Previous Year Question

According to Article 243C(1) of the Constitution, subject to the provisions of Part IX, the Legislature of a State may, by law, make provisions with respect to the composition of Panchayats. Therefore, this power does not belong to the Governor, Parliament or the President.

The same Article provides an important condition that the ratio between the population of the territorial area of a Panchayat and the number of seats to be filled by election, so far as practicable, should be the same throughout the State. This is intended to maintain reasonable uniformity in Panchayat representation.

Under Article 243C(2), all elected seats in a Panchayat are filled by direct election from territorial constituencies in the Panchayat area. Each Panchayat area is divided into territorial constituencies in such a manner that, as far as practicable, the ratio between population and allotted seats remains uniform.

Article 243C(3) also empowers the State Legislature to make laws regarding representation of Chairpersons of village-level Panchayats, Members of Parliament, Members of State Legislatures and other specified representatives in intermediate or district-level Panchayats.

A useful distinction is that Article 243B deals with the constitution and levels of Panchayats, whereas Article 243C deals with their composition. An intermediate-level Panchayat is generally provided for, but it need not be constituted in a State having a population not exceeding 20 lakh.