Administrative sanction powers for works in Grampanchayats

The Government of erstwhile Andhrapradesh has issued orders for according administrative sanction for works to be taken up by Grampanchayats in erstwhile State 

(G.O.Ms. No. 58, PR & RD (Estt.III) Department, Dt. 06.02.1999)

             After careful consideration and in supersession of all earlier orders, Government hereby order that the Major Gram Panchayats shall accord administrative sanction to Civil Works up to Rs.2,00,000/- and Minor Gram Panchayats shall accord administrative sanction up to Rs1,00,000/-For Civil Works costing over and above Rs. 1,00,000/ 2,00,000/- in Minor/ Major Gram Panchayats, but up to Rs.3,00,000/— the administrative sanction shall be  issued by the Divisional Panchayat Officer; and that over and above Rs. 3,00,000/- administrative sanction shall be issued only by the District Collector These powers are applicable to all works under all grants. It is also ordered that all the Gram Panchayats should call for the Gram Sabhas, prioritise the works and prepare annual budgets and submit them to the Divisional Panchayat Officers for approval. The Divisional Panchayat Officers are entrusted with the duty of approving annual budget of each Gram Panchayat and also the Civil Works as budget of each Gram Panchayat and also the Civil Works as per Section 77 of the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act.

              The Gram Panchayats should not take up works over and above the financial viability of respective Gram Panchayats. The Executive Officers and Extension Officer (Panchayats) are ordered that they should frequently inspect the Civil Works and ensure the quality and standard of the works.

        This order will come into force with immediate effect.

RULES FOR PROCEEDINGS OF GRAM PANCHAYATS AND COMMITTEES THEREOF

RULES RELATING TO THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE GRAM PANCHAYATS
AND THE COMMITTEES THEREOF

(G.O. Ms. N0.227, P.R., R.D. & Relief (Pts - II) dated. 13.4.1995)

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 268 read with subsection (l) of Section 41 and Section 42 of the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (Act No. 13 of 1994), the Governor of Andhra Pradesh hereby makes the following rules relating to the proceedings of the Gram Panchayats and the committees thereof:

PART -1

RULES REGARDING PROCEEDINGS OF GRAM PANCHAYATS
AND COMMITTEES THEREOF

1.  Every Gram Panchayat shall provide an office in such a place and subject to such conditions as may be specified in Annexure appended to these rules and as may be specified by the Government by a general or special order.

2. Every Gram Panchayat shall meet at least once in every month in its office for the transaction of business upon such days and at such times as it may arrange and also at other times as often as a meeting shall be called by the Sarpanch.

3. 

1. No meeting of the Gram Panchayat shall be held unless notice of the day and time when and the place where the meeting to be held and of the business to be transacted thereat has been given at least three clear days before the day of the meeting.
2. In cases of urgency, the Sarpanch may convene a meeting on giving shorter notice than that specified in sub-rule (1).

4. 

1. The Sarpanch of a Gram Panchayat shall, on the requisition in writing of not less than one third of the members then on the Gram Panchayat, convene a meeting of the Gram panchayat, provided that requisition specifies the period within which and the purpose for which the meeting is to be held. The requisition shall be delivered at the Office of the Gram Panchayat during Office hours to the Sarpanch, Executive Officer or any other person who may then be incharge of the office, at least ten clear days before the day of the meeting.
2. If the Sarpanch fails within five days from the delivery of such requisition to call a meeting on any day within the period specified in the requisition for the consideration of the purpose mentioned therein a meeting may be called on any suitable day within the period aforesaid by the members who signed the requisition on giving the notice provided for in sub-rule (1) of rule 3 to the other members of the Gram Panchayat.
3. No meeting under sub-rule (l) or sub-rule (2) shall bc convened at any place other than the place where the office of the Gram Panchayat is situated.

5. All the meetings of the Gram Panchayat shall be open to the public, provided that presiding member may, in any particular case, direct that the public generally or any particular person shall withdraw.

