Context: Recently, the Bombay High Court passed an interim order directing that a government servant of the local authority be appointed as an administrator of gram panchayats in Maharashtra.

• It is for the 15,000 panchayats where the terms of these officers have ended or would be ending.
• These administrators include sarpanch, secretary of the panchayats and gram sevaks.

Key Points

• Petition Against Recent Decisions: The order came after petitions were filed against a recent Government Resolutions (GR) issued by the State Rural Development Department and Maharashtra Village Panchayat (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.
• Through these, the Maharashtra government ordered appointment of administrators to all gram panchayats by zilla parishad chief executive officers (CEO) in consultation with their respective district ministers.
• The resolution and ordinance were challenged on various grounds related to the appointment of private individuals as administrators of gram panchayats.
• It also challenged the section 151 of the Maharashtra Village Panchayats Act by allowing appointment of administrators in case the State Election Commission (SEC) could not hold elections due to a natural calamity, pandemic, financial emergency or administrative emergency.

High Court's Argument

• Questioned Private Appointments: The Court ordered that the administrator to be appointed, should be a government servant or an officer from the local authority.
• If not available and the appointment of a private individual is to be made, then each such order shall record the reasons because of which such officer was not available.
• The criteria that administrators have to be “a resident of the village and on the voters’ list'' is directory, not mandatory in nature.
• Local Authority Officers: The court emphasised that local authority offices should be the first choice for appointment as an administrator.
• Impact on Local Governance: The Court admitted that working of the gram panchayat will be affected if the administrator is not appointed, however it also emphasised the need to address the concerns regarding the appointment of the private individual.
• According to the court private individuals appointment is not warranted in law and such mass appointments will have a lasting adverse impact on the local governance in terms of efficiency, impartiality and effectiveness of the work.

State Government’s Argument

• Urgent Need: It stated that there is an urgent need for administrators to run the panchayats as pandemic has halted the election process.
• Overburdened Officers: There are a large number of gram panchayats in the State and the government servants are already overburdened. So, it is difficult to appoint them as administrators.

About Gram Sabha

• It is the fulcrum of the Panchayati Raj and village development. People use the forum of the Gram Sabha to discuss local governance and development, and make need- based plans for the village. 
• The Panchayat implements development programs under the overarching mandate, supervision and monitoring of the Gram Sabha. 
• All decisions of the Panchayat are taken through the Gram Sabha and no decision is official and valid without the consent of the Gram Sabha.

Constitutionality of Gram Sabha

• The term Gram Sabha is defined in the Constitution of India under Article 243(b). Gram Sabha is the Sabha of the electorate. All other institutions of the Panchayati Raj like the Gram Panchayat, Block Panchayat and Zilla Parishad are constituted by elected representatives.
• Persons, those who are above 18 years of age, living in the village and whose names are included in the electoral rolls for the Panchayat at the village level are the members of Gram Sabha.

Functions of Gram Sabha

• The Constitution mentions that the Gram Sabha exercises such powers and performs such functions at the village level as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide [Art 243G]
• Report of activities undertaken by the Gram Panchayat since the last Gram Sabha is presented and the resolutions and suggestions of the last Gram Sabha and the action by the Panchayat there on.
• Discussions are held about distribution of rations, old age pension, pension for handicapped etc, in Panchayat limits.
• The Gram Sabha also discusses problems of enrolment of all children in the schools, their attendance and development of schools in its jurisdiction.

Differences between Gram Panchayat and Gram Sabha

• Gram Panchayat is the lower element of the Panchayati Raj that functions at the village level with the welfare and development of the village in mind while Gram Sabha is the legislative body that operates at the village level and takes into account the annual budget and audit reports of the Gram Panchayat
• Gram Panchayat is a temporary body, as the members of the panchayat are elected for a term of five years while Gram Sabha is a permanent body.
• The Gram Panchayat consists of ward members and Sarpanch while the Gram Sabha consists of every person whose name is registered in the voter list of the perspective village.
• The members of the Gram Panchayat are directly elected by the members of the Gram Sabha while the members of Gram Sabha are not elected.
• Every month a meeting is organized by the gram panchayat. The functions of the Gram Panchayat may bifurcate as obligatory and optional functions. The obligatory functions include civic roles such as sanitation, drains and ponds while the decisions taken by the Gram Sabha cannot be annulled by any other body. The power to do so rests with the Gram Sabha only.