Legislative Practices and Procedures

ASSIGNMENT

Submitted to :
Dr. Abhishek Srivastava

Submitted by :
Tanisha Rana
2519
B.A. (Hons.) Pol. Sci.
IV Semester
Powers and Functions of People’s
Representative at Different Tiers
of Governance

The polity of India is a unique one. India is a

federal country with a strong centre. This means
that the whole country is divided into independent
states which have freedom to govern themselves.
But, also they are united and are governed by a
stronger centre.

Indian political system work in three tier :

I. Central government (made up of Lok Sabha
and Rajya Sabha)
II. State government (made up of Legislative
assembly)
III. Local self government (comprise Municipal
corporation, Municipalities, Gram Panchayat,
etc.)

Initially we have only two tier government, one at

central level and other at state level. But, after the
passing of 73rd & 74th Constitutional Amendment
Act 1992, a new part was added IX & X-A to the
constitution titled ‘The Panchayats’ and ‘The
Municipalities’ respectively, which adds the third
level of government in India i.e. at the local level
(Panchayati Raj).
The centre is divided into two conceptual parts
again- As a country with people, and a country
with states.
Lok Sabha represents the people of the country
irrespective of what state they belong to.
Rajya Sabha represents the different states and
not the people. Now, the powers to legislate on
various subjects are given under the Seventh
Schedule of the Constitution.
To both these houses of Parliament, Member of
Parliament (MP’s) are elected. Meanwhile
Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA’s) are
elected to the legislative assembly of a State.
MLA is a representative elected by the voters of an
electoral district (constituency) to the legislation of
a State in the Indian system of government. MLA
belongs to a particular state and discuss matters
regarding that particular state only.
A MP is a member of either house i.e. the Lok
sabha or the Rajya sabha. Both these houses are
collectively known as the parliament of India and it
is supreme legislative body of the republic of India
and deals with law making pan India. The members
of lok sabha are directly elected by the Indian
public voting in single members districts and the
members of rajya sabha are elected by the members
of the states legislative assembly
(MLA) by proportional representation. Each state
has between seven and nine MLA for every
Member of Parliament (MP) that it has in the Lok
Sabha.
The Indian constitution clearly defines the
distribution of powers between the Union and the
States. The State Legislature has the power to make
laws on all items in the state list, on which
Parliament cannot legislate law such as police,
prisons, irrigation, agriculture, local governments
and public health. In such case the MLAs discuss
and vote for such bills. However, both parliament
and state assembly can make law on some items
such as education, protection of natural resources
like forests, water source and protection of wildlife.
Similarly, both involve in the process of electing
the President of India. Also some part of the
constitution can be amended by the parliament with
the approval of the states only. Thus, both MLAs
and MPs create laws according to the powers
granted to them on making legislature by the
Constitution of India.
A minister can be a state minister in which case he
has to be a MLA first or a minister can be a cabinet
minister in which case he has to be selected in
either of the houses of parliament.
Ministers of both the types are responsible for
certain departments of the government and execute
the laws enacted by either the state assembly or the
parliament of India. Thus, cabinet is the supreme
directing authority, the magnet of the policy, which
coordinates and controls the whole of executive
government of the Union and integrates and guides
the work of Parliament.
So, if there is a foreign policy you support, you
should see what work the MP has done regarding
such a law. But, if some law about the local police
is concerned then you have to see what work the
MLA has done.
MPs, MLAs usually don’t fret about traffic jams,
potholes, sewer, electric lamps etc. The
responsibility of that is on the Municipality or
Municipal Corporation of the town or the city. Here,
the corporators of various wards are elected to do
such local works. The main work of an MP is to
work on policies on a national scale, like the
economic policy, budget, defense, railway etc.
For the MLA, it is state specific, like amma
canteens, building state highways etc. For the
corporator of ward, it is about sewerage, drinking
water, electricity shortage, etc.

