LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK OF GRASS-ROOT DEMOCRATIC

INSTITUTIONS

In this chapter an attempt has been made to present some facts related to

Panchayati Raj in Bihar, viz., Panchayati Raj legislation, structural aspects,

elections to PRls at various levels, financial position of Panchayati Raj bodies

and their functioning etc.

The Panchayati Raj (or Panchayat System) in Bihar, like that of other

States, is an extension with suitable modifications, of the parliamentary system of

government, buttressed by an element of direct democracy. The Constitution of

India made it an obligation (under Article 40 of the Constitution) for the State

Govemment(s) of the country to organize Panchayats as units of self-

government. Accordingly, the Bihar Panchayats Acts of 1947, 1961, and

amended Acts of 1956, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1964, 1970, 1973, 1985 and 1989

were enacted to provide the people in Bihar the necessary opportunities for

political and administrative education through wide participation in the local

political process. Though these were steps in the right direction, at the

operational level they suffered setbacks, especially at the levels of Panchayat

Samiti and Zila Parishad. Subsequent upon the passing of the Seventy-third

Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, the Government of Bihar brought a new

Panchayati Raj Act for the State in August 1993 to provide a new thrust to

participatory democracy and to achieve the objective of social justice.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Gram Panchayats in Bihar existed long before the establishment of

British power in lndia although their functioning varied in different areas. Usually

the Gram Panchayats were associated with the solution of the social problems.

The tempo of the mrking of the Gram Panchayats depended on the local

Zamindars. In the light of the broad principles enunciated in the Government of

lndia Resolution of 1915, the Village Administration Act was passed in 1922 to

revive the old institution ofvillage Assembly. After the introduction of 'dyarchy' in

the province the legislation of 1922 created Union Boards, each covering on an

average, an area of five to ten miles. The creation of Union Boards was,

however, no solution to the problem of village self-government. These Union

Boards were in fact, intermediate units between the village and the local and

distnd boards, they could not, therefore, become substitutes for village self-

govemment. Therefore when the Congress came into power in 1937, it took up

the question of the establishment of village panchayats. But little progress was

made in this regard and in the mean time the govemment, went out of power.

Again, in 1946, the Congress afler coming back to power resolved to create local

self-government with an active involvement of the village communities.

Accordingly, in 1947, the Bihar Panchayati Raj Act was passed, which was

extended, at a time, to the entire province (except, of course, the area under

municipalities). The Act received the assent of the Governor General in 1948.

However, the Act came into actual operation in April 1949. Since then, the a d

has undergone several modifications so as to remove certain di~cultiesfaced in

the course ,of its implementation and to enable the panchayats to shoulder

greater responsibilities. These amendments were effected in 1956, 1957, 1961,

1963, 1985, 1989 and 1993.' On account of financial stringency facing the State,

the Act was to be implemented in t

w stages. In the first stage, it was to be
implemented in the four divisional headquarter districts of the State, viz., Patna,

Munaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Ranchi.

In the second stage, it was proposed to be implemented in the remaining

districts of the State. But for reasons best k n o w to the State Government

authorities, the Act was implemented only in two districts, viz., Ranchi and

Bhagalpur in 1964.'

As regards the District and Local Boards, they were established in Bihar

immediately after the enactment of the Bihar and Orissa Local self-government

Act of 1885. Most of these bodies were established in 1887. The idea was that

through the mrking of the District Boards people will learn their first lessons of

Local self-government. In the light of Montague - Chelmsford Report, the

Government amended the Bihar and Orissa Local Self Government. Act of 1885

in 1923 which came into operation in the following year. In 1924, on the basis of

the amended act of 1885 the elections took place and a number of Congress

members got themselves elected to the District Boards and had a predominating

influence for quite a long time. The last election of the District Board was held in

1948. Later, on the basis of the recommendations of Balwantrai Mehta Study

Team, the State Government enacted the Bihar Panchayat Samitis and Zila
Parishad Act of 1961 which came into force in 1964. Major amendments to the

Act of 1961 were brought about in 1964,1970,

1973,1989and 1993.~

STRUCTURAL PAlTERNS

The Panchayati Raj set-up in Bihar represents a three-tier organizational

pattern located at the village, block and district levels. Each tier consists of

popularly elected representatives and official functionaries. While deusion-

making power has been vested with the elected representatives, the officials

placed at different levels of Panchayati Raj administration have been made

responsible for the implementation of the decisions.

THE GRAM PANCHAYAT

The Act of 1947 provided for the creation of a panchayat for a village or a

group of villages with a population of one thousand (latter raised to 4,000 for a

Panchayat). But the new Bihar Panchayati Raj Act, 1993, has raised this

population limit to seven thousand only. However, the District Magistrate in

consultation with the Gram Panchayat can delete or attach any village or part of it

and can even change the name of the area of the Gram Panchayat. The Gram

Panchayat consists of nine members: the Mukhiya and four members are elected

directly and the remaining four members to be nominated by the Mukhiya. The

tenure of the Gram Panchayat is five years and is entrusted with the duties

classified into two broad categories, namely, compulsory and supplementary.

The Gram Sabha (Village Assembly) is a general body of panchayat.

consisted of all adults residing within its areas. It promoted a participatory

democratic culture of a sort in the villages of Bihar. It had also to pass the
panchayaf budget at its annual meeting and review its accounts of the last year

at its half yearly meetings. By 1959 amendment, the provision of a quorum of

one-fourth was amended and reduced to one-eighth of its total membership.

