Socio-economic and political status of panchayats Elected representatives (A Study of Mysore District-Karnataka)

Abstract

The paper presents the structure and functions of Panchayati raj Institutions. It also highlights the social composition of elected members and their participation in the decision making process in PRIs. Liberal Democracy is one of the basic features of the Indian Constitution. Mahatma Gandhi advocated Panchayat Raj even before Independence. The further of the Nation felt that as issues at the village levels must be addressed by the people only under self-governance and the State or the Central Governments only facilitate such self-rule through grants and by conferring autonomy on them. Panchayat system had earlier an informal setup to redress the local issues and problems of communities which were mainly social and economic in nature. They were popular institutions at micro levels and the main objective was to keep the local community in harmony and to encourage participation in the process of development. The Mysore Government in 1902 passed the Mysore Local Boards Act with a view to revitaling the rural local Government. In 1918, the Mysore Government enacted the Mysore Local Boards and Village Panchayat Act making provisions for elected representatives at the district and taluk levels. After Independence, District and Taluk Boards were set up by the Mysore Government. The first independent legislation on Panchayat Raj Institutions was enacted by the Ramakrishna Hegde Government in 1983 and was brought into effect from April 1987 with the first elections to these local bodies in rural areas. This was amended during 1993. The salient features of the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act 1993 are: To establish a 3-tier Panchayat Raj System of elected bodies. Reservation of seats to SC/ST and 50% seats to women at all levels; reservation of seats to persons belonging to other backward classes. Reservation of offices of Chairpersons in favour of SC/ST, women and backward classes. Establishing Finance Commission and District Planning Committee. Constituting a State Panchayat Council. Mysore district consists of seven revenue taluks, namely, H.D. Kote, Hunsur, K.R. Nagar, Nanjangud, Periyapatna, T. Narasipura and Mysore (Urban and Rural). For administrative purposes, Mysore district is divided into two subdivisions, which are Hunsur and Mysore and the district has 1,216 villages, 11 statutory towns, 235 grama panchayats and 226 wards. The District Commissioner is responsible for managing the district administration and the Assistant Commissioners are responsible for managing the sub-divisions of the district. Objectives of the Study; To study the socio-economic and political background of the rural political leadership. To examine the nature of the power, structure of the panchayat raj leadership in mysore district, Karnataka. To analyse the problems in implementation of the rural development activities of the panchayats in mysore district, Karnataka. The methodology consists largely of methods of primary survey, namely the questionnaire survey and individual interviews. The primary sources of data are the collected from panchayats elected members in the mysore district. The mysore district has 235 Grama Panchayats (GPs) in which 23 (10 per cent) respondent to a questionnaire. The total number of GPs elected members is 4300, of which 215 (05 per cent) of respondent to a questionnaire. Samples were selected from all the taluks of the district. Word Key: PRIs, presidents, members, Socio, Economic, political