Panchayat

From Freepedia

The Panchayat was an Indian political system that grouped five villages; four peripheral villages around a central one were laid out as the '5' side of a die. Each had appointed tasks and responsibilities, such as cart-making or basket-weaving. The central village, usually the largest of the Panchayat, traditionally handled food storage and meetings places for the officials, as well as their residences.

Village councils

Panchayat also refers to a council of elected members taking decisions on issues key to a village's social, cultural and economic life: thus, a panchayat is a village's body of elected representatives. The council leader is named 'Sarpanch' (in Hindi), and each member is a 'Panch'. The panchayat acts as a conduit between the local government and the people. Decisions are taken by a majority vote (Bahumat), and are generally welcomed by the villagers. It is said that in such a system, each villager can voice his opinion in the governance of his village. The decisions are taken without lengthy legal procedures and the process remains for the large part transparent.

It evolved in ancient India and is one of the oldest democratic systems still in use today. It's roots lie in the village council which later become refined to accommodate on occasions a written constitution for the village (during Pandya dynasty). The Chola dynasty was one of the ancient kingdoms to realise the importance of self governance and did a lot to give more powers at the grassroots level as is witnessed by stone carvings in Tamil Nadu.

Panchayati Raj

Mahatma Gandhi advocated Panchayati Raj, a decentralized form of Government where each village is responsible for its own actions, as the foundation of India's political system. His term for such a vision was "Gram Swaraj" (Village Self-governance). It was incorporated into the state governments during the 1950s and 60s as various legislations were passed to establish Panchayats in different states. It found a backing in the Indian Consititution which was amended in 1992 to accommodate the Panchayat Raj Institututions. However political and caste undercurrents among the voters have prevented strong adoption of this concept.

See also

• Gram Panchayat
• For example of punishment meted out by panchayat, see Parading on donkey

External Links

• Indian site on Panchayat