The Economic & Social Planning Act, 2009

1. Act Objective: An Act to decentralize economic and social planning to

district level and to provide and expand social security measures to the rural
areas of India and for matters connected therewith. BE it enacted by
Parliament in the 59th Year of the Republic of India as follows: --

2. Definitions. In this Act, notwithstanding anything mentioned in the

Constitution of India, for the purposes of this Act, unless the context
otherwise requires, --

(a) "district" means a district in a State;

(b) "Gram Sabha" means a body consisting of persons registered in the
electoral rolls relating to a village comprised within the area of Panchayat at
the village level; (c) "Intermediate level" means a level between the
village and district levels specified by the Governor of a State by
public notification to be the intermediate level for the purposes of this
Act;
(d) "Panchayat" means an institution (by whatever name called) of self-
government constituted under article 243B, for the rural areas;
(e) "Panchayat area" means the territorial area of a Village/Mandal/District
Panchayat as the case may be;
(f) "population" means the population as ascertained at the last preceding
census of which the relevant figures have been published;
(g) "village" means a village specified by the Governor by public
notification to be a village for the purposes of this Act and includes a
group of villages so specified.
(h) “Village panchayat” means a unit of Intermediate level/Mandal
Panchayat consisting of Members elected by people of Village
(i) “Mandal panchayat” means Intermediate level Panchayat comprising of
members elected by the Elected members of village panchayat
(j) “District Panchayat” means a body comprising of all the Members of
“Mandal Panchayat”.
(k) “Consolidated fund of District” means, all the amounts mobilized by
Panchayats at all levels in the District, in the nature of such taxes, duties,
tolls and fees in accordance with such procedure and subject to such limits
where State governments authorized them to collect by law, and the amounts
of grants-in-aid of the revenues of Consolidate fund of India that State
governments, under the provisions of this Act, allocate among districts of
the State and any other amount that State government may by law or by
order allocate to anyone or two or more or all of the Districts in the State.

3. Constitution of Panchayats

(1) There shall be constituted in every State, Panchayats at the village,

intermediate and district levels in accordance with the provisions of
Constitution of India.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in Clause (1), Panchayats at the intermediate
level may not be constituted in a State having a population not exceeding
twenty lakhs.

4. Eligibility of District Panchayats to receive part of the grants-in-aid

of the revenues of the States out of the Consolidated Fund of India

(1) Notwithstanding anything mentioned in any other law in force, every

State shall allocate to every District Panchayat a part of grants-in-aid of the
revenues it is eligible out of Consolidated Fund of India, not more than 50
percent and not less than 25 of such revenues to the Consolidated Fund of
the District.

(2) Where any State had not utilize the grants-in-aid of the revenues it is
eligible out of Consolidated Fund of India to the full extent in any period
during which it is eligible to receive, within a lapse of three months from the
end of such period all such sums which constitute the unutilized portions of
such grants-in-aid shall also be allocated to District Panchayats by Central
government.

(3) Where elections to Panchayats are not held in the State within 6 months
from the date this Act comes into existence and/or where the States do not
constitute Finance commissions either under provisions of Constitution of
India or as per Section 5 of this Act, the State shall forego grants-in-aid of
the revenues it is eligible out of Consolidated Fund of India to the extent of
40% till elections are held for all the District, Mandal and Village
Panchayats in the State and Finance commissions are constituted to carry out
the purposes of this Act.

(4) Where the States made complete allocation of 50% of grants-in-aid of

the revenues it is eligible out of Consolidated Fund of India and having
made so, feel the need to allocate more, they may allocate from their Annual
Budgets, amounts in addition to that 50% of grants-in-aid to the extent
necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

(5) Any recommendations made by Finance Commission with regard to

grants-in-aid of the revenues of the State out of Consolidated Fund of India
shall be subject to the provisions of this Act.

