Standing committees of Janpad Panchayat and Zila Panchayat

Standing committees of Janpad Panchayat and Zila Panchayat. —

1. (1) Each Janpad Panchayat and each Zila Panchayat shall constitute the following standing committees from amongst its elected members, namely: —
   • (a) General Administration Committee — for items relating to establishment and services of Janpad Panchayat or Zila Panchayat, administration, integrated rural development plan, budget, accounts, taxation and other financial matters and items which do not come under the purview of other committees;
   • (b) Agriculture Committee — for agriculture, animal husbandry, power, irrigation including soil conservation and contour bunding and other matters relating to fisheries, compost manure, distribution of seeds and other matters relating to agriculture and animal husbandry development;
   • (c) Education Committee — for education including adult education, social welfare of the disabled and destitute, woman and child welfare, removal of untouchability, relief of distress arising from floods, droughts, earthquakes, hailstorms, scarcity, locusts, epidemics and other such emergency situations and for temperance and prohibition, health and sanitation, welfare of tribal and harijan welfare;
   • (d) Communication and Works Committee — for communication, minor irrigation, rural housing, rural water supply, drainage and other public works;
   • (e) Cooperation and Industries Committee — for co-operation, thrift and small savings, cottage and rural industries, markets and statistics;
   • (f) Health, Women and Child Welfare Committee — for public health and sanitation, women and child welfare, public health engineering, rural water supply and drainage;
   • (g) Forest Committee — for social forestry, integrated wasteland development programme, national parks, development of minor forest produce and other forestry programmes.
2. (2) In addition to the five standing committees specified in sub-section (1), Janpad Panchayat or Zila Panchayat may, with the approval of the prescribed authority, constitute one or more such committees for such other items which are not specified in the said sub-section. (2-a) The item assigned to any committee under sub-section
3. (1) or sub-section
4. (2) may be re-assigned by the Janpad Panchayat or Zila Panchayat to any other such committee with the approval of the prescribed authority or may assign any item which is not otherwise specified to any such committee.
5. (3) The Chairmen of all the standing committees constituted under sub-section
6. (1) and subsection
7. (2) shall be the members of the General Administration Committee.
8. (4) Each committee except the General Administration Committee shall consist of at least five members who shall be elected by the members of the Janpad Panchayat or Zila Panchayat, as the case may be, from amongst themselves in such manner as may be prescribed: Provided that any committee may co-opt not more than two such persons who have experience or special knowledge of the items assigned to such committee; the persons so co-opted shall not have the right to vote in the proceedings of the committee: Provided further that the Education Committee shall have at least one woman and one person belonging to the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes among its members. (4-a)
   • (a) Every member of the Legislative Assembly who is a member of the Janpad Panchayat shall be the ex-officio member of every committee of that Panchayat;
   • (b) Every member of Parliament who is a member of the Zila Panchayat shall be the ex-officio member of any two committees of his choice in that Panchayat; and
   • (c) Every committee of Zila Panchayat shall co-opt not more than two such members of Legislative Assembly who are members of that Panchayat, subject to the condition that no member of the Legislative Assembly shall be a member of more than two committees.
9. (5) Every committee except the General Administration Committee and Education Committee shall elect its Chairman from amongst its elected members within such time and in such manner as may be prescribed: Provided that —
   • (one) the Chairman of the Janpad Panchayat or Zila Panchayat, as the case may be, shall be the ex-officio Chairman of the General Administration Committee;
   • (two) the Vice-Chairman of the Janpad Panchayat or Zila Panchayat, as the case may be, shall be the ex-officio Chairman of the Education Committee; and (three) the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Zila Panchayat and Janpad Panchayat, as the case may be, shall not be a member of any other committee of which he is not the Chairman as a result of the proviso
   • (one) and proviso
   • (two) above.
10. (6) Every committee shall exercise such powers and perform such duties of the Janpad Panchayat or Zila Panchayat, as the case may be, as may be prescribed in relation to the items assigned to it.
11. (7) No person shall be a member of more than three such committees at the same time, other than the General Administration Committee.