Panchayati Raj: Panchayat Samiti & Zila Parishad
- Constitution of Panchayat Samiti or Block Panchayat
- Constitution of Zila Parishad
- What is the importance of Gram Panchayat
Panchayat Samiti
This is the local government body at the block level. A block is known by different names in Hindi such as tehsil (तहसील) or taluka (तालुका) or prakhand (प्रखंड). All the villages under a tehsil (block) form the Development Block. The Block Panchayat works as a link between the Gram Panchayat and the Zilla Parishad.
Constitution of Block Panchayat
The Block Panchayat is composed of ex-officio members, co-opt members, associate members and some elected members.
- The ex-officio members include all the sarpanchs of the panchayat samiti area, the MPs (Member of Parliament) and the MLAs (Member of Legislative Assembly) of the area and the SDO (Sub Divisional Officer) of the subdivision.
- The co-opt members include representatives of women and SC/ST (Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes).
- The associate members include a farmer of the area, a representative of the cooperative societies and a representative of the marketing services.
The Panchayat Samiti is elected for five years. It is headed by the Chairman and Deputy Chairman. As the Panchayat Samiti is composed of many panchayats, it is also called the Panchayat of Panchayats.
Common departments in a panchayat samiti
- Administration
- Finance
- Public works (especially water and roads)
- Agriculture
- Health
- Education teacher list
- Social welfare
- Information technology
- Women & child development
- Panchayat raj (mandal praja parishad)
Each department in a panchayat samiti has its own officer. These officers are generally state government employees. But they may be local employees in more revenue-rich panchayat samiti. Block Development Officer (BDO) is the supervisor of these officers. BDO is the employee of the state government.
Functions of Panchayat Samiti
The Panchayat Samiti collects all the plans prepared by Gram Panchayats. It evaluates these plans from the angles of finance, social welfare and development. Then, the Pachayat Samiti processes these plans for funding and implementation.
Sources of income fo Panchayat Samiti
- Land and water use taxes, professional taxes, liquor taxes and others
- Income-generating programmes
- Grants- and loans from the state government and the local zila parishad
- Voluntary contributions
Zila Parishad
The Zila Parishad makes the top tier of the Panchayati Raj system. It is headed by an elected member. Block Pramukh, MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) and MP (Member of Parliament) are also members of Zilla Parishad.
An officer from the IAS (Indian Administrative Service) cadre becomes the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Zilla Parishad. He is the administrative head of the Zilla Parishad.
Its function is to look after the working of all the Panchayat Samiti and Gram Panchayats under the district. It also executes various welfare programmes in the district.
Importance of Gram Panchayat
Gram Panchayat gives power in the hands of the people. It is believed that people are the best judges of local needs and problems. Moreover, everything cannot be tackled by the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister. So, people should be given some degree of power to tackle the problems of their locality.