At the level of Gram Panchayat, Mukhiya occupied a pivotal position. The

Mukhiyas were elected by the adults of the panchayat for five years. He could be

removed by a majority decision at a meeting of the Executive Committee

convened for this purpose. He was responsible for convening the meetings of

the Gram Sabha and the Executive Committee, preparation of the Panchayat

budget, distribution of business among his colleagues in the executive and

nomination of its four members and supervision of the work of Village Volunteer

Force (WF), Panchayat Sevak, and other village level workers. The Mukhiya

(under the Act of 1947) had to classify the business of the Panchayat into eight

or more departments like imgation, watch and ward, education, finance,

sanitation, health, communication, etc., and entrust each department to one of

the members of the executive assisted by a functional subcommittee. Each sub-

committee used to consist of three or five members, interested in the subject,

and to be drawn from outside. The Bihar Panchayati Raj Act of 1993 empowers

the Mukhiyas of the Gram Panchayats to have supervisory control over the lower

level officials and officers. Under this Act, the functions of education, irrigation,

electricity, roads, etc. are now vested within the jurisdiction of the Mukhiyas of

the Gram Panchayats. In addition, the powers of Gram Kutcherry has been

enhanced in the area of civil and criminal laws. The powers of the Municipal

Magistrate has been transferred to the Sarpanch of Gram Kutcherry.

 The Panchayat Sevak or Secretary was the only permanent functionary of

the Gram Panchayat. He was appointed by a district committee headed by a

Senior Officer. His functions relates to the village judiciary and the executive of

the panchayat both, rural development and revenue collection.

For a proper representation to all the sections of society and for greater

people's involvement in decentralization process, the Bihar Panchayati Raj Act of

1993 reiterated the provision of reservation of seats at the level of Gram

Panchayat for the SCslSTs and the OBCs in Bihar in proportion to the population

(out of this onethird of the seats are reserved for the m m e n among SCslSTs

and the OBCs). Overall one-third of the seats will be reserved for m m e n of all

categories including the above mentioned reservations for the SCslSTs and the

OBCs and women. It also has the provision of reservation for the post of

Mukhiya for the SCslSTs and the OBCs.

THE PANCHAYAT SAMlTl

The Panchayat Samiti, which was established by the Bihar Panchayat

Samiti and Zila Parishad Act of 1961, was an intermediate organization and held

the key institutional position in the Panchayati Raj system of Bihar. The Samiti

was constituted for 3 years. It was the representative body of the entire block

population and the MLA of the area found a potential rival in its head. It

consisted of Mukhiyas of all Gram Panchayats of the block; Chairman of the

Municipalities and Vice-Chairman of Notified Area Committee; three

representatives of Cooperative Societies; one member of the Managing

Committee of Central Cooperative Bank; a representative of Cooperative

Societies other than Multi-purpose and .cane growers cooperative Society; and

one Member of the Managing Committee of the Vyapar Mandal in the block. As

in the case of Gram Panchayats, under the Act of 1993, there is a provision for

reservation of seats for SCslSTs and the OBCs in proportion to their population

and one-third of the seats will be reserved for women of all categories. Besides

the above, the MLAs, MLCs and MPs are associate members of Panchayat

Samiti.

At the level of Panchayat Samiti, the political executive is the Pramukh.

He is elected from among its members for five years. He could be removed, by a

vote of no confidence if passed by the Panchayat Samiti by two-third majority of

the total membership (under Act of 1993). There is also provision of reservation

for the post of Pramukh for the SCsISTs and the OBCs on the population basis

(under the Act of 1993). The Pramukh is responsible for convening, presiding

and conducting the meeting of the Samiti, inspecting the works undertaken and

records maintained by the Panchayats, guiding and tendering advice to the

Panchayats, exercising administrative control over the BDO, and sending

confidential report on the performance and style of functioning of the BDO to the

Collector at the end of the financial year.

The nature of the functions entrusted to the Panchayat Samiti are

categorized as Municipal, developmental and agency. To cany out these

functions, there are eight Standing Committees of the Panchayat Samiti. They

are related to agriculture, animal husbandry and cooperation; social education,

art and crafts; small savings and cottage industries; public health, communication
and works; finance and taxation; social welfare; irrigation; and education. With

the approval of the Zila Parishad, the Samiti could create more Committees.

Every Committee, except the last two, comprised of two to seven members
elected by the Samiti from among themselves. The last two Committees consist

of the Pramukh, four members of the Samiti and two officers of the department

concerned. The Pramukh is an ex-officio member of the Committee on finance

and taxation. To broad-base the Committee's membership, no member was

allowed to be in more than two Committees, except the Chairman.

The administrative personnel at the Panchayat Samiti level can be

classified into three broad categories: (i) State, (ii) District, and (iii) Samiti

Cadres. The Block Development Officer (BDO) and Extension Officers (EOs)

belong to the State Cadre and they are in the Samiti on deputation. The

subordinate technical employees, ministerial staff and teachers of primary and

middle schools under the Samiti belong to the district cadre. The workers of

class IV belong to the Samiti Cadre. The new Bihar Panchayati Raj Act of 1993

empowers the Pramukh to transfer, demote and even suspend executives,

teachers and other except the District Magistrates and District Development

Commissioners. The primary and secondary education have been put under the

village Panchayat.

THE ZllA PARISHAD

The Zila Parishad, like the Panchayat Samiti, finds its genesis in the Act of

1961. It was essentially an advisory body and it consisted of all Pramukhs of

Panchayat Samiti; local MPs, MLAs and MLCs; two persons elected by the
members of the Managing Committee of all Central Cooperative Banks; one.

person nominated by the Karya Samiti of the Bihar Panchayat Parishad; one

person each from SCs and STs to be co-opted; Women to be a-opted if not

elected. Under the Act of 1993, there is the provision of reservation of seats at

the level of the Zila Parishad for the SCdSTs and the OBCs in Bihar in

proportion to their population (out of this one-third of the seats are reserved for

the women among SCs/STs and OBCs). Overall one-third of the seats will be

reserved for women of all categories including the above mentioned reservation

for the SCs/STs and the OBCs wmen.

