-
governance and not treated merely as institutions of local governance. The required
administrative structure and machinery should be provided for making the Gram Sabha an
effective body of district administration. It is also imperative that the Gram Sabhas have
direct access to funds so that they can exercise their power rather independently.
Physical infrastructure in interior areas should be strengthened in order to protect the life
and property of tribals. Special attention should be paid to the construction of culverts,
bridges, check dams, compound walls for schools, etc.
The concept of community ownership of resources in PESA areas should be integrated into
the provisions of the Centrally Sponsored Schemes. All community resource based
schemes should involve Gram Sabhas in planning and implementation.7

Empowering the Dalits:

After the new generation of Panchayats have started functioning several issues have come to
the fore, which have a bearing on human rights. The important factor, which has contributed
to the Dalit situation vis--vis the Panchayat system, is the nature of Indian society, which of
course determines the nature of the state. The Indian society is known for its inequality, social
hierarchy and the rich and poor divide. The social hierarchy is the result of the caste system,
which is unique to India. Therefore caste and class are the two factors, which deserve attention
in this context. At another level it is essential to look into the question: who are the victims of
the social system and nature of the state? They are women, the Dalits, Adivasis and the poor.
How can the process of decentralization through strengthening the democratically elected local
bodies tackle these issues along with defining rural development in compressed way? Whether
the decentralization process and the decentralized institutions increase human rights violations
or enhance the possibility for respecting and observing human rights?
In the last one-year there were 34 cases of no-confidence motions in Dalit Panchayats.
Reservation being the modus by which Dalits could get into power sharing is seen as a means
of disgrace by the upper caste segment thereby instigating a lobby to dismantle all reservations.
What has happened in the last few decades is a gradual, sensible and rationale growth in the
level of awareness among the Dalits. Questions relating to caste issue have been challenged
that intimidates the very existence of the caste politics within the Panchayat Raj itself. In recent
time these question were more related to the aspects like delivery systems, mid-day meal, etc.

7
https://socialissuesindia.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/panchayat-raj-system-in-india/.
Scores of such cases frequently occupy space in the media. With strong presence of caste
disparity, utilizing the government machinery like the police has happened in a number of
cases. The Pipariya Police on the instruction of the Sarpanch of Khairwar Panchayat in
Kawardha district on 5th October 2004 detained one Bannu Satnami. Next day morning his
body was found lying in front of the police station. During the year 2004-05 there were as many
as 13 custodial deaths in Chhattisgarh, of which 11 were Dalits, a self-explanatory figure
showing how police is deployed as a tool of caste atrocities.

While analysing these cases, such incidences happened only when Dalits began to assert their
political rights through Panchayat institution. It is evident that the upper castes controlled the
affairs of the village cannot tolerate the changes being brought about by the decentralized
democratic institutions. In the backdrop of such incidences an array of question raises with
reference to Panchayat Raj vis--vis Dalits. The initial prediction of decentralization
envisioned through Panchayat Raj hasnt become a reality. It also tells us how Panchayat Raj
is utilised as a tool of disempowerment of Dalits and consolidation of caste system.

In conclusion one may say that the new Panchayat Raj in so far as it will weaken the
bureaucratic stranglehold is welcome and attempts should be made to strengthen it against the
feudalist casteism, bureaucracy and state government. But how far it has helped the Dalits to
come into the centre stage is absolutely questionable.8

8
http://www.countercurrents.org/george090507.htm.
Current Position of Panchayati Raj System in U.P.:

The Panchayati Raj department of Uttar Pradesh is in shambles. In one of the ongoing surveys,
officials have come across startling cases where locals looted panchayat bhawans and walked
away with the window frames and doors of the buildings in Chitrakoot division. The panchayati
raj department (PRD) is one of the few departments that gets maximum share of development
funds from the Centre and the state. UP has an average annual budget of Rs 5,000 crore for
panchayats under various panchayati raj schemes, MGNREGS, beneficiary schemes like
scholarships and pensions, 'Swajal Dhara' scheme, mid-day meal and Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan
(NBA).

But, there is acute shortage of panchayat secretaries to implement the schemes after proper
discussions at village forums. The 8,000-odd gram panchayat adhikaris (panchayat secretaries)
are pitched in to oversee implementation of development schemes in 51,914 gram panchayats.

To make up for the shortage, some 8,000 gram vikas adhikaris (officers of the rural
development department) have been posted by the government to ensure smooth functioning
of the panchayats. "But, it's not sufficient. With just 16,000 employees, it is difficult to look
after all 52,000 gram panchayats," said sources.9

9
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/UPs-panchayati-raj-system-in-
disarray/articleshow/25572516.cms.
 Conclusion
In spite of all the impediments the deprived sections of our rural society have found in
the Panchayats a forum to ventilate their grievances. Besides, these bodies have also become
a training ground to know about the art of preparing and executing economic development and
social justice plans for their development in their respective areas. It is hoped the menace of
caste and gender discrimination would also be diluted slowly and gradually as happened in
Karnataka where the results of the Panchayat elections held in 1995 showed that caste affinity
had ceased to be a major consideration with most of the voters in deciding their electoral
preferences. In the course of conducting the study it is realized that some measures are required
to be taken to promote womens participation in politics. So it may be suggested that elected
representatives in each district may develop a network among them and hold meetings and
discussions on routine basis about necessary measures to promote their participation and
neutralize male domination in local-self bodies. The present study presents low level of
education in this case study which is not a good sign for a healthy democracy. Thus, it is
important to make extra educational training programmes related to politics for enhancing
knowledge of elected members on government policies and programmes, bureaucratic
structures and the issues of local concern. For this, government may make provision for
mandatory attendance of an Awareness Programme/Orientation Programme by members of
PRIs. Sensitization of male members in PRIs is equally important so that they listen the elected
members patiently, converse politely, acknowledge their suggestions in the meetings and
implement them wherever feasible. It would lead to psychological empowerment of the
marginalised sections of the society.