Bhagalpur Bihar

1. Democratic Decentralisation and Devolution of 3Fs of
Akbarnagar Gram Panchayat
Bhagalpur, Bihar
An
Assignment Submitted
to
Prof. Amrita Dhiman
(Local Governance System- 1)
Submitted By
Avinab Kumar
PDM07011

2. Introduction
Since the Constitution 73rd Amendment Act 1992 came into force, most of the Panchayati Raj
Institutions (PRIs) constituted under this new Act are completing their first five-year tenure.
So, it is an appropriate time for appraising the functioning of PRIs in different States so as to
reflect on emerging trends and to identify the impediments that have emerged in the process of
democratic decentralisation.
Democratic decentralization is the process of devolving the functions and resources of the
state from the centre to the elected representatives at the lower levels so as to facilitate greater
direct participation of citizens in governance. Local government, including panchayats, is a
state subject in the Constitution, and consequently, the devolution of power and authority to
panchayats has been left to the discretion of states. The status of PRIs can be reviewed in terms
of following parameters:
(i) Conduct of Panchayat elections;
(ii) Devolution of Financial Powers;
(iii) Devolution of Functions and Functionaries;
(iv) Constitution of District Planning Committees (DPCs);
(v) Checks and Balances over PRIs and Accountability
Village Description
Akbarnagar Panchayath is situated in Sultanganj Block, Bhagalpur District of Bihar State,
India. It belongs to Bhagalpur Division. It is located 29 KM towards west from District
headquarters Bhagalpur and 197 KM from State capital Patna. Its postal head office is
Nathnagar.
Akbarnagar Panchayath is surrounded by Asarganj Block towards west, Shambhuganj Block
towards South, Shahkund Block towards East, Tarapur Block towards South. Sultanganj,
Kharagpur, Amarpur, Bhagalpur are the nearby Cities to Akbarnagar Panchayath. Maithili is
the Local Language here.
Akbarnagar Panchayath consist of four village and divided into 13 wards according to their
population size. Name of the villages are given below: -
1. Akbarnagar
2. Shrirampur
3. Rasidpur
4. Chhit Shrirampur Kothi

3. Population:
Akbarnagar panchayat is a large Gram Panchayat located in Sultanganj Block of Bhagalpur
district, Bihar with total 5384 families residing. The Akbarnagar panchayat has population of
31773 of which 16767 are males while 15006 are females as per Population Census 2011.
In Akbarnagar panchayat population of children with age 0-6 is 5602 which makes up 17.63
% of total population of village. Average Sex Ratio of Akbarnagar panchayat is 895 which is
lower than Bihar state average of 918. Child Sex Ratio for the Akbarnagar as per census is 974,
higher than Bihar average of 935.
Akbarnagar panchayat has higher literacy rate compared to Bihar. In 2011, literacy rate of
Akbarnagar village was 68.84 % compared to 61.80 % of Bihar. In Akbarnagar Male literacy
stands at 75.76 % while female literacy rate was 60.97 %.
As per constitution of India and Panchyati Raj Act, Akbarnagar panchayat is administrated by
Sarpanch (Head of Village) who is elected representative of village.
Akbarnagar Panchayat Data
Particulars Total Male Female
Total Area 2070 (Hectares)
Total No. of Houses 5,384 - -
Population 31,773 16,767 15,006
Child (0-6) 5,602 2,838 2,764
Schedule Caste 3,382 1,781 1,601
Schedule Tribe 2 2 0
Literacy 68.84 % 75.76 % 60.97 %
Total Workers 9,061 7,004 2,057
Main Worker 5,804 - -
Marginal Worker 3,257 2,235 1,022

4. ❖ Flagship Schemes of Central Government operated in the GP:
❖ Details of Elected representatives in the GP:
Sarpanch: - Nisha Devi (9934817479)
Mukhiya: - Usha Devi (7050193210)
Panch: - 1. Prakash Pandit (8271626030)
2. Nisha Devi (9155370656)
3. Rekha Devi (9631926126)
4. Geeta Devi (9060641722)
5. Ram Pravesh Yadav (9430871097)
Ward Members: -
S. No Name of Schemes Estimated Fund
1 MG National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Rs. 79,30,999
2 Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana (PMGAY) Rs. 33,39,834
3 Swachh Bharat Mission Rs. 26,25,500
4 Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme Rs. 19,25,444
5 Indira Gandhi Widow Pension Rs. 15,22,454
Ward No. Ward Name Name Contact Number
1 Rasidpur Chandani Devi 9122191641
2 Rasidpur Soni Jha 7544811810
3 Rasidpur Indu Devi 9771709980
4 Rasidpur Nuresh 9852194925
5 Chhit Shrirampur Kothi Rinku Devi 8084256445
6 Akbarnagar Shankar Das 7870117243
7 Akbarnagar Ram Dulari Devi 9504502515
8 Akbarnagar Banti Kumar 9507138880
9 Shrirampur Amit Kumar 8877236073
10 Shrirampur Nikesh Kumar 9006535520

5. ❖ Details of Standing Committee in the GP:
Name of Standing Committee Members
Planning, Co-ordination and
Finance Committee
1. Niranjan Kumar
2. Ram Pravesh Yadav
Public Health, Family Welfare and
Rural Sanitation Committee
1. Shankar Das
2. Amit Kumar
Social Justice Committee 1. Archan A Kumari
2. Ram Pravesh Yadav
Public Works Committee 1. Indu Devi
2. Banti Kumar
❖ Awareness of the members regarding their role in the standing committees:
According to the 73rd
Constitution Act, in every Panchayat there should be a standing
committee. Every standing committee shall comprise of such a number of members, including
its chairman as decided by the Panchayat. The number of members of each standing committee
as decided by the Panchayat under sub-section shall not be changed within the term of that
Panchayat. In this Panchayat there are four standing committees which are given above in the
table. As I discuss some of the members of the standing committee in my studied panchayat
about awareness of these committees, most of them told that they don’t know about this
committee and even what this committee does in the village. The name of the members are
only on the official paper and there is a lack of knowledge and information about this
committee. They come to know that he/she is a member of the standing committee by the
mukhiya after the election. There is no such meeting of the standing committee in this
panchayat. I think this panchayat want some training regarding the role and responsibility of
the member of these standing committee.
11 Shrirampur Ram Pravesh Yadav 9430871697
12 Shrirampur Niranjan Kumar 8051729504
13 Shrirampur Archan A Kumari 7549549892

6. ❖ Awareness among the people about the standing committees and their participation in
Gram Sabha:
In this panchayat, I collect data from 20 residents of all four villages. There are lots of
information which I have to collect. The most common things about this panchayat are that no
one knows about the standing committee and their role in the village. Except for the ward
members and the Mukhiya, there are a few numbers of people in the village who have
information about these committee. This shows that the standing committee which is a part of
the 73rd
Constitution Act is only available on paper not physically present in the village. There
is need to conduct an awareness campaign about these committees and their role and
responsibility in Gram Panchayat.
As per rule, Gram Sabha is conducted every 3 months in Panchayat Bhavan i.e., a total
of 4 Gram Sabha was conducted in a year. In this gram sabha, most of the villagers attained
this sabha, who are above 18 years. In this panchayat, people’s participation in sabha is too
good and all members were happy with this meeting. This gram sabha helps the villagers by
solving personal and family issues as well as community issues.