What are the Powers of Gram Panchayat
The present new Panchayat Act has conferred various powers and responsibilities on the Village Panchayat on different fields. In performing its various duties and responsibilities, the Panchayat can give necessary instructions to different individuals, institutions or the owners of those institutions.
If any individual or institution neglects these instructions then the Panchayat performs that task at its own cost and then extracts that cost from that individual concerned.
In some fields the Panchayat has been given special power.
- First, for some social welfare activities, a number of village Panchayats may form a joint committee to perform it and those concerned Panchayats may also form some rules and regulations necessary in that regard.
- Secondly, the State Government can confer the responsibility of maintaining some of its landed property on the Panchayat.
- Thirdly, the Zilla Parishad can also confer some responsibilities on the Panchayat on the latters consent. In that case the Zilla Parishad and the concerned Village Panchayat may jointly formulate some rules and regulations necessary to perform those functions.
- Fourthly, the Village Panchayat can also confer any type of power and responsibility on any of its members or on all its members on the basis of the necessary proposals adopted by it.