Facilities for MP/MLAs

Amenities provided to the members are related to
salaries and allowances, traveling facilities,
medical facilities, accommodation, telephones, etc.
These are governed by the Salary, Allowances and
Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954 and
the rules are made there under.
1. Salary and Daily Allowances With the
commencement of Salary, Allowances and
 Pension of Members of Parliament
(Amendment) Act, 2001, the amount of
salary has been increased from rupees four
thousand to rupees twelve thousand per men
for a period of five years w.e.f. 14 September
2001. Similarly, the amount of daily
allowances has been increased from rupees
four hundred to rupees five hundred for each
day of residence on duty at a place where the
session of a house of parliament or a sitting of
a committee thereof is held.
2. Traveling Allowance/Travel Facilities A
member is entitled to the following traveling
allowances for the journey performed by
him/her for attending a session of the House
or a sitting of a committee or for the purpose
of attending to any other business connected
with his/her duties as a member from his/her
usual place of residence to the place where the
above-mentioned business is transacted and
for return journey from such place of
residence:
a) If the journey is performed by rail, an
amount equal to one first class plus one
second class fare irrespective of the class in
which the member actually travels.
b) If the journey is performed by air, an
amount equal to one and one-fourth of the
air fare for each such journey.
 c) If the journey or any part thereof cannot
be performed by rail or air-
Where the journey or any other part thereof
is performed by streamer an amount equal
to one and three-fifths of the fare for the
highest class in the streamer.
Where the journey or any part thereof is
performed by road, road mileage at the rate of
rupees eight per kilometer.

a) Rail Travel Facilities

Every member is provided with -
a) One month non-transferable first class air
conditioned or
executive class of any train which entitled him to
travel at any time by any railway in India;
b)One free non-transferable air-conditioned
two-tier railway pass for one person to
accompany the member when he travels by rail
3. Accommodation Each member is entitled to a
license-fee free flat or hostel accommodation
throughout his term of office.
4. Telephonic Facilities No charges shall be
payable by a member in request of the
installation and rental of one telephone
installed either at his residence or at his office
in Delhi or New Delhi, and no member shall
be liable to make any payment in respect of
the first 50,000 local calls made from the
telephone during any year.
 5. Medical Facilities Under the Central
Government Health Scheme as extended to
members, a member and his/her family are
entitled to free medical treatment on a
monthly contribution of Rs.150. dispensaries
for providing treatment mainly to the
members exist in North Avenue, South
Avenue, Dr. Zakir Hussain Road,
Constitutional Club and First Aid Post in V.P.
House.

Members of Parliament Local Area

Development Scheme (MPLADS)
It is a scheme formulated by the Government of
India on 23 December 1993 that provides that each
member of (parliament of India) has the choice to
suggest to the Head of the District works to the
tune of Rs.5 crore per year, to be taken up in
his/her constituency. Initially this scheme was
administered by Ministry of Rural Development.
Later, in October 1994, Ministry of Statistics and
Program Implementation (MOSPI) has been
looking into its working.
Elected members of Rajya Sabha representing the
whole of the State as they do, may select works for
implementation in one or more district(s) as they
may choose. Nominated members of Lok Sabha
and Rajya Sabha may also select works for
implementation in one or more districts, anywhere
in the country. The allocation per MP per year
stands increased to Rs.2 crores from the year
1998-1999 which has been further enhanced to
Rs.5 crores from the year 2011. It also allows MPs
to spend up to Rs.10 lacs in any other constituency
in India.
Nominated MPs can spend there funds in any
constituency they want while Rajya Sabha MPs
have to spend it in the constituency they are elected
from. But great power comes with great
responsibilities:
1) To serve the people of the region and country.
2) Justice within no time at minimum or no cost.
3) Minimize legislation.
4) Hundred percent participation in the
assembly/parliament.
5) Strictly implement laws of the country and
written off out dated and unsuitable laws.
6) Bear in mind - One lakh or Ten lakh people’s
voice from your mouth.
7) Duty to serve - not to participate in the stage
shows (like inauguration and so on).
8) Think, talk and work for progress only ,
instead of eating others waste.
9) Model of Public - filing their income returns
and relevant other facts in time.
10) No involvement criminal activity, unlawful
activity, not at the instance. The election time
only change and open the door of Judiciary.
 11) Need to serve each and everyone he
represents - directly or indirectly with the help
of latest connectivity.
12) No involvement beg for higher post, black
mail tactics, and other advance technology of
their negative research.
13) Compete to minimum facility to self and
maximum to the public.
14) Canvas and advertise good thoughts and
works of you instead of bad thoughts and
works of opponents.
15) Best utilization of land, labor, skill and
sources of energies for all round development.
16) Mass leader.