At the level of Zila Parishad, the Office of the Adhyaksha is the highest

elective ofice in the Panchayati Raj System. He convenes, presides, and

conducts the meetings of the Zila Parishad, exercises control over its Secretary

and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), appoints promotes and transfers the staff of

the district cadre, and guides and distributes funds among the Samitis. He is

elected from amongst the members of Zila Parishad for five years. Under the Act

of 1993, he could be removed by the Zila Parishad by a two-thirds of majority of

the total membership. Now there is provision of reservation for the post of

Adhyaksha for the SCs/STs and the OBCs on the population basis (under the Act

of 1993).

The powers of the Zila Parishad include: scrutiny and approval of the

budget of Panchayat Samitis, distribution of the funds allocated to the district

among Panchayat Samitis, coordination of the m r k s of the Gram Panchayats

and Panchayat Samitis, offering guidance and supervision of the progress of

development work in the blocks, etc. To facilitate these, the Zila Parishad has

been authorized to set up eight Standing Committees related to planning;

community development and communication, industries, social welfare; medical,

public health and relief, education; irrigation and power. With the approval of the

State Government the Zila Parishad can create more committees.

As far as the administrative personnel at the level of Zila Parishad is

concerned, Deputy Development Commissioner (DDC) acts as the executive

officer. He is assisted by two Assistant DDCs. All the officers concerned with
the development work of the Zila Parishad have been put under DDCs

operational control. The Panchayat Samiti Officer's (BDO and EOs) are also

under his control. The District Collector continues to be Chairman of the District

Rural Development Agency (DRDA) concerned primarily with the management of

special anti-poverty programmes promoted by the Government. Under the new

Panchayati Raj Act of 1993, the District Planning Committee has been

constituted. Since the Adhyaksha has also been vested with executive powers

the nature of equation bebeen him and the DDC has an important bearing upon

the harmonious mrking of the Panchayati Raj administration in general and the

Zila Parishad administration in particular.

WORKING OF PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS (PRls)

The initial trends in the districts h e r e the Panchayati Raj bodies were

installed in the sixties and the seventies have revealed that they have succeeded

to an extent in democratizing the rather neglected and inert rural political

structure, filling up the absence of a system of rural local government in the

countryside and ending the bureaucratically operated administration designed for

rural deve~opment.~
But after their initial thrust, the PRls in Bihar began to look

like unoccupied houses. The disappointing features of the PRls has been:

irregular elections, weak financial position, lack of resource mobilization and lack

of people's participation specially of women. Apart from these, the politico-

administrative and social environmental constraints tended to have a diluting

effect on their functioning. In order to make the existing Panchayati Raj

Institutions a living organism, the state government passed a new Panchayati Raj

Act of 1993. The Act came into force on 6 August, 1993. Though the present

Act has made some good provisions to give Panchayati Raj lnstitutions a new

thrust, a clear picture will emerge only when the new system is put to operational

test after having the Panchayati Raj elections which was conducted in April 2001

after a gap of nine years from the date of new Bihar Panchayat Raj Act 1993.

In the initial years, Gram Panchayat functioned somewhat appreciably. In

the fifties, the Panchayats had a place and importance of their own with

government officers visiting the village and chalking out local developmental

plans in consultation with the panchayat authorities. The village panchayat

undertook various construction works of common benefit. These include:

construction of community hallcum-panchayat Bhavan, village tank, pucca

drains, drinking water wells, village gate, bathrooms, repair of lanes etc. Since

then it has been a complete reversal, as today plans are prepared by planning

boards of the state in accordance with the guidelines of the centre and then they

are divided among various districts to prepare the district plans.

 It is notable that many parallel institutions has come into being with

powers which previously were the exclusive prerogatives of the panchayats. For

instance, the committee to monitor the Public Distribution System (PDS) used to

be headed by the Panchayat Pramukh and Mukhiyas at the block and village

level respectively. Now they have been replaced by the heads of the respective

twenty-point programme implementation committees. Similarly from 1982

onwards the task of providing relief work has also been snatched away from the

Panchayats and awarded to 20-point ~ o m m i t t e e s . ~

Besides these, there is inherent defect in the PRls at the Gram Panchayat

level and there is growing apathy among the officials and people towards the

PRls. Gram Sabhas which provides a platform for a direct democracy at the

village level has become defunct bodies and meet on paper only. Its meetings

are thinly attended, unenthusiastic and unsuccessful. The study of Awa

Panchayat in Nalanda district of Bihar (1971) revealed that poor attendance is a

feature of the Awa Gram Sabha meetings. As rule the people of Pato (the

adjoining village) do not attend meetings of the Gram Sabha. As a rule again,

women do not partidpate in the Gram Sabha meetings. Furthermore, the low

caste people in general try to keep away from these meetings. Thus the

meetings of the Gram Sabha in Awa Panchayat are virtually reduced to a

gathering of the heads of families belonging to the dominant caste of the v i ~ l a g e . ~

The inefficient functioning of the Gram Kutcherry resulted in delays in the

settlement of disputes. The same scenario is witnessed as far as Gram Raksha

Dal in concerned. The governments avowed policy to fill fifty percent of post of
Jan Sewak with Panchayat Sewaks and to promote the head of the Gram

