|
The Panchayat (पंचायत in Devanagiri) is an Indian political system that groups five villages in a quincunx (four peripheral villages around a central one were laid out as the '5' side of a die). Each had appointed tasks and responsibilities, such as cart-making or basket-weaving. The central village, usually the largest of the Panchayat, traditionally handled food storage and meetings places for the officials, as well as their residences. ‘Panchayat’ literally means assembly (yat) of five (panch) wise and respected elders chosen and accepted by the village community. Traditionally, these assemblies settled the disputes between individuals and villages.
Village councils Panchayat also refers to a council of elected members taking decisions on issues key to a village's social, cultural and economic life: thus, a panchayat is a village's body of elected representatives. The council leader is named sarpanch (in Hindi), and each member is a panch. The panchayat acts as a conduit between the local government and the people. Decisions are taken by a majority vote (Bahumat), and are generally welcomed by the villagers. It is said that in such a system, each villager can voice his opinion in the governance of his village. The decisions are taken without lengthy legal procedures and the process remains for the large part transparent. Panchayati Raj The addition of ‘raj’ with panchayat and creation of ‘panchayat raj’ is relatively new with its origins during the British administration. Raj literally means governance or government. Thus by coining the word panchyat raj, (in agriculture parallel with British raj) it is attempted that there is an institution of government at village level in similar manner to a government at the Centre.Mahatma Gandhi advocated Panchayati Raj, a decentralized form of Government where each village is responsible for its own actions, as the foundation of India's political system. His term for such a vision was "Gram Swaraj" (Village Self-governance). It was incorporated into the state governments during the 1950s and 60s as various legislations were passed to establish Panchayats in different states. It found a backing in the Indian Constitution which was amended in 1992 to accommodate the Panchayat Raj Institutions. However political and caste undercurrents among the voters have prevented strong adoption of this concept. This has been accepted and effectively implemented in many states of India. Panchayat and poor villagers Poor villagers have found a new dream with this Panchayati Raj. Family below poverty line is being presented a small house under Indira Aawas Yojna, Various types of loans to start independent business, agriculture, agriculture | ||||||||
|
| |||||||||
 |
|
| |