5. Constitution of Finance Commission to review financial position

(1) The Governor of a State shall, where Finance commissions are not
constituted as per the provisions of Constitution of India, as soon as may be
within one year from the commencement of this Act, and thereafter at the
expiration of every fifth year, constitute a Finance Commission to review the
financial position of the Panchayats and to make recommendations to the
Governor as to -
(a) the principles which should govern –

(i) the distribution of that part of grants-in-aid provided by Central

government under Section 4 of this Act to be allocated by State governments
to districts, among districts
(ii) the distribution between the State and the Panchayats of the net proceeds
of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees leviable by the State, which may be
divided between them and the allocation between the Panchayats at all levels
of their respective shares of such proceeds;
(iii) the determination of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees which may be
assigned to, or appropriated by, the Panchayats;
(iv) the grants-in-aid to the Panchayats from the Consolidated Fund of the
State;
(b) the measures needed to improve the financial position of the Panchayats;
(c) any other matter referred to the Finance Commission by the Governor in
the interests of sound finance of the Panchayats.
(2) The Legislature of a State may, by law, provide for the composition of
the Commission, the qualifications which shall be requisite for appointment
as members thereof and the manner in which they shall be selected.
(3) The Commission shall determine their procedure and shall have such
powers in the performance of their functions as the Legislature of the State
may, by law, confer on them.
(4) The Governor shall cause every recommendation made by the
Commission under this article together with an explanatory memorandum as
to the action taken thereon to be laid before the Legislature of the State.
6. Elections to the Panchayats

(1) The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral

rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to the Panchayats shall be vested in
a State Election Commission consisting of a State Election Commissioner to
be appointed by the Governor.
(2) Subject to the provisions of any law made by the Legislature of a State,
the conditions of service and tenure of office of the State Election
Commissioner shall be such as the Governor may by rule determine:
Provided that the State Election Commissioner shall not be removed from
his office except in like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of a High
Court and the conditions of service of the State Election Commissioner shall
not be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment
(3) The Governor of a State shall, when so requested by the State Election
Commission, make available to the State Election Commission such staff as
may be necessary for the discharge of the functions conferred on the State
Election Commission by Clause (1).
(4) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Legislature of a State
shall, by law, make provision with respect to all matters relating to, or in
connection with, elections to the Panchayats for carrying out the purposes of
this Act.

7. Manner in which the amounts allocated by State governments under

Section 4(1) of the Act to be spent by District Panchayats:

The amounts allocated by State governments under Section 4(1) of the Act
shall only be spent by District Panchayats on the following activities:

(i) Construction of Roads, culverts, bridges, ferries, waterways and

other means of communication.
(ii) Construction of primary and secondary schools.
(iii) Construction hospitals, primary health centres and dispensaries.
(iv) Non-conventional energy sources.
(v) Drinking water.
(vi) Rural housing for Agricultural laborers (BPL Cardholders)
(vii) Development of (closed) drainage and sewerage systems in
villages
(viii) Expansion of Public Distribution System
8. Maintenance of registers, records, etc.

Every Office at Panchayat at Village, Mandal and District level shall –

a) maintain all its records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner and the
form which facilitates the right to information under the Right to
Information Act, 2005 and ensure that all records that are appropriate to be
computerised are, within a reasonable time and subject to availability of
resources, computerised and connected through a network all over the
country on different systems so that access to such records is facilitated;
b) publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of
this Act,—
(i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties;
(ii) the powers and duties of its office-bearers and employees allotted to it by
State governments under Section 10 of this Act;
(iii) the procedure followed in the decision making process, including
channels of supervision and accountability;
(iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions;
(v) the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or
under its control or used by its employees and office-bearers for discharging
its functions;
(vi) a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its
control;
(vii) the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or
representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of
its policy or implementation thereof;
(viii) a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies
consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of
its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees
and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are
accessible for public;
(ix) a directory of its office-bearers and employees;
(x) the monthly remuneration (salary, allowances etc) received by each of its
office-bearers, members of panchayats and Chairpersons and employees,
including the system of compensation (if any) as prescribed by State
government in its rules;
(xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of
all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made;
(xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts
allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes;
(xiii) particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations
granted by it;
(xiv) details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced
in an electronic form or maintained in manual registers;
(xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining
information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if
maintained for public use;
(xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of the Officers
responsible for disseminating information to Public regarding it schemes and
(xvii) any such other information as may be prescribed by State government
in its rules;

9. Offices for Panchayats

(i) There shall be an Office to maintain registers, records, and to hold

proceedings of Panchayats and meetings for every Village Panchayat,
Mandal Panchayat and District Panchayat.

(ii) Where an office is already in existence, such office, shall maintain the
registers, records etc. as per Section 8 of this Act.