Raksha Dal to the post of Panchayat Sewak after ten year has not been

imp~emented.~

The executive wing of the Gram Panchayat also languished as a

corporate body and its power has been getting concentrated in the hands of

Mukhiyas. The Office of the Mukhiya has become politically potent and a virtual

benevolent despot. Empirically, the factors which enhanced his power and

influence which prides his personality were: his elevation to the Samiti as a

member; the provision of the nomination by him of four members of the Gram

Panchayat executive; the irregular and meaningless meetings of the Sabha; and

casualness and lukewarm attitude of the members of the executive towards their

duties. In fact, most parts of the countryside are now under some sort of

Mukhiya Raj. The new Panchayati Raj Act of 1993 has further armed Mukhiyas

and Sarpanchas with wide administrative, judicial and executive powers. The

vital role in the execution of government projects including Jawahar Rojgar

Yojana (JRY) under the overall control of the local offices, identification of

beneficiaries for various welfare schemes of securing loans, subsidies, licenses

and permits from the block and district officials and being certifying authority for

villagers for all official works made the Mukhiyas the only links for villagers

entering the alien and cruel world of bureaucracy. As a result, he easily entered

the lucrative business of working as agent of subordinate government. All this

added to Mukhiyas power and invisible income so much so that he turned into an

arbitrator in petty local disputes, imposed fines and pocketed the money. Under
the new Act of 1993, a Sarpanch will have powers of the CJM. He can arrest

and also release of the accused. The village courts have been authorized to hold

trial of offences under forty-five different sections of Indian Penal code, the public

Gambling Act, prevention of cruelty to Animals Act and some sections of the

criminal procedure code. They will have powers to order sentence of

imprisonment up to three months and fine up to one thousand rupees.

As far as the Panchayat Sewak or Secretary, the only permanent

functionary of the Gram Panchayat, is concerned, his miscellaneous functions

are on the increase, for instance, preparation and verification of the voter's list,

ration cards and land records in and outside Panchayat. But the multiplicity of

control over him tends to dilute his functional efficacy in the Panchayat wrk, or

he has to serve too many masters - the Collector, ADM, SDO, BDO, GPS (Gram

Panchayat Supervisor), the Mukhiya and the Sarpanch. In practice, the post of

Sewak in a number of Gram Panchayats in Bihar remained vacant, thereby

tending to inhibit the panchayat's activities.

The wrking of the Panchayat Samitis and the Zila Parishads, originated

from the Bihar Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad Act of 1961, present a similar

fate like that of the Gram Panchayats. These institutions, since their inception,

has been under complete usurpation. Today more than 90 percent of the

Mukhiyas are reportedly wealthy people with big or substantial interests in land,

contracts or trade and more than forty percent of the Mukhiyas and Sarpanchas

have a criminal background. Whatever little developmental funds trickle down to

the Panchayats are cornered down by these vested interests.'

 The composition of the Panchayat Samiti in Bihar is not conducive to its

healthy growth. The inclusion of the members of cooperative societies made

their elections keenly contested and leads to political rivalries in the bither-to-fore

non-political cooperative societies. The provision for the cooption of men of

experience by the majority group in the Samiti encourages groupism and

casteism in the functioning of the Samiti. The inclusion of the legislators proved

harmful since they acted more with an eye upon their electoral prospects. The

incidents of intimidation of the rural bureaucrats by these legislators for not acting

on their behest are not uncommon. During the tenure of the Janata Party

Government when the then Chief Minister of Bihar saw Panchayat Samiti

dominated by the advanced castes people, for the constitution of Zila Parishad,

he brought a bill in the state legislature which provided for voting right to the

legislators. But, before the bill could be passed by the state legislators, he was

removed from the Chief Ministership and ultimately the bill was withdrawn. As a

result the Zila Parishad came into being only in the last quarter of 1980 when the

Congress was voted to power again. In other words, only after the State

Assembly elections of 1980 all the three organs of Panchayati Raj were duly

constituted and made operative.

Empirically, the importance of the Office of Pramukh of Panchayat Samiti

and the smallness of the size of its electors led to malpractices like bribing,

entertaining the electors with drinks on the day of polling, confirming the

uncertain voters, and using fire arms. The post of Adhyaksha of Zila Parishad,

since its inception, used to be occupied by an MLA of the district. Only a few
years back it was decided that he may be elected from amongst the members of

Zila Parishads connected with the execution of development works having been

taken care of by the rural bureaucracy.

It is evident from the various studies conducted in Panchayat Samitis and

Zila Parishads that the peoples participation especially of women has not been

very encouraging and that the equality of non-official members are poor. A study

reveals that absenteeism are on increase in the meetings of the Samiti strikingly

enough, none of the MPs and the MLAs attended the meetings of the Sarnitis

under this study during the years I-.' Women and the SC members were

all the more neglectful in attending its meetings. Deliberations of the meetings

were dominated by a handful of persons: the Pramukh, the Uppramukh and two

Though the Act of 1993 provides thirty-three percent

or three other per~ons.'~

reservation of seats for women, but keeping in view the feudal culture in the rural

areas in Bihar, it can be anybody's guess as to how these reserved seats could

be tilled up through elections. Most of the non41cials of the Panchayat Samiti

are dull and inarticulate. For instance, one member did not know about the

existence of the two Congress Parties. He took the two factions in the Samiti as

two Congress Parties. A study reveals that only onethird of the members were
active and were equally divided into two factions. Rest of the members were

either mere 'hand raisers' (blind supporters) or chameleons that changed their

colours as it suited the situation. The spineless hand raisers on the other hand

never dared to go against the Pramukh or the babu-bhayyas (young Rajputs)

who are opposed to the Pramukh. Among them, three members were cases of
chronic sickness, and one was too old to attend to his duties so most of his . w r k

was done by his son."