6. Every question which comes before a Gram Panchayat at any meeting shall be decided by a majority of the members present and voting at the meeting and in case of equality of votes, the presiding member shall have and exercise a second or casting vote. When a resolution is not carried unanimously, the names of the members who vote for and against it be recorded.

7. No business shall be transacted at a meeting of any Gram Panchayat unless there resent at least one third of number of members then on the Gram Panchayat.

8. If within half an hour after the time appointed for a meeting quorum is not present, meeting shall stand adjourned, unless all the members present agree to wait longer.

9.  An attendance register shall be maintained in which the presiding member shall obtain the signature of all the members present at the meeting noting time of arrival and departure.

10. No resolution of a Gram Panchayat should be modified or cancelled within three months after the passing thereof except at a meeting specially convened in that behalf and by resolution of the Gram Panchayat supported by not less than one half of the total strength of members.

11. Minutes of the proceedings at every meeting of a Gram Panchayat shall be drawn n the chief language of the village and entered in a book to be kept for that purpose and shall be signed by the presiding member, and the said minutes shall be read and recorded at the next meeting and at all reasonable times without charge be open at the office of the Gram Panchayat to the inspection of any person who pays any tax under this Act.

12. The executive authority of a Gram Panchayat shall have the custody of the proceedings and records of the Gram Panchayat and of the Committees thereof and may grant copies of any such proceedings or records on payment of such fees as prescribed in Part-III of these rules. Copies shall be certified by the Executive authority, as provided in section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and copies so certified may be used to prove the proceedings and records of the Gram Panchayat or a Committee in the same manner, as the proceedings of a municipal body may under sub-section (5) of Section 78 of the said Act, be used to prove the proceedings of that body.

13. Rules 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 mutatis mutandis apply to the proceedings of Committee of the Gram Panchayat.

14. The proceedings of every committee appointed by a Gram Panchayat shall be recorded in writing and submitted to the Gram Panchayat.

PART-II
RELATING TO PROCEEDINGS OF GRAM PANCHAYATS
AND COMMITTEES THEREOF.

15. No member shall vote on, or take part in the discussion of any question coming up for consideration at a meeting of the Gram Panchayat, in any matter in which, apart from its general application to the public, he has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest whether by himself or through some other person.

16. The sarpanch may prohibit any member from voting on, or taking part in the discussion of any question in which he believes such member to have such pecuniary interest or he may require such member to absent himself during the discussions.

17. Such member may challenge the decision of the Sarpanch who shall thereupon put the question to the meeting. The decision of the meeting shall be final. The member concerned shall be entitled to vote on the question.

18. If the Sarpanch is believed by any member present at the meeting to have pecuniary interest in any question under discussion and if a motion is carried to that effect, the Sarpanch shall not vote on or take part in such discussion.

19. Rules 15 to 18 shall mutatis mutandis apply to the proceedings of the committee of the Gram Panchayat.

PART- III
GRANT OF COPIES OF PROCEEDINGS OR RECORDS

20. A person requiring copies or extracts from proceedings or records of a Gram Panchayat shall submit an application (giving his full name and address and an accurate description of the proceedings of record as possible) to the executive authority of the Gram Panchayat. When the proceedings or records, copies or the extracts from which are applied for, belong to any year prior to the current calendar year, a search fee according to the scale specified below shall be remitted to the Gram Panchayat as soon as the application has been admitted:

1. For searching records of any one year for a single Rs. 2-50 document or entry.
2. For searching the records of every additional year. Rs. 1-25

NOTES:

1. A separate application need not be presented in respect of each   proceeding or record of which a copy or extract is required,
2. Enclosures or annexures to letters, accounts or other documents form part of the documents to which they pertain shall not be reckoned for purposes of search as separate documents.

21. If the record is not found, the fee paid shall not be refunded but the applicant shall be furnished with a certificate stating that the documents applied for cannot be found.

22. 

1. If the record is found and the executive authority decides to grant copies of or extracts from it, the applicant shall deposit in cash, a fee of twenty- five paise for every 175 words or part thereof.
2. In the case of Statements or extracts from Registers where figures have to copied. five figures shall be taken as equivalent to one word.
3. In the case of maps or plans, a reasonable fee shall be fixed by the Executive authority in consultation with the engineering staff in charge of the Gram Panchayat works.