Powers of MPs and MLAs

Powers of MLA (Member of Legislative

Assembly)
1. Legislative powers: The primary function of
a Member of the Legislative Assembly is
law-making. The Constitution of India states
that the members of the Legislative Assembly
can exercise their legislative powers on all
matters on which the Parliament cannot
legislate. An MLA can exercise his legislative
powers on the State List and the Concurrent
List. The State List contains subjects of
importance to the individual state alone, such
 as trade, commerce, development, irrigation
and agriculture, while the Concurrent List.
The State List contains subjects of importance
to the individual state alone, such as trade,
commerce, development, irrigation and
agriculture, while the Concurrent List
contains items of importance to both the
Union Government and the State Government
such as succession, marriage, education,
adoption, forest and so on. Although ideally
only the Members of the Legislative
Assembly can legislate on the State List, the
Parliament can legislate on subjects in the
State List while Emergency has been imposed
on the State. In addition to that, on the matters
that are included in the concurrent List, the
laws made by the Parliament are prioritized
over the laws made by the Legislative
Assembly if the President does not give the
assent to the laws made by the Legislative
Assembly. Although the members of the
Legislative Assembly are the highest law
-making organs of the State government ,
their legislative powers are not absolute.

2. Financial Power: The Legislative Assembly

holds absolute financial power in the state. A
Money Bill can only originate in the
Legislative Assembly and the Members of the
Legislative Assembly must give consent for
 any of the expenses made from the State
Treasury. It must be noted that in the states
that have a bicameral legislature, both the
Legislative Council and the Vidhan Parishad
can pass the Bill or suggest changes to the Bill
within 14 days of its receipt although the
members are not bound to abide by the
changes suggested. All grants and tax-raising
proposals must be authorized by the MLAs
for them to be executed and implemented for
the development of the state.

3. Executive Power: The Members of the

Legislative Assembly in each state exercise
certain executive powers. They control the
activities and actions taken by the Chief
Minister and the Council of Minister. In other
words, the ruling government answerable to
the Legislative Assembly for all its decisions.
A vote of no confidence can be passed only
by the MLAs in any state that, if passed by a
majority, can force the ruling government to
resign. Question Hour, Cut Motions and
Adjournment Motions can be exercised by the
Members of the Legislative Assembly in
order to restrict the executive organ of the
state government machinery.
 4. Electoral Powers: The Members of the
Legislative Assembly have certain electoral
powers such as the following:
1) Elected Members of the Legislative
Assembly comprise the Electoral College
that elects the President of India.
2) MLAs elect the members of the Rajya
Sabha, who represents a particular state.
3) The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the
Legislative Assembly are elected by the
MLAs.
4) In states with a bicameral legislature,
one-third of the members of the Legislative
Council are elected by the MLAs.

Constitutional and Miscellaneous Powers:

a. Some parts of the Constitution of India that
relate to the federal provisions can be
amended by ratification by one-half of the
Members of the Legislative Assembly.
b. MLAs review reports of the Public Service
Commission and the Accountant General.
c. MLAs appoints the various Committees to the
House.

