Punjab Govt ordinance to amend Panchayati Raj Act

In 2008,an amendment was made in Section 19 of the Act which gave rights to two-thirds of the panches of a panchayat to pass a no-confidence motion against a sarpanch. The right was,however,misused by some. So the Department claims that keeping in view the larger public interest,the government has decided to revert to the old practice and proposed an amendment.

In October this year the state cabinet gave the nod to this amendment in the Panchayati Raj Act. The Cabinet,however,changed the proposal of the Department which stated that the same provisions which were prevalent before the 2008 amendment should be re-implemented.

These were that the members of the Gram Sabha had to move a no-confidence motion against the sarpanch after filing an application to the block development and panchayat officer. Also,no such application could be made before two years from the date on which the sarpanch assumes office.

Also the block development and panchayat officer,within 15 days of receipt of the application,would call a meeting of the gram sabha as he will give seven days time before calling the meeting and tell in the notice that it has been called to discuss a no-confidence motion. If the no-confidence motion is passed at the meeting,then a new sarpanch will be elected immediately.

If it is not passed,then for the next two years from the date the no confidence motion was rejected,no new no-confidence motion can be put again. However,the majority at the cabinet meeting disagreed with the proposal made by the Department and decided to change it such that only the state government would be authorised to remove the sarpanch.

The final draft ordinance in this regard was passed on Tuesday by the Governor. There are 12,500 villages in the state and panchayat elections are held every five years. These are not held on tickets of political parties but the parties support particular candidates and most of them go with the ruling party.