(iii) Where there is no office, the layout, space and design of the office, and
the infrastructure required, which may be uniform for all Village, Mandal
and District Panchayats shall be as may be prescribed by State government.

(iv) The State governments shall direct the District Collectors to construct
all the offices as required by all the Districts in the State and expend the
necessary sums to that effect.

(v) As far as may be possible, all Offices of District Panchayats shall be

located within the premises of office of District Collectors or as far as may
be possible, within the closest range from the place where the Office of
District Collector is located.
(v) Where the existing Office of any Village, Mandal or District Panchayat
is found to be inadequate, the State government may either construct a new
office or make necessary renovations to it to make it as suitable as the newly
constructed office as prescribed under Section 9(iii).

10. Staff in Panchayats

The State governments may, by notification in the Official Gazette, delegate

the duties to the staff working under the District Collectors or whosoever
holding the position of Chief Revenue Officer of the District, as the case
may be, to maintain the registers, records, books of accounts in the Offices
of District, Mandal and Village Panchayats.

11. Audit and Inspection of records and works

(1) The State governments may, by notification in the Official Gazette,

delegate the duties of Audit and Inspection for the registers, records
maintained by Panchayats to such persons as it thinks fit to be Inspectors for
the purposes of this Act and may define the limits within which they shall
exercise jurisdiction.

(2) An Inspector appointed under sub-section (1) may, for the purpose of
ascertaining whether any of the provisions of this Act has been complied
with-

(a) require the Village/Mandal/District Panchayat to furnish such

information as he may consider necessary;

(b) at any reasonable time and with such assistance, if any, as he thinks fit,
enter any establishment or any premises connected therewith and require
anyone found in charge thereof to produce before him for examination any
accounts, books, registers and other documents relating to the manner in
which the funds allocated to Panchayats are spent.

(c) examine with respect to any matter relevant to any of the purposes
aforesaid, the Chairperson of Village Panchayat, Mandal Panchayat or
District Panchayat or any other member of any Panchayat found in charge of
any duty or work assigned to him.

(d) make copies of, or take extracts from, any book, register or other
document maintained in relation to the Village/Mandal/District Panchayat;
(e) exercise such other power as may be prescribed.

(3) Every Inspector shall be deemed to be a public servant within the

meaning of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).

(4) Any person required to produce any accounts, books, register or other
documents or to give information sought by an Inspector under sub-section
(1) shall be legally bound to do so.

(5) The Audit shall be held so often that there shall not be lapse of more than
a year between one Audit and the other while inspection shall be on
permanent basis.

12. Applicability of Right to Information Act, 2005

Every office of Panchayat, viz., Village, Mandal and District Panchayat, is a

“Public authority” within the meaning of Right to Information Act, 2005 and
every Citizen entitled otherwise by the Right to Information Act, 2005 to
avail the provisions of Right to Information Act, 2005 enjoys same rights
with regard to Offices of Panchayats, as he enjoys with regard to any “Public
authority” as defined by Right to Information Act, 2005.

13. Salaries of Members of panchayat and Chairpersons

(i) The salaries, allowances and other emoluments of Members of panchayat

and Chairpersons at all levels, shall be as prescribed by State government in
its rules.

(ii) All office-bearers of the Panchayats (other than staff of State

government) shall be from amongst the Elected Members of Panchayat.

14. All payments made by Office-bearers, Chairpersons or anyone

authorized on behalf of Panchayat shall be in the form of Cheques for
amounts greater than Rs.500/-

(i) All payments made by Office-bearers, Chairpersons or anyone authorized

to make payments on behalf of Panchayats shall be in the form of Cheques
for the payments exceeding a sum of Rs. 500/-. All payments not exceeding
or equal to sum of Rs.500/- can be made by Panchayats in Cash subject
however that the entries related to such payments be recorded in Cash
register.
(ii) All District Panchayats shall open a Bank account in the name of
“Consolidated Fund of the District A/c. …(Name of the District)” with the
Lead Bank of the District.

15. Penalty

If any Office-bearer, employee of the Panchayat -

(a) contravenes any of the provisions of this Act or any rule made
thereunder, or

(b) to whom a direction is given or a requisition is made under this Act or

under the rules framed by State government fails to comply with the
direction or requisition, he shall be punishable with fine which may extend
to twenty thousand rupees (in case of office-bearers), and five thousands
rupees (in case of employees of State government)

(c) an Inspector appointed under Sub-section (1) of Section 11 of the Act,

have the power to impose the penalty mentioned in Sub-section (b).

