Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The Union Panchayati Raj Ministry
is initiating steps to reserve the expression
"panchayats" exclusively for "the
Panchayats" as referred to in Part IX of
the Constitution. This is being done to distinguish
the Constitutional panchayats from caste-based
panchayats that come up illegally to resolve
social issues.
`The State of the Panchayats, 2006: A mid-term
review and appraisal', brought out by the Union
Panchayati Raj Ministry describes the khap panchayats
or caste-based panchayats as extremely disturbing,
adding that illegitimate and possibly illegal
bodies call themselves `panchayats' and, base
themselves on extremely reactionary social practices
and even social abuse, thereby giving the Panchayati
Raj movement a bad name.
Tragically, the retrograde actions of these
khap panchayats (and similar other caste-based
organisations) are rather more widely reported
in the media than the regular work of the Constitutionally-sanctioned
Panchayati
Raj Institutions, the report points out.
These illegitimate caste-based associations
are not "panchayats" in the Constitutional
sense of the term and have no legitimacy under
the Constitution or law, it adds.
Draft ready
Meanwhile, the draft of the Bill for establishment
of nyaya panchayats or village level dispute
settlement mechanisms is ready and the Union
Panchayati Raj Ministry has recently received
the draft Bill for comments from the Union Ministry
of Law, Justice and Company Affairs.
The Panchayati Raj Ministry had appointed a
committee under the chairmanship of the former
Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Upendra Baxi
to prepare a draft bill for establishment of
nyaya panchayats. It was mandated to draft guidelines,
rules and explanatory rules for the proposed
law on informal dispute settlement mechanisms
at the village level.
Meanwhile, the report also suggests that there
has been a growing involvement with local governance
in other countries, particularly those in the
South Asian region and the developing world.
An agreement has been reached in principle
with Pakistan to establish an India-Pakistan
Working Group on decentralisation at the secretary-level
and an India-Pakistan Forum at the Ministerial
level.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/26/stories/2006112602221000.htm