23. The Executive authority shall intimate to the applicant the fees chargeable for the copy of, or extract from the proceedings or record. On receipt of the fee he shall have the copies, extracts or tracings prepared. The copies of or extracts shall then be certified by him as true after scrutiny in office and furnished to the applicant if he appears in person to receive them, or sent by post if the applicant has deposited the necessary postage stamps for the purpose.

24. A receipt signed by the Executive authority or any person empowered by him in this behalf shall be furnished to every person depositing search fees or copying fees.

25. If the Executive authority considers the grant of the copy of or extracts from any proceedings or record of confidential nature, he shall reject the application by an endorsement stating briefly the reasons for doing so.

26. Rules 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 shall mutatis mutandis apply to the proceedings of a committee of a Gram Panchayat.

27. The proceedings of every committee appointed by a Gram Panchayat shall be recorded in writing and submitted to the Gram Panchayat.

ANNEXURE

1. Every Gram Panchayat shall provide a building for location of its office by constructing one by itself or by taking one on rent or free of rent and its office shall be located therein.
2. The building referred to above shall be:
   
   1. as far as possible in the centre of the main village.
   2. a place accessible to all the members of the Gram Panchayat and to all castes and communities.
3. The office of the Gram Panchayat once located in a building not owned by the Gram Panchayat shall not be shifted to any other building, except upon a specific resolution passed by the gram panchayat for the purpose supported by not less than three fourths of the sanctioned strength and with the previous approval of the District Collector.
4. No building belonging to the Sarpanch, Upa-Sarpanch or Members or their relations shall be used for the office of the Gram Panchayat without the previous approval of the District Collector concerned.

EXPLANATION: In the determination of the three fourths of the sanctioned strength of the Gram Panchayats under this rule, any fraction arrived at shall be ignored.

NOTE: The District Collector may, at his discretion in deserving cases, relax any of the conditions stipulated above.

DECISIONS

Resolutions passed or decisions taken by Gram Sabha or Gram Panchayat should be in conformity with rules: Gram Sabha or Gram Panchayat does not have absolute powers while passing resolutions or taking decisions, The resolutions passed or decisions taken by those bodies must be in conformity with rules. The resolution passed by the Gram Panchayat to construct the office building at the Diguvakamma Kandrika is not in accordance with G.O.Ms.No. 227 Dt. 13-04-1995. Therefore, the direction of the District Collector that the Gram Panchayat office building should be constructed at Eguvakamma vari Kandrika, which is the central place of the village, as per the provisions contained in G.O.No. 227 cannot be faulted. Eguvakamma vari kandrika Gram Panchayat v. District Collector, Chittoor and others. 2004 (1) ALD (NOC) 30.

Collector has no power to interfere with resolutions pass by PRIs: There cannot be any doubt whatsoever that Government man, eithere suo motu or on a reference made to it by the executive authority, is entitled to cancel any resolution p;assed by Grampanchayat on the grounds in Section.246. Under sub-section(3) the Collector can make a report to the Government to suspend the resolution. in the instance case, the Government did not exercise any such power but the District Collector interfered with the resolujtion passed by the Grampanchayat. In our consdiered opinion, the Collector could not have intered with resolution passed by the Grampanchayat. Eguvakamma Kanddrika Grampanchayat/v.Collector, Chittoor.2004(2)ALT317(DB).

RULES RELATING TO THE HOLDING OF MEETINGS OF THE GRAM SABHA.

RULES RELATING TO THE HOLDING OF MEETINGS OF THE GRAM SABHA.

( Panchayat Raj &smp; Rural Development (Pts-I) Department,

G.O.Ms.No.162.

Dt. 04-04-1997

As amended by:

1. G.O.Ms.No. 367, P.R & R.D (Pts-I) Dt. 28.08.1998

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (1 ) , (3) and (4) of section 6 read with clause (xxvi) of sub-section (2) of Section 268 of the Andhra Pradesh, Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (Act No. 13 of 1994), the Government of Andhra Pradesh hereby makes the following rules relating to the holding of meetings of the Gram Sabha.