Powers of an MP (Member of Parliament)

Although the exact roles and responsibilities of MP

are not codified in the Constitution of India,
Section 3 of Article 105, which discuss the powers
and privileges of MPs and of committees, lays the
responsibility of defining the responsibilities of an
MP. It says: “the powers, of each Houses of
Parliament, and of the members and the
committees of each House, shall be defined by
Parliament by law from time to time.”
However, through various laws and otherwise, an
MP is required to perform various responsibilities
in Parliament and outside, which can be broadly
classified into the following:
(An MPs major role is legislative and over the
years some executive functions have been
assigned).
1) Legislative Role
Making laws for governance of our country. An
MP participates in the discussion of a bill and
suggests amendments to a Government bill.
Separately, any MP whho is a non Minister can
also propose legislative changes to the
government, through Private Members’ Bills. An
MP also participate in the voting for
amendments in the Constitution of India
(subjects to the basic structure.) Legislative
matters on issues such as creation of state
legislative councils; to increase or decrease area
or boundaries of a state, change the name of a
state and Union territories; regulation of the
organization and jurisdiction of the Supreme
Court and High Courts and allot one High Court
to two or more states, etc. are also discussed by
 the MPs in their respective house. An MP also
participate in the process of impeachment of the
President; removal of the Vice President, and the
judges of High Court and Supreme court.
Delegated Legislation: Once a bill is signed into
law, the powers to make detailed rules and
regulations within its framework rest with the
executive. An MP’s role is to keep a check on
executive overreach and ensure that the powers
of delegated legislation are not abused by the
government. For e.g. RS MP, P.Rajeev raised
objections to the IT rules drafted by the
government in 2011.
2) Supervisory Role
The MPs exercise control over the executive
through Parliamentary interventions such as
Question Hour, Zero Hour, Calling Attention
Motion, Adjournment Motion, No-Confidence
Motion, Censure Motion and other discussion.
MPs also supervise the executive by
participating in committees like Public accounts,
estimates, Public Undertakings and various other
department related standing and adhoc
committees. For e.g. : I am part of the Parliament
Standing Committee on Public Undertakings,
Consultative Committee for the Ministry of
Finance and Parliamentary Standing Committee
on Home Affairs and I participate in debates on
issues pertaining to the committees regularly.
3) Electoral Role
An MP participates in the election of the
President and the Vice-President. On the one
hand, a Lok Sabha MP elects the Speaker of the
House and the Deputy Speaker. On the other
hand, a Rajya Sabha MP elects the
Vice-Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

4) Powers of the Purse

No tax can be levied and no expenditure incurred
by the government expect with the approval of
the Parliament. The Budget is therefore
presented to the Parliament.
Parliamentary control over executive in matters
of Finance is : a) Budgetary control b)
Post-Budgetary control (through financial
committees-that some MPs in rotation are a part
of)

5) Representative Responsibility
Every MP is the voice for his/her constituency.
Every MP has to raise issues of his constituency
in Parliament through question, debates etc. An
MP can also play a role in implementing projects
at the level of the District Collector or at the
State Government and the Central governmental
level.
 Till now we studied about the role, powers and
functions of MP’s and MLA’s. We learned
everything about what they are, who elect them,
how they represent people, what sort of work
they do for public and many more. But they
cover only two tiers of governmental functioning.
Another chapter got unfold when third tier was
added to the Indian Constitution for the
Governance of Local level.

Rural and Urban Local Self Government

We know there is a government in India at the
Center and State levels. But there is another
important system for local governance. The
foundation of the present local self-government in
India was laid by the Panchayati Raj System
(1992).
But the history of Panchayati Raj starts from the
self-sufficient and self-governing village
communities. Evidence suggests that
self-governing village bodies called ‘sabhas’
existed during ancient India. With the passage of
time, these bodies become Panchayats (councils of
five persons). Panchayats were formal institutions
of grass-root level governance in almost every
village. They endured the rise and fall of empires in
the past, to the current highly structured system.
 What is Local Self-Government?
Local self-government implies the transference of
the power to rule to the lowest rungs of the political
order. It is a form of democratic decentralization
where the participation of even the grass root level
of the society is ensured in the administration.

