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State of West Bengal - Section

Section 32A in The West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973

32A. Constitution of Upa-Samitis and delegation of powers, functions and duties of Gram Panchayats to the Upa-Samitis.

(1)Subject to such direction as may be issued by the State Government in this behalf, a Gram Panchayat shall, as soon as may be within three months following the first meeting referred to in section 9, constitute Upa-Samitis as referred to in sub-section (2) and delegate its powers, functions and duties to such Upa-Samitis, in such manner as may be prescribed.
(2)Without prejudice to the generality of any other provisions of this Act, a Gram Panchayat shall constitute in such manner as may be prescribed the following Upa-Samitis:-
(i)Artha O Parikalpana Upa-Samiti,
(ii)Krishi O Pranisampad Bikas Upa-Samiti,
(iii)Siksha O Janasasthya Upa-Samiti,
(iv)Nari, Sishu Unnayan O Samaj Kalyan Upa-Samiti,
(v)Shilpa O Parikathama Upa-Samiti, and
(vi)such other Upa-Samiti as the Gram Panchayat may, subject to the approval of the State Government, constitute.
(3)The Upa-Samitis referred to in sub-section (2) shall consist of the following members:-
(a)the Pradhan and the Upa-Pradhan, ex officio;
(b)such number of members as may be prescribed, to be elected by the members from among themselves; and
(c)such number of members as may be appointed by the State Government by any general or special order:-
(i)from among the officials of the Panchayat bodies having jurisdiction, the State Government or any Statutory Board, Corporation or Organisation or any individual official receiving grant, financial assistance or remuneration from the State Exchequer, and
(ii)any person having any specialised knowledge about the locality or any area of activity;
(d)the Artha O Parikalpana Upa-Samiti shall have [the leader of the recognised political party in opposition having largest number of members in the Gram Panchayat and] [Inserted by W.B. Act No. 8 of 2010, dated 13.5.2010.] the Sanchalaks elected in the manner as mentioned in sub-section (4), as members of the Upa-Samiti and shall have no other member referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (3);
(e)the Nari, Sishu Unnayan O Samaj Kalyan Upa-Samiti shall have not less than half of the members referred to in clause (b), elected from among the women members of the Gram Panchayat, in the manner as may be prescribed.
[Provided that when in a Gram Panchayat, there is a single member in opposition affiliated to a recognised political party, he shall become such member of the said Upa-Samiti and in case, there is no member in opposition affiliated to any recognised political party, the independent member in opposition who is seniormost in age or, when there is only one independent member in opposition, the said member shall become such member of the said Upa-Samiti.] [Added by W.B. Act No. 8 of 2010, dated 13.5.2010.][Explanation I. [Inserted by W.B. Act No. 8 of 2010, dated 13.5.2010.] - For the purpose of this clause, a member of the Gram Panchayat shall be considered a member in opposition if in the election of the Pradhan under section 9, he did not cast his vote in favour of the winning candidate or has abstained himself from casting his vote in the said election.Explanation II. - If two or more recognized political parties have equal number of members elected to the Gram Panchayat, the leader of the recognized political party placed higher in the sequential arrangement in the relevant notification issued by the Election Commission of India shall be chosen as such member.] [[Proviso first inserted by W.B. Act 18 of 1994, then substituted by W.B. Act 15 of 1997. Previous proviso was as under:-'Provided further that a Gram Panchayat shall not accord permission for erection of a new structure, or construction of a new building, having provisions for erection or construction, as the case may be of any dry latrine, by whatever name called.'.]]
(4)Members of each Upa-Samiti shall elect one member from among themselves in such manner as may be prescribed to act as Sanchalak for such Upa-Samiti and such Sanchalak shall be responsible for convening the meetings of such Upa-Samiti, co-ordinate functions of members within such Upa-Samiti and prepare and place report of actions taken or proposed to be taken relating to such Upa-Samiti within the budgetary provision of the Gram Panchayat to the Pradhan and the Gram Panchayat from time to time:Provided that the Pradhan of the Gram Panchayat shall be the ex officio Sanchalak of the Artha O Parikalpana Upa-Samiti:Provided further that the Sanchalak for Nari, Sishu Unnyan O Samaj Kalyan Upa-Samiti shall be elected from among the women members of the Upa-Samiti:Provided also that the members referred to in clause (c) of sub-section (3) shall not be eligible for election as Sanchalak and they shall not have any right to vote.
(5)[ Subject to such provision as may be prescribed and without prejudice to the general control and authority of Gram Panchayat, the Upa-Samiti shall devise its own procedure for holding the meetings and for performing functions as may be assigned to it.] [Substituted by W.B. Act No. 8 of 2010, dated 13.5.2010.]
(6)The members of the Upa-Samitis may, -
(a)take, subject to the direction of the Pradhan, the assistance of the employees of the Gram Panchayat,
(b)seek advice and help of the employees of the State Government of any Department at the appropriate level in discharge of their duties,
