The +1 Political Science students in Kannur Government HSS organized a seminar on the topic “Panchayat Raj in India”. The students were divided into groups, and the leaders of the groups presented the views of their groups. 

Panchayat Raj in India/Three-tier administrative decentralization:

• In 1957 the Indian Government appointed a Committee with Balwant Rai Mehta as its chairman to study the rural development schemes.
• Panchayat Raj came into existence as per this Committee’s report. 
• The Committee recommended a 3- tier system for decentralization of powers. 
• In the village, there was Village Panchayat, at the block level there was Panchayat Samiti and at the district level there was Zila Parishad.

a) Village Panchayat: 

• Panchayat is at the bottom of the village administration. Panchayat is a committee the members of which are elected directly by the people of the Panchayat. 
• There are reservations for women and also Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe members. 
• The main responsibilities of the Panchayat are sanitation, drinking water distribution, street lamps, land use, keeping cattle register, relief work, maintenance of roads, culverts, bridges, sewers and ponds, supervision of primary education, welfare of the backward classes and revenue collection.
• The Panchayat also has to maintain the birth-death register and propagate family planning. 
• Apart from all these, the Panchayat can work as the agents of the Samiti for implementing developmental plans. 
• Village panchayats are recommended to be agents for revenue collection.

b) Panchayat Samiti: 

• This is the mid-level or Block level administrative setup. 
• The members are indirectly elected. The members of the Samiti are: The chiefs of the village Panchayats in the block’s jurisdiction, nominated women members, Representatives of Cooperative Societies, the local MLA and the M.P.
• All the development projects in the Block are its responsibility. 
• Their responsibility includes agriculture, animal husbandry, Cooperation, small scale irrigation, rural industries, primary education, local communication, sanitation, health, and medical help. It is the duty of the State Government to delegate powers to the Samiti.

c) Zila Parishad: 

• This is the topmost part of the local government set up. The members of the Zila Parishad are Representatives of the Panchayat Samiti, Representatives of the SC’s and ST’s, Women Representatives, MLAs of the District and MP’s. 
• The Presidents of the Panchayat Samiti will be ex-officio members. 
• District level officers from spheres like medical, health, agriculture, veterinary, engineering education, welfare of Back Ward Classes, Public Works, etc. 
• It is the Zila Parishad that examines and passes the budgets of Panchayat Samitis. 
• It gets funds from the Government and distributes it among the Panchayat Samitis. 
• It collects the various schemes of the Blocks of the district and coordinates them. 
• It collects the various applications from Panchayat Samitis and forwards them to the State Government. 
• It has the duty of supervising the working of the Panchayat Samitis.
• The Chairman of the Zila Parishad is the Collector. Otherwise, he can function as the Secretary of the Parishad. 
• The recommendations of Balwant Rai Mehta were approved by the Development Council in 1959.