History of Local Administration.

Local self-government, to borrow a phrase from
Sydney Webb, is “as old as the hills”.
This can be more true of India than any other
country of the world. There is sufficient
evidence to establish the fact that the institution of
local self-government is almost
pre-historic, and the conception of local
self-government is indigenous to the Indian
soil. The existence of local bodies in ancient India
is a positive proof of the inherent genius of our
people to manage local affairs efficiently and on a
decentralized basis.
The local governments at different levels,
performing many functions, though not very
democratic, but were autonomous.

Local self government under the Muslim Rule

With the coming of the Muslim rule in India, local
institutions received a set-back, as they did not
enjoy the same autonomy and prestige, as under the
Hindu kings. Mughal government was highly
centralized autocracy. The Muslim rulers
recognized local chiefs and zamindars as the
repositories of local authority, to the exclusion of
the people. The villages and towns of the Mughal
empire enjoyed parochial self-government rather
than local autonomy.
The office of Kotwal was developed as the key
stone of the municipal administration and his
functions in connection with the town in his charge
were, at least in theory, the most comprehensive
conceivable being in certain respects even wider
than those of the municipal bodies of the present
day
Between the breakdown of the Mughal empire and
the coming of the British, there was complete
anarchy and military despotism in most parts of the
country.

Local self-government during the British rule

The state system, after the advent of the British
emerged as a highly centralized set up. No attempts
were made to build up the system on indigenous
foundations, although a good deal of indigenous
taxation was retained in local finance.
The history of local self-government in India under
the British rule can be conveniently divided into
four phases.
The first phase may be assumed to have ended in
1882, when Lord Ripon issued his well-known
resolution on local self government.
The second phase covers developments from 1882
to 1919, when more powers were transferred from
the centre to the provinces, and the
recommendations of the Decentralization
Commission of 1907, besides discussing other
matters, suggested some changes in local
self-government.
The third phase extended up to 1935, during
which the Indian Taxation Enquiry Committee
(1925) considered the problems of local taxation,
along with central and provincial finances. The
Simon Commission of 1930, reversed the process
of decentralization, by recommending strict control
of the state over local bodies.
The fourth phase covers developments up to 1947.
During this phase, the struggle for independence
was intensified and with the introduction of
provincial autonomy in 1937, and coming into
power of congress ministries in many provinces,
local bodies, particularly village panchayats,
received a great stimulus and there was
democratization of local bodies.

A rapid survey of local self-government and

finances in India under the British rule, reveals
certain “well marked characteristics”.
1. Lamentable half hearted concessions to a
demand for wider systems of local self-government.
For a long time, local government remained a
democratic facade to an autocratic structure.
2. Local Finances had not the free and natural
growth they had in most of the European countries.
3. Local self-government inherited but little from
indigenous local institutions and their development
was artificial from outside.
4. Arbitrary and haphazard nature of local taxation
that emerged from the British period.
5.Non-hierarchical character of local government
6.No distinction between deliberative and
executive functions
7. Local self-government acquired a political
character.
8. The control exercised by the Government and its
agencies was excessive.

Independence opened a new chapter. Even though

minor forms of local governance were evident in
India, the framers of the constitution, unsatisfied
with the existing provisions, included Article 40
among the Directive Principles, whereby:
“The state shall take steps to organize village
panchayats and endow them such powers and
authority as may be necessary to enable them to
function as units of self-government.”
Later, the conceptualization of the system of local
self-government in India took place through the
formation and efforts of four important committees
from the year 1957 to 1986.
1. Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957)

