Preliminary .

(Act No.40 OF 1996)

(24th December, 1996)

An Act to provide for the extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the Panchayats to the Scheduled Areas.

Be it enacted by Parliament in the Forty­seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows:­

S.1 Short title

1. Short title : This Act may be called the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996

S.2 Definition

2. Definition : In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-

“Scheduled Areas” means the Scheduled Areas as referred to in Clause (1) of Article 244 of the Constitution.

S.3 Extension of part IX of The Constitution

3. Extension of part IX of The Constitution :- The provision of Part IX of the Constitution relating to Panchayats are hereby extended to the Scheduled Areas subject to such exceptions and modifications as are provided in section 4.

S.4 Exceptions and modifications to part IX of The Constitution

4. Exceptions and modifications to part IX of The Constitution : Notwithstanding anything contained under Part IX of the Constitution, the Legislature of a State shall not make any law under that Part which is inconsistent with any of the following features, namely:­

(a) a State legislation on the Panchayats that may be made shall be in consonance with the customary law, social and religious practices and traditional management practices of community resources;

(b) a village shall ordinarily consist of a habitation or a group of habitations or a hamlet or a group of hamlets comprising a community and managing its affairs in accordance with traditions and customs;

(c) every village shall have a Gram Sabha consisting of persons whose names are included in the electoral rolls for the Panchayat at the village level;

(d) every Gram Sabha shall be competent to safeguard and p

S.5 Continuance of existing laws on panchayats :

5. Continuance of existing laws on panchayats : Notwithstanding anything in Part IX of the Constitution with exceptions and modifications made by this Act, any provision of any law relating to Panchayats in force in the Scheduled Areas, immediately before the date on which this Act receives the assent of the President, which is inconsistent with the provisions of Part IX with such exceptions and modifications shall continue to be in force until amended or repealed by a competent Legislature or other competent authority or until the expiration of one year from the date on which this Act receives the assent of the President;

Provided that all the Panchayats existing immediately before such date shall continue till the expiration of their duration unless sooner dissolved by a resolution passed to that effect by the Legislative Assembly of that State or, in the case of a State having Legislative Council, by each House of the Legislature of