West Bengal Assembly Passes Panchayat Amendment Bill to Tackle Corruption, Revive Stalled Bodies

The West Bengal Panchayat (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was passed in the state Assembly on Saturday. The Bill introduces temporary measures to transfer the authority to sign financial documents from elected pradhans to panchayat secretaries and assistant secretaries, and allows for the appointment of administrators in certain circumstances.

According to the Bill, if both the pradhan and upa-pradhan are absent for more than 15 days and no elected member is willing to take charge, the prescribed authority can appoint an officer not below the rank of Extension Officer as an administrator for a maximum period of 30 days. During this period, the administrator will exercise all powers and perform all functions of the gram panchayat. The gram panchayat body and its upa-samitis will be in a state of temporary moratorium.

The government stated that the amendments were necessary because many panchayats became defunct after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) lost the Assembly election. The Bill also aims to curb corruption at the panchayat level. To this end, it mandates that all payment orders from the gram panchayat fund must be signed by the executive assistant, and cheques must bear joint signatures of the executive assistant and the secretary.

The Bill also provides that if meetings of the gram panchayat cannot be held for two consecutive months due to the absence of the pradhan and upa-pradhan, the secretary shall convene a meeting after obtaining written approval from the concerned Block Development Officer. At such meetings, the Block Development Officer may engage an observer not below the rank of Extension Officer, and the executive assistant shall attend and participate in deliberations.

Higher Education Minister Jagannath Chattopadhyay, while defending the Bill, said, “We have no intention to squeeze democratic space of the panchayat. The TMC government looted in the name of panchayat. If we will regularise panchayat elections, the Act can be amended.”

Opposition members criticised the Bill. ISF MLA Naushad Siddiqui said, “It is basically an attack on democracy. The TMC government started it and the BJP government is carrying it forward.”