14. Arrange the Three tier Panchayati Raj System as per the Constitutional Provisio
(a) Village Panchayat - Intermediate Panchayat - District Panchayat
(b) Panchayat Union - District Panchayat - Village Panchayat
(c) District Panchayat - village Panchayat - Intermediate Pachayat
(d) Village Panchayat - Town Panchayat - District Pachayat - Intermediate
Panchayat
Answers
Explanation:
Though the Panchayat Raj Institutions were in existence in various forms in various States, these institutions did not acquire the status and dignity of viable and responsive people’s bodies due to a number of reasons including absence of regular elections, prolonged supercession, insufficient representation of weaker sections like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women, inadequate devolution of powers and lack of financial resources. In the light of the experience gained and the short-comings that had been observed, the 73rd amendment of the Constitution was enacted in 1992, to enshrine in the Constitution certain basic and essential features of Panchayat Raj Institutions to impart certainty, continuity and strength to them. A number of fundamental changes were brought about in the Panchayat Raj System by virtue of this Act. Pursuant to this, the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act 1994 was enacted and it came into force with effect from 22.04.1994.
Some of the important changes brought about by the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution and the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act 1994 are listed below:
a) Introduction of a three tier system – at the Village, Intermediate (Block) and District levels. [There are 12,618 Village Panchayats, 385 Panchayat Unions (coterminous with Blocks) and 29 District Panchayats in Tamil Nadu].
b) Mandatory conduct of Local Body elections every five years and conduct of elections before the expiry of the duration of the Local Body or before the expiry of a period of 6 months from the date of its dissolution.
c) Introduction of reservation of seats(i.e. ward members) and offices (i.e. Chairpersons/Presidents) for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their population in every Local Body with provision for rotation of the reserved seats and offices.
d) Introduction of reservation of one third of total number of seats and offices for women with provision for rotation.
e) Constitution of a State Election Commission as an independent body to conduct elections to both rural and urban Local Bodies regularly.
f) Establishment of a quinquennial State Finance Commission to recommend devolution of resources from the State Government to the rural and urban Local Bodies.
g) Constitution of a District Planning Committee to consolidate the plans prepared by the rural and urban Local Bodies in the district with a view to prepare a comprehensive development plan for the district.
h) Introduction of the concept of ‘Grama Sabha’ comprising all registered voters in a Village Panchayat.
Table 1: Milestones in Decentralisation