This was appointed by the Government of India in

January 16, 1957 to examine the working of the
Community development program and the National
extension services , for which it submitted its report
in November 24, 1957 and recommended the
establishment of the scheme of ‘democratic
decentralization’
Some of the recommendations are:
 Establishment of three-tier Panchayati Raj
System. Gram Panchayat at Village Level,
Panchayat Samiti at the Block level, and
District Parishad at the District Level.
 District Collector to be the chairman of Zila
Parishad.
 Transfer of resources and powers to these
bodies to be ensured.
 Irrespective of political parties, Elections has
to be constituted for every 5 years 5 years in a
genuine way.
These recommendations were accepted by the
National Development Council in January 1958.
Rajasthan (1959) adopted the system first, followed
by Andhra Pradesh in the same year. Some states
even went ahead to create four-tier systems and
Nyaya panchayats, which served as judicial bodies.
2. Ashok Mehta Committee (1977-1978)

In December 1977, the Janata Government

appointed a committee on Panchayati Raj
institutions under the chairmanship of Ashok
Mehta. The committee submitted its report in
August 1978 and made 132 recommendations to
revive and strengthen the declining Panchayati Raj
system in the country. As a result of this report, the
Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and
West Bengal passed new legislation. However, the
flow of politics at the state level did not allow the
institutions to develop their own political
dynamics.
The main recommendations of the committee were:
 The 3-tier system of Panchayati Raj should be
replaced by the 2-tier system: Zilla Parishad at
the district level, and below it,the Mandal
Panchayat consisting of a group of villages
covering a population of 15000 to 20000.
 A district should be the first point for
decentralisation under popular supervision
below the state level.
 Zila Parishad should be the executive body and
made responsible for planning at the district
level.
 There should be an official participation of
political parties at all levels of Panchayat
elections.
 The Panchayat Raj institutions should have
compulsory powers of taxation to mobilise their
own financial resources.
 There should be a regular social audit by a
district level agency and by a committee of
legislators to check whether the funds allotted
for the vulnerable social and economic groups
are actually spent on them.
 The state government should not supersede the
Panchayat Raj institutions. In case of an
imperative supersession, election should be held
within 6 months from the date of supersession.
 The Nyaya Panchayats should be kept as
separate bodies from that of development
Panchayats. They should be presided over by a
qualified judge.
 The Chief Electoral Officer of the state in
consultation with the Chief Election
Commissioner should organise and conduct the
Panchayati Raj elections.
 Development functions should be transferred to
the Zila Parishad and all development staff
should work under its control and supervision.
 The voluntary agencies should play an important
role in mobilising the support of the people for
Panchayati Raj.
 A minister for Panchayati Raj should be
appointed in the state council of ministers to
look after the affairs of the Panchayati Raj
institutions.
 Seats for SCs and Sts should be reserved on the
basis of their population.[1][not in citation
given]
 A Constitutional recognition should be accorded
to the Panchayati Raj institutions. This would
give them the requisite status and an assurance
of continuous functioning.
Unfortunately, the Janata Government collapsed
before action could be taken on these
recommendations.

3. G V K Rao Committee (1985)

The G.V.K. Rao Committee was appointed by

Planning Commission to once again look at various
aspects of PRIs. The Committee was of the opinion
that a total view of rural development must be
taken in which PRIs must play a central role in
handling people's problems.
It recommended the following:
 PRIs have to be activated and provided with all
the required support to become effective
organisations,
 PRIs at district level and below should be
assigned the work of planning, implementation
and monitoring of rural development
programmes, and
 The block development office should be the
spinal cord of the rural development process.
4. L.M. Singhvi Committee (1986)

A committee led by Laxmi Mall Singhvi was

constituted in the 1980s to recommend ways to
revitalize PRIs. The Gram Sabha was considered as
the base of a municipality decentralised, and PRIs
viewed as institutions of self-governance which
would actually facilitate the participation of the
people in the process of planning and development.
It recommended:
 Local self-government should be constitutionally
recognised, protected and preserved by the
inclusion of new chapter in the Constitution,
 Non-involvement of political parties in
Panchayat elections.

