Kerala Panchayat Raj (Procedure for Panchayat Meeting) Rules, 1995
(1) These rules may be called the Kerala Panchayat Raj (Procedure for Panchayat Meeting) Rules, 1995.
(2) They shall come into force at once.
In these rules unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a)'Act' means the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (13 of 1994);
(b) 'Authorised Officer' means an officer authorised by the Government by notification in the Gazette under sub-section (1) of Section 275;
(c) 'Empowered officer' means an officer empowered by the Government under sub-section (2) of Section 157 of the Act;
(d) 'Section' means a section of the Act;
(e) Words and expressions used and not defined in these rules, but defined in the Act shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act.
Each Panchayat shall have an office in its headquarters designated by the Government under sub-section (1) of Section 4 and the President shall convene the meeting of the Panchayat at least once in a month and it shall be held in the Panchayat office on the date and at the time fixed by him:
Provided that no meeting shall be held on public holidays notified by the Government:
Provided further that no meeting shall be held before 9 O'clock in the morning and after 6 O'clock in the evening, except in urgent situations.
(1) The notice regarding the place, date and time of the meeting and subject to be discussed in the meeting shall be given to the members at least three clear days prior to the date fixed for beginning of the meeting:
Provided that, in the above said clear days, declared holidays shall be included but the date of receipt of notice and the date of meeting shall not be included.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1), if urgent decision of the Panchayat is inevitably required in any case, the President may convene special meeting by giving 1[notice of a period not less than 24 hours].
(3) No subject which is not included in a given agenda for the particular meeting shall be considered in that meeting:
2[x x x x]
3[Provided that] orders and directions having urgency and sent by Government for consideration of the Panchayat shall be considered in that meeting, even if they are not included in the agenda.
(1) The Secretary shall prepare the agenda for the meeting in consultation with the President.
4[(2) The agenda shall include the subjects which, according to the Secretary or the ex-officio Secretary, requires decision of the Panchayat thereon, the subjects that are proposed by the President, the questions to be answered in the meeting by the President, or the Chairman of the Standing Committee, as the case may be, under Rule 12 and the resolutions that may be allowed to be introduced in the meeting under Rule 13.
(3) All the subjects included in the agenda for the consideration of the Panchayat meeting shall be serially numbered and recorded in an agenda register in which the page numbers are serially marked in advance and the register shall be under the custody of the Secretary.
(4) The Secretary shall have the responsibility to render advice to the Panchayat, necessary for taking decision in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the Rules
(1) The President shall, if so requested by not less than one third of the number of members of the Panchayat as notified by the Government under sub-section (1) of Section 6, by giving notice to him in writing specifying the purpose for which the meeting is to be convened, convene, within ten days of getting the notice, a special meeting of the Panchayat to consider such matter.
(2) Copy of the notice given to the President under sub-rule (1) shall be given to the Secretary.
(3) Where the President does not convene the meeting within ten days of the receipt of the notice under sub-rule (1), the members who gave the notice may, after giving notice to the other members as provided under sub-rule (1) of Rule 4, and informing the Secretary, convene a special meeting of the Panchayat. No other subjects except the subject mentioned in the notice shall be discussed in such meeting.
(4) No meeting under sub-rule (1) or sub-rule (3) shall be convened at a place other th
(1) One third of the sanctioned strength of the members of the Panchayat shall be the quorum and no Panchayat meeting shall be held if that much number of members are not present in the meeting.
(2) The meeting shall not be proceeded with if at any time there becomes a fall in quorum.
(3) Even after passing half an hour from the time appointed for a meeting, the quorum does not occur and the members present refuse to wait further, the meeting shall be deemed to have been postponed.
(4) There shall be a register containing the names of members of the Panchayat and all the members present in a meeting shall put their signature on it.
The public and reporters shall have access as visitors to the meeting of a Panchayat at any level and such access shall be controlled by the President, Vice-President or the presiding member:
Provided that the person presiding may, for reasons to be recorded in the minutes book, direct the public in general or a person or persons in particular to withdraw or be removed from any meeting of the Panchayat.
(1) The President or in his absence the Vice-President or in the absence of both a member chosen by majority opinion of the members present shall take chair of the Panchayat meeting.
(2) The Chairman may, if the law and order situation becomes out of control, stop the meeting for such time as he may decide or for the day.
(3) The Chairman shall control the meeting and decide on all points that arises at or in connection with the meeting. There shall be no discussion on a point of order and the decision of the Chairman shall, save as otherwise provided in the Act or in these rules, be final.
(4) The Chairman shall, if any member behaves disorderly and causes obstruction in conducting the meeting, direct such member to withdraw forthwith and if disobeys, suspend him from the meeting for the day and on such suspension the member shall immediately withdraw from the meeting, failing which he shall be removed, if necessary, by using reasonable force.
