Suchergebnisse

The word panchayat is derived from the word pancha panchasvanusthitah, has references in to the existence of Grama Sanghas or rural communities. The institution of Panchayati Raj is as old as Indian civilization itself. It was in existence since ancient periods, having an effective control over civil and judicial matters in the village community. The Rigveda, Manusamhita, Dharmashastras, Upanishads, Jatakas and others, refer extensively to local administration, i.e. the panchayat system of administration. In the Manusmriti and Shantiparva of Mahabharata, there are many references to the existence of Grama Sanghas or village councils. The earliest reference to panchayat is derived from the word Pancha, that refers to an institution of the five (pancha panchasvanusthitah) is found in the Shanti-Parva of Mahabaratha, pancha and panchavanustitah are semantically close to panchayat. A description of these village councils are also found in Arthashastra of Kautilya who lived in 400 B.C. Arthashstra gives a comprehensive account of the system of village administration prevailing in his time. Self-governing village communities characterized by agrarian economies existed in India from the earliest times. It is mentioned in Rigveda that dates from approximately 200 B.C. The village was the basic unit of administration in the Vedic period. The most remarkable feature of the early Vedic polity consisted in the institution of popular assemblies of which two namely 'Sabha', and the 'Samiti' deserve special mention. In the course of time, village bodies took the form of panchayats that looked into the affairs of the village. They had the powers to enforce law and order. Customs and religion elevated them to the sacred position of authority.

Premised on the proposition that Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) is imperative for improving the performance of irrigation systems, this study endeavors to examine the performance of tail-end Water User Associations (WUAs) in Tamil Nadu. For this purpose, Tail-end deprivation is the pervasive issue in canal irrigation, applying cluster random sampling design, one of the nine major irrigation systems of Tamil Nadu viz. Sathanur irrigation system is selected for this study. Among the two districts served by this irrigation system, five tail-end WUAs under Villupurm District are chosen for data collection. Based on in-depth interviews with presidents of Tail-end WUAs and focus group interviews with farmers of Tail-end villages, this article articulates the predicaments of canal water management adversely affecting irrigated agriculture as well as farmer's participation in irrigation management at the tail-end villages in a major irrigation system. The multi-village and multi caste composition of WUAs formed on hydrological basis pose impediments to organisation of collective action in tail-end villages. Further, gender disaggregated data depicts the impact of irrigation water source on the pattern of livelihood of land farmers in tail-end WUAs. Accordingly, this article argues that the persistence of hydraulic exclusion of tail-end farmers organized beneath the legislative paradigm of participatory irrigation management largely reproduce defunct WUAs, informal market of water hiring, landed agricultural labourers and women exclusion among tail-end farmers in large-scale irrigation systems.

The health department is mainly responsible for infrastructure and the quality of health and family planning services. Other health-related considerations fall beyond the health department. The maternal mortality rate (MMR) in rural areas, for example, is deeply rooted in early marriage, early pregnancy and frequent pregnancy. These are social and cultural practices that need to be effectively handled by the community itself. If panchayats mobilise and sensitise people to health issues, notably, the need to raise the age of marriage manage anaemia, promote FP and remove men's ignorance and indifference, and there is effective partnership between the health department and panchayats, change could be effected.

Panchayats implement many development programmes and provide basic public services to the citizens in their respective areas. All public services are paid for by individual citizens, either directly or indirectly through taxes. Therefore, the question arises - How to make Panchayats appreciate the needs of the citizens and improve the quality of public services? The answer probably lies in the 'Citizen Charter.' The citizens have the right to expect a particular quality of service that is responsive to their needs and Panchayats are obliged to provide the required services efficiently at a reasonable cost. Thus, the Citizen Charter is a practical proposition in terms of involving and motivating the elected representatives, Panchayat officials and the citizens to work out and adopt a more responsive Panchayat set-up with increased transparency and efficient service delivery as per citizens' needs. Panchayat Citizens' Charter preserves the trust between the citizens and Panchayats, helps to make the citizens aware of their rights and also makes Panchayats accountable to citizens.

Women are the foundational core for a well-developed and integrated society. Women empowerment is a way to enlighten women by acknowledging their self-worth and ability to make choices. Government on the other hand is responsible for a stable society. Government and people need to work together for a better nation. For people to trust the government, they should have power in their hands and have a say in decision-making. This is the main purpose of introduction of Panchayat Raj Institutions as local level government which would enable people to solve their problems with immediate and proficient solutions. Development of a nation needs to base on developing all sectors and classes of society. This led to the reservation system to empower certain classes. For the same reason reservation for women was bought in PRI's. Several debates were made against reservation but the government's striving efforts led to a better future for women. This paper aims at analyzing the various reservations made for women through various bills and amendments and the oppositions made against them.