16. Offenses under this Act :

(1) whoever being required under this Act to maintain any records or
registers or to furnish any information or return-
(a) fails to maintain such register or record; or
(b) wilfully refuses or without lawful excuse neglects to furnish such
information or return; or
(c) wilfully furnishes or causes to be furnished any information or
return which he knows to be false; or
(d) refuses to answer or wilfully gives a false answer to any question
necessary for obtaining any information required to be furnished under this
Act, or under Right to Information Act, 2005, as the case may be, shall, for
each such offence, be punishable with fine which shall not be less than two
thousand rupees but which may extend to twenty thousand rupees.

(2) Whoever-

(a) wilfully obstructs an Inspector in the discharge of his duties under

this Act; or
(b) refuses or wilfully neglects to afford an Inspector any reasonable
facility for making any entry, inspection, examination, supervision, or
inquiry authorised by or under this Act in relation to any works, contractual
agreements made with contractors, records, books of account, bank
statements and any other document related to the Office of Village, Mandal
and District Panchayats; or
(c) wilfully refuses to produce on the demand of an Inspector any
register or other document kept in pursuance of this Act; or
(d) prevents or attempts to prevent or does anything which he has any
reason to believe is likely to prevent any person from appearing before or
being examined by an Inspector acting in pursuance of his duties under this
Act;
shall be punishable with fine which shall not be less than two thousand
rupees but which may extend to ten thousand rupees.

(3) An Inspector appointed under Section 11 of this Act may impose and
collect such penalties mentioned in Sub-sections (1) to (2) of this Section
either on receipt of complaint made by any person or his legal representative
or on his own on conduct of inquiry or during course of his job for reasons
to be recorded in writing and submitted to such authority as may be
prescribed by State government in its rules.

(4) Whoever –

Diverts the funds allocated for any scheme meant for activities
mentioned under Section 7 of this Act to his personal use or utilizes the
amounts allocated by State governments under Section 4(1) of the Act to
promote his self-interests or for the activities not mentioned in Section 7
shall be punishable with imprisonment for a period not less than One year.

17. Cognizance of offences

(1) Notwithstanding anything mentioned in any other law in force, any

Criminal court may take cognizance of any offence punishable under this
Act, on complaint made by any Citizen or by any Office-bearer of any
Panchayat or by the Inspector appointed under Section 11 of the Act.

(2) No court inferior to that of Magistrate of the First Class shall try any
offence punishable under this Act.
(3) No debates, discussions and decisions made by Panchayats in their
meetings shall come into question in any Court of law in so far as they are
not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act.

(4) No debates, discussions and decisions made by Panchayats on matters as

to how the amounts granted by State governments are being planned to be
utilized for the activities mentioned in Section 7 of this Act or on the matters
as to how the amounts mobilized by themselves under the authority of law
prescribed by State government, shall be questioned by anyone under the
provisions of this Act.

(5) The jurisdiction of Court in taking cognizance of offenses under this Act,
relates to the sums granted by State governments under Section 4 of this Act,
and the acts or wrongs done by Members of Panchayats or Office bearers or
anyone acting on behalf of such Panchayats in their Executive capacity.

18. Protection of action taken in good faith

(1) No penalty, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any
Office-bearer of Member of Panchayat or any officer of the government
working on behalf of Panchayat for anything which is in good faith done or
intended to be done under this Act.

(2) However during the hearings in Court proceedings, if it is found that any
officer of the government has conducted maliciously against any person,
such officer shall be punishable as per the Conduct rules laid down by the
government for his cadre if it is Officer in Panchayat Office appointed by
Government or as per the recommendations of the Court hearing the case in
case of elected members of Panchayat and Office-bearers.