(c)place before the Pradhan and the Gram Panchayat a proposal for execution of a scheme, programme or project within the budgetary provisions of the Gram Panchayat for such purpose when the Pradhan or the Gram Panchayat shall consider the proposal for execution and for sanction of funds:
Provided that the Pradhan shall not sanction any fund for a scheme, programme or project without considering the views of the members of the Upa-Samiti to whom powers have been delegated by the Gram Panchayat with respect to such scheme, programme or project,
(d)call for any information, return, statement, account or report from the office of the Gram Panchayat and enter on and inspect any immovable property of the Gram Panchayat or inspect any work in progress connected with the functions and duties of the Upa-Samiti,
(e)exercise such other powers, perform such other functions and discharge such other duties, as the Gram Panchayat may, by general or special resolution, direct or as the State Government may, by rules made in this behalf, prescribe.
(7)Each Upa-Samiti shall hold at least six meetings in a year in the office of the Gram Panchayat.
(8)[ When a vacancy occurs in the office of a Sanchalak or a member of an Upa-Samiti by resignation, death, removal or otherwise, the members of the Upa-Samiti shall elect another Sanchalak or the members of the Gram Panchayat shall elect another member, as the case may be, in the prescribed manner, and the Sanchalak or the member so elected shall hold office for the unexpired portion of the term of the office of the person in whose place he is elected.] [Inserted by W.B. Act No. 8 of 2010, dated 13.5.2010.]
Section 32A first inserted by W.B. Act 17 of 1992, then substituted by W.B. Act 15 of 1997 and finally substituted by W.B. Act 8 of 2003. Previous Section 32A was as under:-"32A. Delegation of powers, functions and duties ofGram Panchayatsto its members.- (1) Subject to such direction as may be issued by the State Government in this behalf, aGram Panchayatshall, as soon as may be within three months following the first meeting referred to in section 9, by a resolution carried by the majority of the existing members at a meeting specially convened for the purpose, arrange its powers, functions or duties referred to in Chapter III of this Act, into such number of sets as it may consider necessary and delegate powers, functions or duties relating to any such set or sets to one member or a group of members, severally or jointly as it may think fit:Provided that theGram Panchayatmay take one or more such resolutions in different meetings on different dates:Provided further that each member of theGram Panchayatshall be delegated, severally or jointly, one or more such sets of powers, functions or duties.(2) When aGram Panchayatdelegates powers, functions or duties to a group of members, theGram Panchayatshall also nominate one member from the group to act as Convenor for the group and such Convenor shall be responsible for convening the meetings of the group, shall co-ordinate functions of members within the group and prepare and place report of actions taken or proposed to be taken to thePradhanand theGram Panchayatfrom time to time:Provided that the group shall devise its own procedure for holding the meetings and for performing other functions subject to the direction of theGram Panchayatand the State Government.(3) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions under sub-section (1), theGram Panchayatshall form one or more sets of powers, functions or duties relating to development of women and children, welfare of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, family welfare and other social welfare programmes and shall delegate powers, functions or duties with respect to any such set to one woman member or a group of members and in any such group, women shall comprise not less than half members:Provided that for such group, the Convenor referred to in sub-section (2) shall be a woman.(4) The delegation referred to in sub-section (1) or sub-section (3) shall not prejudice the powers, functions and duties of thePradhanor theUpa-Pradhanunder section 34:Provided also that no financial power shall be delegated to any such member, severally or jointly.(5) The member or the group of members referred to in sub-section (1) or sub-section (3), may -(a) take, subject to the directions of thePradhans, the assistance of the employees of theGram Panchayat,(b) seek advice and help of the employees of the State Government of any Department at the appropriate level in discharge of their duties,(c) may place before thePradhanandGram Panchayata proposal for execution of a scheme, programme or project and may seek sanction of fund for such purpose and thePradhanor theGram Panchayatshall consider the proposal for execution and for sanction of fund:Provided that thePradhanshall not sanction any fund for a scheme, programme or project without considering the views of the member or the group of members to whom powers have been delegated by theGram Panchayatwith respect to such scheme, programme or project.(6) TheGram Panchayatmay, at any time, by a resolution carried by the majority of the existing members at a meeting specially convened for the purpose, rearrange, modify or withdraw such delegation and again delegate the powers, functions or duties so withdrawn to another member or a group of members, as the case may be.".