The suggestion of giving panchayats constitutional

status was opposed by the Sarkaria Commission,
but the idea, however, gained momentum in the
late 1980s especially because of the endorsement
by the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who
introduced the 64th Constitutional Amendment Bill
in 1989. The 64th Amendment Bill was prepared
and introduced in the lower house of Parliament.
But it got defeated in the Rajya Sabha as
non-convincing. He lost the general elections too.
In 1989, the National Front introduced the 74th
Constitutional Amendment Bill, which could not
become an Act because of the dissolution of the
Ninth Lok Sabha. All these various suggestions and
recommendations and means of strengthening PRIs
were considered while formulating the new
Constitutional Amendment Act.

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act

The idea which produced the 73rd Amendment was

not a response to pressure from the grassroots, but
to an increasing recognition that the institutional
initiatives of the preceding decade had not
delivered, that the extent of rural poverty was still
much too large and thus the existing structure of
government needed to be reformed. This idea
evolved from the Centre and the state governments.
It was a political drive to see PRIs as a solution to
the governmental crises that India was
experiencing. The Constitutional (73rd Amendment)
Act, passed in 1992 by the Narasimha Rao
government, came into force on April 24, 1993. It
was meant to provide constitutional sanction to
establish "democracy at the grassroots level as it is
at the state level or national level".
Its main features are as follows:
 The Gram Sabha or village assembly as a
deliberative body to decentralised governance
has been envisaged as the foundation of the
Panchayati Raj System.73rd Amendment of the
Constitution empowered the Gram Sabhas to
conduct social audits in addition to its other
functions.
 A uniform three-tier structure of panchayats at
village (Gram Panchayat — GP), intermediate or
block (Panchayat Samiti — PS) and district
(Zilla Parishad — ZP) levels.
 All the seats in a panchayat at every level are to
be filled by elections from respective territorial
constituencies.
 Not less than one-third of the total seats for
membership as well as office of chairpersons of
each tier have to be reserved for women.
 Reservation for weaker castes and tribes (SCs
and STs) have to be provided at all levels in
proportion to their population in the panchayats.
 To supervise, direct and control the regular and
smooth elections to panchayats, a State Election
Commission has The Act has ensured
constitution of a State Finance Commission in
every State/UT, for every five years, to suggest
measures to strengthen finances of panchayati raj
institutions.
 To promote bottom-up-planning, the District
Planning Committee (DPC) in every district has
been accorded to constitutional status.
 An indicative list of 29 items has been given in
Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution.
Panchayats are expected to play an effective role
in planning and implementation of works related
to these 29 items
Present scenario

At present, there are about 3 million elected

representatives at all levels of the panchayat,
one-half of which are women. These members
represent more than 2.4 lakh (240,000) Gram
Panchayats, about 6,000 intermediate level tiers
and more than 500 district panchayats. Spread over
the length and breadth of the country, the new
panchayats cover about 96% of India's more than
5.8 lakh (580,000) villages and nearly 99.6% of the
rural population. This is the largest experiment in
decentralisation of governance in the history of
humanity.
The Constitution of India visualises panchayats as
institutions of self-governance. However, giving
due consideration to the federal structure of India's
polity, most of the financial powers and authorities
to be endowed on panchayats have been left at the
discretion of concerned state legislatures.
Consequently, the powers and functions vested in
PRIs vary from state to state. These provisions
combine representative and direct democracy into a
synergy and are expected to result in an extension
and deepening of democracy in India. Hence,
panchayats have journeyed from an institution
within the culture of India to attain constitutional
status.
 Types of Urban Local Government

There are eight types of Urban local governments

currently existing in India:
1. Municipal Corporations
2. Municipality
3. Notified area committee
4. Town area committee
5. Cantonment board
6. Township
7. Port trust
8. Special purpose agency.

Functions
All municipal acts in India provide for functions,
powers and responsibilities to be carried out by the
municipal government. These are divided into two
categories - obligatory or discretionary.

