panchayati raj

Panchayati raj is the three-tier structure of rural local government (gram panchayat, taluk or block panchayat, zilla panchayat) given constitutional status by the 73rd Amendment, 1992, which inserted Part IX (Articles 243 to 243-O) and the Eleventh Schedule. It requires a Gram Sabha, direct elections every five years, reservation of seats for SCs, STs and women (at least one-third), a State Election Commission and a State Finance Commission.

Article 40, a Directive Principle, had earlier asked the State to organise village panchayats. The details are filled in by State laws; in Karnataka this is the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj Act, 1993. Urban bodies are dealt with separately in Part IXA (74th Amendment).

Example

Since the 73rd Amendment, panchayati raj institutions are a constitutionally mandated third tier of government and their elections cannot be indefinitely postponed by the State.

In Indian law

• Part IX, Articles 243 to 243-O and the Eleventh Schedule, Constitution of India (73rd Amendment, 1992)
• Article 40, Constitution of India (organisation of village panchayats)
• Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj Act, 1993

See also

directive principles of state policy · federalism

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