Provided the punishment for mere negligence of duties shall not be more
than Compulsory retirement and punishment for criminal negligence or act
committed with criminal intent shall not be more than dismissal from service
in case of government employees working in Panchayat Offices and in case
of Members of Panchayats acting in Executive capacity, the punishment for
mere negligence shall not be more than one year imprisonment and
punishment for offenses mentioned in Section 16 (1) and/or(3) shall be
collection of damages for wrongs committed along with the imprisonment of
not less than one year as mentioned in Section 16(3).
19 Power of Central and State government to make rules
(1) The Central government and State Governments may, by notification in
the Official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the provisions of this Act to
the extent required by the provisions of this Act.
(2) Every order and every rule made by the Central Government under this
Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of
Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may
be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if,
before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the
successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any
modification in the order or rule or both Houses agree that the order or rule
should not be made, the order or rule shall thereafter have effect only in such
modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any
such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of
anything previously done under that order or rule.

(3) Every order and every rule made by the State Government under this Act
shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before State legislature,
while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be
comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if,
before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the
successive sessions aforesaid, State legislature agree in making any
modification in the order or rule or State legislature agree that the order or
rule should not be made, the order or rule shall thereafter have effect only in
such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that
any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the
validity of anything previously done under that order or rule.

Q & A on Economic and Social Planning Act, 2009

Q : What is the objective of making this Act?

A: To make the institution of Panchayati Raj functional and to lend
financial assistance to the institutions of Local Self Government to work
towards the goals set out by the 73 rd Constitution Amendment Act. The
activities mentioned in Section 7 of the Act are some of the activities that
73rd Constitution Amendment Act included in the Eleventh Schedule of the
Constitution of India. India is a big nation where each district has a
population more than the population of many countries in the world. Every
district of India, hence is capable of being a Nation by itself, by virtue of its
size of population. Hence it is essential to decentralize the process of
governance to the District level instead of keeping it with State and Central
governments. Many State governments have failed to make laws to bring
Panchayati Raj institution into reality after independence. There are several
reasons for it. Negligence is one reason and illiteracy at Village level did
not help this institution to survive, many State governments felt this
institution cannot yield results. They did not make laws necessary to carry
out the purposes of Article 243 of Constitution of India. Another reason is,
many State governments did not want to part with their funds. Creation of
Local self government makes it necessary for States to allocate funds for
them to work from Annual budgets without which it becomes absolutely
difficult for Panchayats to mobilize funds on their own to do any work.
State governments, for obvious political reasons, were not willing to place
funds at the disposal of Local Self Governments. That led to Centralization
of process of governance at State and Central level. Governance has not
percolated down to District and Village level.

Unfortunately, Local Self Government was kept under State List in

Constitution of India, making it difficult for Parliament to make any laws.
Because of it, the situation is such that the State governments did not do
anything to meet the objectives of Article 243 of Constitution, nor to meet
the objectives set forth by the 73rd Constitution Amendment Act. Neither
they do anything to bring Panchayati Raj into reality nor the Parliament has
a way to force them to do anything in that direction because Local Self
Government is a State subject. I think that was the reason why they made
Amendment to Constitution vide 73rd Constitution Amendment Act.

Q : If Parliament could not do anything how could you do it, how could you
make a law on Local Self government that is purely a State subject?

A : Where there is a will there is a way. I did not make a law on Local Self
Governments directly. I made a law on the subject of Economic and Social
Planning which is a subject of Concurrent list. We need the help of
institutions to carry out the purposes of any legislation. I needed the
framework of Panchayati Raj to carry out the purposes of my legislation.
States are under obligation to bring Panchayati Raj into reality way back in
1950 or at least when 73rd Constitution Amendment Act was passed by
Parliament. If they had not brought this institution into existence it becomes
difficult for my Act to carry out its purposes. So I made it compulsory for
States to bring the Panchayati Raj into existence. Hence this is not a law on
Panchayati Raj, but a law on Economic and Social Planning which is a
subject relating to Concurrent list, the aim of which is to decentralize the
Economic and Social Planning process to District level.

If you have the institutional framework to carry out the purposes of this Act,
then it is fine. Otherwise, if you don’t have the framework, under the
provisions of this Act, you have to forego 40% of the grants-in-aid you are
eligible as a State from the Consolidated Fund of India. Hence it becomes
necessary for you to bring Panchayati Raj into reality. You can’t keep silent
anymore.

Q : Is it not obligatory on the part of Central government to accept the

recommendations of Finance Commission with regard to amount of grants-
in-aid to be offered to States?

