PRI Study

Karnataka Panchayati Raj Act, 1993

As a consequence of seventy-third amendment to the Indian constitution the legislature of Karnataka has enacted the Karnataka Panchayati Raj Act, 1993. Besides incorporating relevant schemes of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act the new Act had developed some changes in the legislative framework governing the PRIs in the state. The Act establishes a three-tier Panchayati Raj system in the state with the elected bodies at Grama, Taluka and District levels for greater participation of the people and more effective implementation of rural development programmes in the state. The three-tier Panchayat system in the state based on the population as ascertained at the last preceding census of which the figures have been published. It provides for reservation of seats in favour of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in proportion of their population and for reservation of one-third of the seats for women at all levels. It also provides for reservation of seats and offices of chairpersons at all levels for the persons belonging to backward classes, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and women.

The three tiers are the Gram Panchayat, the Taluka Panchayat and the Zilla Panchayat. All the three tiers will have an Adhyaksha and Upadhyaksha elected from among the members. The Panchayat constitutes standing committees to perform its various functions. A Gram Panchayat will be constituted for a population not less than 5000 and not more than 7000 area or group of villages will be considered as a Panchayat area and there will be one member for every 400. For each Taluka there shall be a Taluka Panchayat consisting of legislators of state and centre, one-fifth of the Gram Panchayat Adhyaksha in the Taluka by rotation selected by lottery for one year, and one representative for every 10,000 population. Each District will have a Zilla Panchayat consisting of the members of the central and state legislatures from within the district, the Adhyaksha of the Taluka Panchayat in the district and elected members in accordance with the scale of one member for 40,000 of the population.

The Gram Sabha is made a statutory body and it is obligatory on its part to convene a meeting at least once in six months. All the adults who are in the voter’s list of the village are the members of Gram Sabha. The state election commission was appointed and Karnataka became the first state to bring the Panchayati Raj legislation in line with the central Act and to hold elections to the Panchayats under the new Act.

Karnataka Act no. 37 of 2003, an Act to amend the Karnataka Panchayati Raj Act, 1993 provides for the concept of Ward Sabha and also fixes a quorum for it. The quorum for the meeting of a Ward Sabha shall not be less than one-tenth of the total number of members of the Ward Sabha or twenty members, whichever is less. This Amendment also provides for the quorum for the meeting of a Gram Sabha, which shall be not less than one-tenth of the total number of members of the Gram Sabha, or hundred members, whichever is less. The amendment provides for all possible tools to fill the loopholes of the Act, as it says “as far as may be, at least ten members from each Ward Sabha within The Panchayat area shall attend the meeting and not less than thirty percent of the members attending the Gram Sabha shall be women. As far as may be the persons belonging to the SC/ST shall be represented in proportion to their population in the Gram Sabha”.