Obligatory functions
 Supply of pure and wholesome water
 construction and maintenance of public streets
 lighting and watering of public streets
 cleaning of public streets, places and sewers
 regulation of offensive, dangerous or obnoxious
trades and callings or practices
 Maintenance or support of public hospitals
 establishment and maintenance of primary
schools
 registration of births and deaths
 removing obstructions and projections in public
streets, bridges and other places
 naming streets and numbering houses

Discretionary functions
 laying out of areas
 securing or removal of dangerous buildings or
places
 construction and maintenance of public parks,
gardens, libraries, museums, rest houses, leper
homes, orphanages and rescue homes for women
 public buildings
 planting of trees and maintenance of roads
 housing for low income groups
 conducting surveys
 organizing public receptions, public exhibitions,
public entertainment
 provision of transport facilities with the
municipality
 promotion of welfare of municipal employees

Some of the functions of the urban bodies overlap

with the work of state agencies. The functions of
the municipality, including those listed in the
Twelfth Schedule are left to the discretion of the
state government. Local bodies have to be
bestowed with adequate powers, authority and
responsibility to perform the functions entrusted to
them by the Act. However, the Act has not
provided them with any powers directly and has
instead left it to state government discretion.

Limitations of Local Self Government.

The local self government system has some
obvious limitations. It has been alleged that the
services rendered by the local self government
often becomes discriminatory.
The local self-government often makes residential
arrangements for the elderly people or hostel
accommodation for the handicapped students
which may be considered as discriminatory
services.
If the administration is run by the local self
government institutions, it may encourage not only
regionalism but also narrow-mindedness and such a
tendency will always go against the democratic
system practiced in the national level.
However, refuting these allegations the exponents
of the local self-government institutions hold the
view that such local self-governments are the basis
of democracy and the best way to develop political
consciousness among the people. Through the local
self-government the regional and local interests
convert into national interest.
 Conclusion
Concluding this topic with the knowledge of
functions and powers of MPs , MLAs and
Rural-Urban Local governance. At different tiers of
government functions and powers vary. MPs of
both the houses and MLAs of most states
assemblies have actually no responsibilities and
accountability towards people amd union of India.
Although unofficially there are several roles. In the
end we came across the grass root level of Indian
democracy viz. Local self-government that is on
rural and urban level. This existed from ancient
times but finally got recognition after the 73rd and
74th amendment acts, 1992. However, like any
system in the world, this system is also imperfect.
But this shall not stand in the way of efficient
governance; and if ill practices are rooted out, there
would be no comparisons around the world to our
system of local self-government.
Suggestions :

This complete assignment helps a lot to know in

depth about the working of government officials at
various tiers. Although there are various things
which MPs, MLAs do but most of their functions
are not written in the constitution of India, and they
unofficially perform those tasks.
According to my understanding, their should be
provision to define the powers and functions of
these officials which the public elect for welfare
motive. There is whole lot of corruptions and these
elected person do not perform their work properly.
The allowances given should be balanced and
should be checked time to time. The money
assigned should be spend properly for the welfare
of general public.
At grass root level of democracy which is presently
known as the local self government , problem of
maladministration and misappropriation of funds
are recurring.
References :

 Introduction : Legislative Support book

‘chapter.1’ by Anurag Pandey
 Defining MPs and MLAs : Wikipedia and Indian
Polity book by M.Laxmikant
 Facilities of MPs and MLAs : Google Quora and
Anurag Pandey’s Legislative Support book
‘chapter.1’
 MPLAD : Anurag Pandey’s book on Legislative
Support
 Powers of MLA : Google Quora and
M.Laxmikant
 Powers of MP : Wikipedia + Google Quora +
legislative support book by Anurag Pandey
 Local self-government : Anurag Pandey’s book
 History (Mughal and British time) : Wikipedia
 Post Independence history : Anurag Pandey’s
Book
 Committees :
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/local_self-govern
ment_in_India