Question

What is panchayat????​

Answer 1

Answer:

Panchayati Raj is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent. Panchayati Raj Institutions as units of local government have been in existence in India for a long time, in different permutations and combinations. However, it was only in 1992 that it was officially established by the Indian Constitution as the third level of India’s federal democracy through the 73rd Amendment Act.

The Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) consists of three levels:

• Gram Panchayat at the village level
• Block Panchayat or Panchayat Samiti at the intermediate level
• Zilla Panchayat at the district level

The word “Panchayat” means assembly (ayat) of five (panch) and raj means “rule”. Traditionally Panchayats consisted of elderly and wise people chosen by the local community, who used to settle disputes between individuals and villages. The leader of the panchayat used to be called as Mukhya or Sarpanch. Generally the elder-most or most senior person would be elected to this position. The Panchayati Raj system is also recognised as a form of direct democracy (i.e they exercise all powers of a government at a village level), as opposed to the popular notion that it is a type of representative democracy. As per January 2019, there are 630 Zilla Panchayats; 6614 Block Panchayats and 253163 Gram Panchayats in India. There are currently more than 3 million elected representatives (of which more than 1 million are women) for panchayats at all levels.