Previous Year Question
Who proposed the idea of a three-tier Panchayati Raj system?
Correct Answer: A
Detailed Solution
The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee recommended the three tier Panchayati Raj system in India. The Committee was constituted in 1957 in the context of reviewing the functioning of the Community Development Programme and the National Extension Service.
It recommended an institutional structure of democratic decentralisation involving bodies at the village, block and district levels. The original recommendations published by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj refer to Village Panchayats, an elected Panchayat Samiti at the block level and a district-level body forming part of this decentralised structure.
The three-tier model is generally understood as—
Village level — Gram Panchayat
Block level — Panchayat Samiti
District level — Zila Parishad
Material from the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj also associates the recommendation for a three-tier decentralised structure with the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee.
Important fact: The later Ashok Mehta Committee recommended a two-tier system, consisting broadly of the Zila Parishad and Mandal Panchayat.