RULES:

¹[1. "Two common dates namely, the 14th April and 3rd October in a year shall be fixed for the conduct of Gram Sabha meetings. The Divisional Panchayat Officer shall prepare a common list of Officers by consulting the Mandal Parishad Development Officers and Mandal Revenue Officers in his jurisdiction and allot such Officers in his jurisdiction and allot such Officers available in the Division to attend the Gram Sabha in all Gram Panchayats. This action of the Divisional Panchayat Officer i.e., allotment of Officers should be over by the 7th of April and 25th of September in the year"]

2. The meeting shall be held at such place, within the limits of the Gram Panchayat as considered convenient and sufficient to accommodate the members of the Gram Sabha. The meetings of the Gram Sabha may be held in rotation in each of the constituent villages of the Gram Panchayats.

3. The meeting may be held at any time during the day between sunrise and sunset.

4.

1. No meeting shall be held unless notice of the place where and of the day and time when, the meeting is to be held and of the business to be transacted thereat has been given at least two clear days before the day of the meeting.
2. The notice referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be given:-
   1. by beat of drum in the village;
   2. by affixing the notice at three conspicuous places in the village;
   3. by affixing the notice on the notice board of the gram panchayat office.

5.

1. The Sarpanch shall, on a requisition in writing from not less than 50 or 10% of the members of the Gram Sabha, whichever is higher, convene a meeting of the Gram Sabha provided the requisition specifies the day, when, and the purpose for which the meeting is to be held. The requisition shall be delivered at the office of the Gram Panchayat during office hours to the Sarpanch or the Executive Officer or any other person, who may be then incharge of the office, at least five days before the day of the proposed meeting.
2. If the Sarpanch fails to call a meeting on the day specified therein, the meeting may be called by the members who signed the requisition on giving the notice provided for in rule 4.

6. All questions which may come up before such meeting shall be decided by ascertaining the consensus of the opinion of the members of the Gram Sabha present at the meeting through the speeches delivered by the members of the Gram Sabha. At the end of meeting the presiding member shall read the proceedings of the Gram Sabha and get the approval of the members. The members shall raise their hands in token of their approval.

7. The meeting of the Gram Sabha may be adjourned if the members present thereat agree to it.

8. The presiding member may, at the meeting of the Gram Sabha answer qUestions put by the members relating to the matters placed before the Gram Sabha.

9. An attendance register shall be maintained in which the presiding member shall obtain the signatures or thumb impressions, as the case may be, of all the members present at the meeting of Gram Sabha.

10. The proceedings of a meeting shall be in the principal language of the village,

11. Minutes of the proceedings of every meeting shall be drawn up and entered in a book to be kept for the purpose and shall be signed by the presiding member of the meeting. The suggestions, if any, of the meeting shall be reported by the presiding member to the Gram Panchayat at its next meeting for its due consideration.

12. In addition to the matter as listed under clauses (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v) of sub-section(3) of Section 6, of the Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 the following matter shall be placed before the Gram Sabha under clauses (vi) of the above said provisos for its consideration, namely the village agricultural production plans ;

1. the work of village volunteer force;
2. the work of Defence Labour Banks ;
3. the utilization of land funds ;
4. the work of Co-operatives ;
5. the list of the location of the common lands in villages i.e. porambokes vesting in and other relevant particulars ;
6. the list of transfers of ownership of houses and other immovable properties;
7. a copy of the approved budget estimates of the Gram Panchayat;
8. a copy of the audit report on the accounts of the Gram Panchayat; and
9. a list of defaulters, who are in arrears of payment of taxes and fees due to Gram Panchayat.

13.

1. The executive authority shall maintain two bound registers one for writing meeting notice-cum-agenda and minutes and another for Attendance of the members at meeting.
2. Besides giving advance notice about the meeting and its agenda, the agenda copy shall also be distributed to all the members present in the meeting before the start of the meeting.
3. The village administrative officer may also be directed to attend the Gram Sabha meeting"]