A : It is not an obligation on the part of Central government to accept the

recommendations of Finance Commission. Finance commission is a body
constituted under Article 280 of Constitution of India to make
recommendations with regard to :

(a) the distribution between the Union and the States of the net proceeds of
taxes which are to be, or may be, divided between them under this Chapter
and the allocation between the States of the respective shares of such
proceeds;
(b) the principles which should govern the grants-in-aid of the revenues of
the States out of the Consolidated Fund of India;

Later, under Article 281 of Constitution of India :

The President shall cause every recommendation made by the Finance

Commission under the provisions of this Constitution together with an
explanatory memorandum as to the action taken thereon to be laid before
each House of Parliament.

Further, it is for the Parliament to accept the recommendations in full or

accept them in part or totally reject those recommendations. There is no
compulsion for Parliament to accept the recommendations made by Finance
commission and laid before each House of Parliament by President of India.

Article 282 gives power to the Union or a State to make any grants for any
public purpose, notwithstanding that the purpose is not one with respect to
which Parliament or the Legislature of the State may make laws.

Article 282 Expenditure defrayable by the Union or a State out of its

revenues

The Union or a State may make any grants for any public purpose,
notwithstanding that the purpose is not one with respect to which
Parliament or the Legislature of the State, as the case may be, may make
laws.

Hence, if Parliament makes a law with regard to making it necessary by

force of law, for States to allocate 25 to 50% of the grants-in-aid they are
eligible for out of Consolidated Fund of India to District Panchayats,
through its Economic and Social Planning Act, 2009 it is totally in
accordance with the provision of Article 282 of Constitution of India.

Q : Why did you bring the Elected Members of Panchayat to be accountable

to Citizens under Right to Information Act and to Law of land? Generally in
India we don’t have laws to question the authority of Politicians and bring
them to Courts for any acts, wrongs done against public interest in their
official capacity? Moreover, it is absolutely difficult for the Elected
Members of Panchayat to maintain Offices with such standards that your law
requires under Section 8 because mostly uneducated people contest elections
in India and they can’t have necessary skills to maintain offices with such
standards as you require them.

A : In India, not being able to maintain records by Politicians in power

becomes an excuse for them to shun their responsibility with regard to their
accountability. Because I am not capable of maintaining records, I will
expend the money given by Government the way I want, I can’t tell anyone
how I spent those moneys. This is the attitude of politicians in our country,
including MPs and MLAs. Being uneducated and incompetent does not give
anyone legal sanctity to shun their responsibility towards “public
accountability”.

It is true Constitution allows them to contest elections even if they are

uneducated and they can hold public office by virtue of the power given by
people. But that does not mean they will run the Public offices whatever
way they want. Many MPs, MLAs run their office from their homes. How
can there be accountability to public if politicians spend moneys like this?
Every politician shall be made accountable to what he gets from government
and how he spends those moneys.

That is why I made provisions relating to construction of Offices for all

Panchayats and they have to maintain records, registers, files with regard to
the works they have undertaken under the provisions of the Act.

It is true Constitution does not allow Courts to question the proceedings

taking place within any Assembly and Parliament. And politicians do
expect that even the proceedings of Panchayats shall not be questioned by
Courts because if at all Panchayats come into existence the first people
expressing eagerness to take control of those Panchayats would be political
parties. So they want to run the Panchayat offices like any MLA or MP runs
his office from his house.

But when records, files and registers are expected to be maintained by force
of law whether you are educated or not, you are supposed to maintain them.
Whether you are politician or not, when you are in public office, you are
functioning in the capacity of “Executive” not in the capacity of
“Legislator”, hence whatever you do in Executive capacity can be
questioned by anyone in the Court of Law. I made provisions in Economic
and Social Planning Act to that effect.

People can question anyone, in public office whether it is employee of

government working on behalf of Panchayats or the Office bearers who are
Elected members of Panchayat and ask any information to be submitted to
them which they are lawfully required to give under RTI Act. This is a
check against corruption. As it is difficult for the uneducated politicians to
maintain registers, records, files etc I made provision for allotment of State
government staff to maintain records, registers, files in Panchayat offices.
States shall provide adequate staff for that purpose. If both the employees
and office bearers collude, then the check is Inspectors who have to do the
job of Audit and Inspection.

If they also fail in their duties, provided any case goes to Court, then if
during court proceedings anyone is found guilty the Court can punish them.
That is another check.

All this is done to ensure that there remains “accountability” to public for the
jobs performed by anyone, including the Members, Chairpersons of
Panchayat.