On the whole, the performance of the PRls in Bihar present a precarious

situation. The degree of decentralization of the decision-making process at the

local level is discernibly low. The state government was hesitant is devolving

powers and resources on the PRls Decisions affecting the community life are

still being taken at the higher levels. The PRls were left with decisions in matters

like distribution of funds, location of development schemes. The much

advertised slogan of 'planning from grass-roots' remained more or paper than in

practice.

PANCHAYATI RAJ ELECTIONS AND LEADERSHIP

Election is an educative opportunity, a process of legitimization of power

and a therapeutic exercise. It is at the same time a mandate, a verdict and a

selection of leader.'' The Panchayati Raj elections in Bihar has been a very

irregular phenomenon. The elections to the PRls are as follows: the Gram

Panchayats (1954,1960, 1964, 1973, 1978), the Panchayat Samitis (19f54, 1973,

1979) and the Zila Parishads (1973, 1980 and 2001). The elections trend show

that the competition for the posts in the Panchayat was minimal at the time of the

first elections. During this election one-third of Panchayat Mukhiyas were

declared elected unopposed and quite large number of Panchayat members

were chosen unanimously. However, in the second Panchayat election, no

Mukhiya was returned uncontested and very few members were unanimously

chosen. Moreover, the elections were peaceful. Quite an intense fight took
place during the third elections to Panchayat posts. Though the two important
positions, Mukhiya and Sarpanch. were mainly filled by the upper castes (Rajput

and Bhumihars), their choice was influenced by their personal standing and not

by their caste.

In order to make the Panchayati Raj fully operational, the State

Government enacted the Bihar Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad Act of 1961

which became effective only in 1964. However, there was no election to either

Gram Panchayats or Panchayat Samitis or Zila Parishads till 1973. It was due to

the instability of the five successive coalition Ministries in the State between

March 1967 and February 1970, which gave a severe jolt to Panchayati Raj. In

fact, these governments remained pre-occupied with the work of securing

majority for their survival. In 1967, the government proposed to hold elections in

about 11,000 Panchayats. But elections could not be held due to the pre-

occupation of officials with the flood relief operations. However, the elections

could be held only in Bhagalpur, Ranchi and Dhanbad districts. The government

passed the District Boards and Local Boards amendment bill, 1968, in order to

extend the life of suspended district boards in the remaining districts till March

1969 so that elections to all the districts might be completed. In view of the

growing deterioration of law and order situation in the state, the government was

contemplating to hold Panchayat elections in fourteen districts in a phased

manner. But the government went out of office without holding these elections.13

Upto 1973 only Panchayats were allowed to function and there was a committee

known as Block Development Committee (BDC) to coordinate the activities of

Panchayats under the jurisdiction of a block with BDO as Chairman. However,

during emergency some Panchayat Samitis were created on experimental basis.

During the tenure of Janata Party Government, efforts were made to

introduce the PRls throughout the State. Certain changes in the Panchayati Raj

Legislation were introduced in order to make the PRls more representative and

effective instruments for rural reconstruction and social change. These includes:

reduction of voting age from 21 to 18 years; division of the Panchayat areas, first

like wards in a municipality, so that each constituency might elect its own

representative; and extension of tenure of the PRls from three to five years. The

Panchayat elections of 1978 were held amidst the stir launched in protest against

the governments reservation policy.14 In fact, it is alleged that the Janata Party

organized elections to 11,740 Panchayats with the sole aim of consolidating its

power base in rural Bihar and to legitimize its reservation policy. The 1978

Panchayat elections suddenly took on great political significance. In the whole of

Bihar, this election aroused a great deal of interest among politicians because

the Panchayat was looked on as the only entry point for the higher tiers of

Panchayati Raj and decisions of the Congress (I) to fight these elections on party

lines added addiional edge to political heat in the state.15 The Panchayat

elections in Bihar or what the Janata Party glibly called "restoration of democracy

at the grass-root", became the bloodiest election to the local bodies in the

country. Even official figures put 70 deaths as the poll casualty. In this

connection former Chief Minister, Jagannath Mishra stated that the election of

1978 witnessed maximum casualties and many lives lost.16 Further, though the
elections were not fought on party lines, in some cases the political parties

supported the candidates. For instance, in the district of Muzaffarpur, Janata

Party had supported 223 candidates for Mukhiyaship as against 142 candidates

supported by the Congress, out of the total 308 Mukhiyas seats in the district.

The election results of the Khagaria block in Monghyr district revealed that the

elections are not the handmaid of the rural rich and the reservation issue could

not unite the backward communities under one banner.17

The PRls in Bihar, since 1978 Panchayat elections, have become a toy in

the hands of the ruling party in the state. In other w r d s , the Panchayat elections

w u l d be held only if it suits the interests of the ruling party. In fact, the ruling

party even tries to give various concessions and reservations to attract vote bank

in its favour. This kind of practices initiated by the Janata Party on the surface

level was followed by the subsequent governments. The Congress (I)

government which came into power in 1980 promised to hold Panchayat

elections very soon as sixty percent of the Mukhiyas in the State were

Congressities or ardent supporter of the Congress (I).'' They even announced to

empower the Gram Panchayats to collect the full amount of land revenue instead

of giving them a share of 6.25 percent as is the current practice (as per the

Anugraha Narayan Singh Committee's recommendations). Further, an

ordinance was promulgated to reserve the posts of Mukhiyas for SCslSTs

candidates in the Gram Panchayats. However, the Patna High Court declared

this ordinance as unconstitutional. In last quarter of 1980, the Zila Parishad

came into being and thus all the three organs of the Panchayati Raj were duly
constituted and made operative. But in 1986 the upper two-tier of the PRls were

superseded.

