73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1993

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act was passed by the Parliament in April1993. The
Amendment provided a Constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj Institutions in India through
insertion of Article 243 to Part IX of Indian Constitution. The Act was enforced upon all the state
governments through Constitutional Amendment in Article 243 M, that all states should amend their
Panchayat Acts in conformity with the Constitutional provisions.

Features of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment:

 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.

The system has three levels:

1. Gram Panchayat (village level),

2. Mandal Parishad or Block Samiti or Panchayat Samiti (block level), and
3. Zila Parishad (district level).

District level-Zila Parishad:

The membership varies from 40 to 60 and usually comprises- Deputy Commissioner of the District.
Presidents of all Panchayat Samitis in the district, and heads of all Government Departments in the
district;members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assemblies in the district; a
representative of each cooperative society ;some women and Scheduled Caste members if not
adequately represented; and co-opted members having extraordinary experience and achievements
in public service.

Functions
  Provide essential services and facilities to the rural population

 Supply improved seeds to farmers and inform them of new farming techniques

 Set up and run schools and libraries in rural areas

 Start primary health centers and hospitals in villages; start vaccination drives against
epidemics

 Execute plans for the development of the scheduled castes and tribes; run ashram shalas
for Adivasi children; set up free hostels for them.

 Encourage entrepreneurs to start small-scale industries and implement rural employment

schemes.

 Construct bridges, roads and other public facilities and their maintenance

 Provide employment.

Block level

Membership in the block panchayat is mostly ex-official; it is composed of: all of the Sarpanchas
(gram panchayat chairmen) in the Panchayat Samiti area, the MPs and MLAs of the area, the sub-
district officer (SDO) of the subdivision, co-opt members (representatives of the SC/ST and women),
associate members (a farmer from the area, a representative of the cooperative societies and one
from marketing services), and some elected members.

Functions

 Implementation of schemes for the development of agriculture and infrastructure

 Establishment of primary health centres and primary schools

 Supply of drinking water, drainage and construction/repair of roads

 Development of a cottage and small-scale industries, and the opening of cooperative

societies

 Establishment of youth organisations

Village level

A gram panchayat is a village level administrative body, with a Sarpanch as its elected head. The
members of the gram panchayat are elected for a period of five years by the members of Gram
Sabha.