The Janata Dal Government in Bihar did initially make noises about

holding early Panchayat elections, yet, no follow-up action was taken to fulfil the

promise. Meanwhile, the Panchayats were kept in a state of supersession

through promulgation of ordinances from time to time.lg The Janata Dal

Government, like its Congress predecessors failed to inject life to virtually defunct

Panchayati Raj bodies. The Janata Dal regime disciplined to plug loopholes in

the State Panchayat laws that made all powers granted to the Panchayats on

paper as evident from the New Bihar Panchayati Raj Act of 1993, but inoperative

in adual practice. As per the provision of Seventy-third Constitution

(Amendment) Ad, 1992, the State Government constituted the State Election

Commission under the Chairmanship of K.K. Saha to conduct, supervise and

prepare electoral rolls for all the levels. In fact, what interested most to the Chief

Minister of Bihar is the provision for reservation of seats in any Panchayat or

offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at any level in favour of the OBCs.

The Chief Minister lost no time in announcing that reservation of seats for the

Backward Castes would be made in proportion to their population. But it is to

observe that the extremely Backward Castes which have a separate job quota in

the State have been ignored and dubbed together with the other Backward

Castes in the Act of 1993, who now dominate the rural scene. It has allegedly

been done so as to give the creamy layer OBC such as Yadavas. Kurmis, which

from the backbone of the ruling Janata Dal Government, a free hand. In addition,
the caste census is to be conducted, not by the census Commissioner of India,

but by the BDOs and Collectors.

PANCHAYATI RAJ ELECTION IN BlHAR 2001

The Panchayat elections of 2001 were held in Bihar after a lapse of 23

years. Earlier Panchayat elections were held in 1978. But on this occasion it

were held in 2001 after a gap of 23 years due to the intervention of the judiciary.

As compared to the last election i.e. 1978, in which the upper backward castes

hold on the states political power structure was strengthened. It is worth

mentioning that inspite of constitutional provisions and provisions of new

Panchayati Raj Act of Bihar for reservation of seats for SCslSTs and OBC, the

election of 2001 was held without any reservation for above said categories.

Seats were reserved only for women, the results of recent elections shows the

consolidation of the political power of the Muslim and Yadav (M-Y). Though this

combination appeared to be fragile at the Panchayat level elections, but by the

time Chairmanships of the Zila Parishads were being worked out, the magic of

M-Y combination started working.=

The results revealed a number of interesting phenomenon which are

discussed in the succeeding pages. Firstly, the Panchayat election of 2001 has

empowered the lower backwards. Not only have they emerged as Chairmen of

Zila Parishads, but a large number of them have been elected either as Mukhias

(3.9 percent) or as members of the Zila Parishad (3.5 percent - Table - 4.1).

Their presence in the power structure has at least become noticeable and

indicates new social and political equations at the provincial ~ e v e l . ~ '

 Table - 4.1

Caste Background of Chairmen, Membem of Zila Parishads and Mukhias

(in percentage)

-- --
cas-te Group Chairmen I embers 1 Mukhias
Upper Caste Hindus 35.2 ( 25.3 1 34.0
i) Brahmin
ii) Bhumihar
iii) Rajput
iv) ~ayasth --
Middle Caste Hindus
a) Annexure 1 Castes
1) Dhanuk
ii) MallahlGwhi
iii) Others
b) Annexure ll Castes
1) Yadav
ii) Kurmi
iii) Koeri
iv) BaniaNaishva
vj others
Scheduled Caste Hindus
i) Dusadh
ii) Dhobi
iii) Passi
iv) Musahar
Others
Scheduled ~ r i b e s
1) Muslims
ii) Marwari
iii) Others -
Total 100.0 100.0
No. of ChairrnenlMembers-
-- 1,160 7,120
Source: Shaibal Gupta, "New Panchayats and Subaltern Resurgence", in
Economic and Political Weekly, July 21, 2001, p.2742.

A second important factor to be noted in the results of the Panchayat

elections is that although there has been a change at the lower power structure

in favour of the upper and lower backward castes, the upper castes or the

traditional elites still retain a substantial part of the social and political power at
the grass-roots level. In India, there is a complete integration of economic,

political and social power at the lowest level, that is the village or Panchayat

level. In this respect Bihar is no different. But at higher levels, this integration

has been breached substantially in Bihar.

Although, the upper backwards have extended their political support base

in the Panchayat elections of Bihar, the upper castes still have a substantial

power base in rural Bihar. This has resulted in the continuation of the earlier

patronclient relationship, especially in the rural areas. Among the upper castes,

the Bhumihars have done exceedingly well in comparison to their share in the

total population.22(Table 4.2).

Besides the lower backward castes, even the scheduled caste candidates

have performed we11 in the Panchayat elections. A number of Scheduled Castes

members have got elected from the flaming fields of south Bihar plain, the most

developed part of the State - the very area where they had to face the main

brunt of the atrocities.

POWER TO THE SCHEDULED CASTES

The present Panchayat elections of 2001 have shown the heightened

awareness of the Scheduled Castes. About 1.6 percent of the total number of

Mukhias is from the scheduled castes and they all got elected in direct contests.

They were not given the luxury of the reservations. Most of the Scheduled Caste

Mukhias had got elected in the district that have experienced the worst atrocities,

like Gaya, Aurangabad, Kaimur, Jehanabad, Patna and Rohtas. Some districts

of north Bihar (Darbhanga, Begusarai, Munger and Supaul), where Scheduled

Caste have done relatively better,.were powerful centres of the share croppers

movement led by the ~ m m u n i s t s . ~

Table - 4.2

Share of Scheduled Castes in Different Districts ( in percentage)

 .~~

15.5 1.6
Source: Shaibal Gupta, "New Panchayats and subaltern Resurgence", in
Economic and Political Weekly, July 21, 2001, p.2742

Another important aspect which is reflected from the result of the

Panchayat election is the performance of Left Parties. Though these elections

were not fought on the party line, a closer examination would indicate that the

Left have got substantial number of seat (Table 4.3). In fact CPM, the weakest of

the communist outfit in Bihar, could win the Chairmanship of Supaul Zila

Parishad; CPI missed the Chairmanship of Begusarai district only by a whisher

but won 7.1 percent of the Mukhia seats. The result of CPI (ML) is however,

surprising. It was expected to get more seats but could not do so probably

because the battle was fierce in its strongholds in south ~ i h a r . ~ ~

Table - 4.3

Performance of Left Parties in Panchayat Elections

m ~ % & i e n I Zila Parishad I ~anchaus-~ukhias 7

Member
%

139
CPI 1.7 225 1.9 133
. --
2.7 8.4 859

no. of

Economic and Political Weekly, July 21, 2001, p.2744

Another notable feature of the recently held Panchayat election is the

voice of the most oppressed, the Dalits, and particularly Dalit women. It is for the

first time, these women found themselves facing an electorate. Some of them
had never voted before as the system had deliberately worked against the right

of Dalits to vote. Polling booths would be located in upper caste areas where

Dalits were afraid to venture.

One of the women elected to a Panchayat in Madhubani district, Tilla Devi

told the reporter of one of the Magzines, that b m years ago the scene was

different. It was too oppressive to go on. There was no respite. Even the piece

of land meant to be our habitat was grabbed by local landlords." But this women

successfully mobilized her people and managed to wrest their land back from the

landlords despite violent attacks from the other side. And she fights on,

determined to use her elective position to get people access to health care and

education and other government schemes to which they are entitled. Seen

against the background of the situation in Bihar, such stories are truly

astounding.=

Of course, the mere election of Dalit woman does not necessarily mean

that there is sustainable change in the caste and gender equations in a state like

Bihar. In fact, a number of the women were elected because their husbands

were men who had done some good work in the village. The women stood

because the seat were reserved for them. Yet the 33 percent resewation for

women at the Panchayat level appears to be breaking through even the most

rigid caste and gender hierarchies.

The emerging pattern of leadership at the grass-roots level in Bihar is that

there is a change in the attitude of traditional leadership and that of traditional

leadership is gradually receding in the background, the educated persons of age

groups in lower castes are getting hold,of caste Panchayats. Earlier, during

fifties, sixties and first half of seventies, eighty percent of leaders came from elite

castes and the percentage of backward castes and SCs were quite negligible.

But since the Janata Patty Government (1977) onwards, the number of

leadership in both upper and lower classes is increasing but in lower classes,

especially Yadavs and Kurmis, the proportion of inmease in number of leadership

is higher in comparison to that of upper classes. This trend is clearly visible from

the Panchayat election 2001 results. The leadership is shifting from the hands of

older age grwp to younger group in both upper and lower classes. This aspect

has been discussed in detail in the succeeding chapter.

PANCHAYATI RAJ FINANCES AND PROGRAMMES IMPLEMENTATION

The quantum of resources is of vital importance in the Panchayati Raj

lnstitutions because it determines the size of their activities and the degree of the

exercise of decentralized power by them. Besides, it is this which governs their

ability to plan and cany out their functional responsibilities." Unfortunately, the

finance of Panchayati Raj lnstitutions in Bihar is in a bad shape since its very

inception. Generally, the Panchayati Raj Institutions are allotted inadequate

resources by the State Government. There is also a general reluctance among

the PRls to make use of the existing resources and there is also general

inefficiency in tax administration. However, under the Bihar Panchayati Raj Act

of 1993 the provision for the constitution of the state finance commission and the

enhancement of financial powers of PRls has raised hope for the better. The

sources of revenues for the PRls in Bihar and compulsory tax, optional taxes,
fees,. borrowings, general and specific government grants, income from

community assets, and levy a compulsory labour tax. However, it has been

observed that the Gram Panchayats in Bihar did not appear to have been

availing themselves of even the obligatory powers of taxation. The use of

optional powers of taxation including fees and rates are negligible.

Consequently, the income accruing from these resources for the whole of states

did not exceed Rs. 25 lakhs to Rs. 30 lakhs in a year. Apathy and reluctance on

the part of Mukhiyas in particular, and of executive committees of Gram

Panchayats in general, uninspiring performance of Panchayats which

discouraged people from paying taxes and fees and lack of provision in the Act

for penalization for Mukhiyas for failure to levy and collect even the obligatory

taxes are some of the factors for this ineffective tax collection by the Panchayats.

'The revenue of the Panchayat Samiti consists of: taxes of water supply,

irrigation, fees on cycles, cycle rickshaws, tolls on fairs, hats and ferries; grants

from the government; income from non-tax revenue; aids received from other

bodies; and adhoc grants from Zila Parishads; donations and contributions from

local bodies; and borrowings. However, the income from various sources are

very meagre. The Panchayat Samiti is reluctant to levy and collect the taxes and

fees for fear of becoming unpopular.

The Zila Parishad, being a non-executive body, itself does not have an

independent financial resources under the act of 1961. Its resources include

government grants; borrowings with the approval of the government; donations

and contributions from the Samiti and any other institutions; proceeds of the local
cess; and income from endowment and trusts administered by the Parishad. The

grants from the government and the share in the local cess are the mainstay of

the Parishad. It is, however, faced with unstable financial position because the

flow of grant is inadequate. The state government delayed for years, the release

of shares of the Parishad in cess and taxes2'

So the constitution of the State Finance Commission under the

Chairmanship of R.K. Srivastava has pinned high hopes for financially starved

PRls in Bihar. The Bihar Panchayati Raj Act of 1993 empowers it to evaluate the

financial conditions of the Zila Parishads. Panchayat Samitis, and Gram

Panchayats and to recommend to the State Government about the division of the

state tax proceeds between the State Government and the PRls and among the

PRls. The report of the Finance Commission will be laid in the two houses of the

State Legislatures by the Governor. Moreover, the State Government shall

constitute an appropriate organization for the audit of the funds of the

Panchayats.

So far the implementation of rural development programmes are

concerned the Panchayats are not substantively involved. In fact, the

bureaucracy in Bihar has hegemonised the ~ ~ 1 Insthe

. preparation
~ of block

level plans of development, the bureaucracy has tended often to bypass the

Samiti members. At the district level also, there has hardly been any

consultations between the three agencies, namely, the Zila Parishad, the DRDA

and the District Planning Officers, engaged in development planning in their

respective sectors. There is also inadequate coordination between the District

Planning Board and the Block Development Office. Moreover, the vested

interests have grabbed, by and large, the benefits of the Panchayats operated

programmes and services. Only in 1989 when theJRY was introduced, money

directly went into the hand of the PRls from the Centre and the PRls were in

position to exercise their powers in implementing the JRY schemes. But,

unfortunately, these schemes were exploited in favour of dominant sections of

the society, the most disheartening feature is that whenever the JRY funds are

released to the State Government by the Centre, these money are utilized for

paying the salaries of University and College teachers (this fact was admitted by

the then Chief Minister Shri Lalloo Prasad Yadav in the meeting of Chief Minister

in the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India).

SUMMING UP

Though the 1993 Panchayati Raj Act of Bihar is most exhaustive and

gives adequate powers to the PRls, the PRls in Bihar have really been in very

bad shape since its inception todate. It can be said that either they exist on

paper or they have become a toy play in the hands of the local elites and state

politicians. Various factors, such as, organizational (leadership, bureaucracy,

resources), environmental (social conflicts, inequality, illiteracy, poverty) and the

State Government's apathy are responsible for this dismal position of rural local

self-government in Bihar. As the PRls have been either superseded or elections

could not be held for a long time, people in general had lost faith in these

institutions. But of late, the lost faith of the masses have been restored to some

extent as the Panchayat election have been recently held in accordance with the
provisions of the new Act. People's faith in these institutions could be fully

restored if one strictly and honestly follow the provisions of the new Act in letter

and spirit. The political will to implement the provisions of the Act is crucial for

the 'realization of their potents. However, in our opinion, the PRls with a

constitutional status of own would make a difference in their future prospects.

Moreover, the renewal of leadership through periodic elections may provide the

rural masses education in the political process at the grass-root level. With this.

the future of the PRls may take a positive turn for the better.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

R.C. Prasad, Democracv and Development, Rachna Prakashan, New

Delhi, 1971, p.14.

Niranjan Pant, The Politics of Panchavati Rai Administration, Concept

Publishing Company, Delhi, 1979, pp.16-17.

S. Nagendra Arnbedkar, "Status of Panchayati Raj in Bihar: Some

Facets", in Journal of Rural Development, Vol.10, No.1, January 1991,
p.82.

Haridwar Rai and Awadhesh Prasad, "Bihar, in G. Ram Reddy (ed.),

Patterns of Panchavati Rai in India, The MacMillian Company of lndia
Limited, Delhi, 1977, pp.88-89.

lndu Bharti, "Decay of Gram Panchayats in Bihar, in Economic and

Political Weekly, Vol.XXIV, No.1, 7 January, 1989, p.18.

R.C. Prasad, op.,

p.54

lndu Bharti, m.,p.18.

Ibid., p.19
Awadesh Prasad, The Block Development Officer. A Portrait of
Bureaucracv in India, Associated Book Agency, Patna, 1976, p.152.

R.C. Prasad. "Participation and Development: The Area of Panchavati

Raj", in S.K. ~ h a r m a(ed.), Dynamics of Development, Vol.11, concept
Publishing Company. Delhi, 1977, p.606.

Niranjan Pant, op.cit.,,

p.75

S.N. Mishra, Politics and Society in Rural India, Inter-India Publications,

Delhi, 1980, p.85.

S. Nagendra Ambedkar, m.,p.84.

Arun Sinha, "Bihar: Politics of Panchayat Election", in Economic and
Political Weekly, Vol.XIII, No.24, 17 June, 1978, pp.982-83.

S. Nagendra Ambedkar, m..p.85.

R. Narayan, 'Bihar Panchayat Elections: Trial of Bitterness" in
Mainstream, Vol.XV1, No.42, 17 June, 1978, p.9.

Sharat Kumar, 'Panchayat Elections", in Economic and Political Weekly,

Vol.XIII, No.30, 29 July, 1978, p.1208.

lndu Bharti, oo.at.,

p.19.

T.D. Gupta, "Party less Polls to Power less Panchayats", in Economic and
Political Weekly, Vol.XXVIII, No.31, 31 July 1993, p.1567.

Shaibal Gupta. "New Panchayats and Subaltern Resurgence", in

Economic and Political Weekly, July 21, 2001, p.2742.

Ibid., p.2744

Ibid.

lbid,

lbid,

Kalpana Sharma, "Some Good News", in the Hindu Maaazine, July 29,
2001
27. Haridwar Rai and Awadhesh Prasad, op.cit..pp.84-85.

28. Ibid., p.86.

29. S.N. Mishra and S.S. Singh, Roads to Model Panchavati Rai, Mittal
Publications, New Delhi, 1993, p.177.