The Panchayat shall decide all subjects coming for consideration by majority, votes of the members present and the Chairman may exercise a casting vote in all cases of equality of votes.
No resolution of a Panchayat shall be modified or cancelled except through a resolution passed in a meeting specially convened for the purpose within three months of passing such resolution, by a two third majority of the total number of members of the Panchayat.
6[Provided that where the Panchayat is satisfied that a decision or resolution passed by the Panchayat has not been passed in accordance with law or it has been passed in violation of any of the powers conferred on the Panchayath by the Act or abuse thereof or that, if implemented, it may endanger human life, health or public safety, the Panchayat may, at any time with the approval of more than one-half of the total number of members of the Panchayat, amend or repeal such decision or resolution.
(1) A member who desires to interpellate the President or the Chairman of a Standing Committee in any meeting shall give a copy of the question which he intends to ask at least seven clear days in advance to the President if the question is to the President and to the President and Chairman of the Standing Committee, if the question is to the Chairman of a Standing Committee:
Provided that the President may, if he thinks fit, admit a question with a notice of less than seven days.
(2) Questions by members shall be confined to matters coming within the administrative power of the Panchayat.
(3) In any meeting, a member may ask upto two questions for obtaining information on any matter relating to Panchayat.
(4) No question shall be allowed if not complied with the following conditions:-
(a) It shall relate to a single matter;
(b) It shall be in clear and precise words;
(c) It shall be prepared in the form of a submiss
(1) A member who intends to move a resolution shall give seven clear days notice of such intention in writing to the President along with a copy of the resolution:
Provided that the President may include a resolution in the list of business with a shorter notice than seven days.
(2) No number shall move more than one resolution.
(3) The President shall examine all the resolutions and shall have power to disallow any resolution which in his opinion does not comply with the conditions laid down in sub-rule (4).
(4) A resolution in order to be admissible shall comply with the following condition namely:-
(a) It shall relate to matters coming within the administrative power of the Panchayat;
(b) It shall be clearly and precisely worded;
(c) It shall relate to a single matter;
(d) It shall not contain arguments, hypothetical inferences, ironical expressions or defamatory statements;
(e) It shall
(1) A resolution on bye-laws placed before the panchayat under Section 256 of the Act shall be to frame bye-laws or to modify or to cancel existing bye-laws.
(2) The procedure laid down in the Kerala Panchayat Raj (procedure for framing bye-laws) Rules, 1995 shall be followed on every bye-law introduced in the Panchayat Committee.
(1) A motion expressing no-confidence in 8[the President or the Vice-President] of a Panchayat shall be made in accordance with the procedure laid down in Section 157 of the Act.
(2) A notice under sub-section (2) of Section 157 shall be in the form appended to these rules.
(1) A member shall speak only when there is a subject before the meeting or when he moves or seconds or opposes a resolution, except in the following cases:-
(a) when speaking on a point of order;
(b) when making a statement with the special permission of the Chairman.
(2) A member in whose name a resolution is included in the list of business shall, except in the context he withdraws it, move the resolution when called upon and shall commence his speech by a formal motion.
After the delivery of speech by the member moving the resolution, other members may speak to the motion in the order in which they are called upon by the Chairman. Any member who does not speak when called upon by the Chairman shall have the right to speak at a later stage only with the special permission of the Chairman.
Save as otherwise proved, a member shall not speak more than once on the same subject:
Provided that a member may, if the main subject is with regard to the framing, Cancellation or modification of bye-laws or financial estimates, move or support amendment more than once.
A member may, with the permission of the Chairman make personal explanations before the Panchayat, not as part of a discussion.
Any member desiring to speak on an issue before the Panchayat shall intimate the same in writing to the Chairman and the Chairman shall call the members in the order of priority. No speech shall ordinarily exceed 4 minutes duration :
Provided that a person moving a resolution or amendment may be allowed upto 8 minutes time to speak:
Provided further that the Chairman may at his discretion allow a person to extend or reduce time for speech.
(1) Any member may, in the nature of question, raise point of order regarding the compliance of these rules or regarding the interpretation of any bye-laws made by the Panchayat to regulate the procedure of the Panchayat or the jurisdiction of the Chairman.
(2) The point of order may be raised at the beginning of the business:
Provided that, if the point of order is regarding the regulation or control of business of the Panchayat, a member may be allowed to raise such point of order during the interval between the closing of one item and commencement of another item.
(3) A member may, subject to the conditions in sub-rules (1) and (2), raise a point of order and the Chairman shall decide whether it is a point of order or not and such a decision shall be final.
(4) No discussion shall be allowed on a point of order raised by a member, but the Chairman may, if so thinks fit give an opportunity to the members to speak what they have, before taking a decision
(1) The Chairman shall, when the discussion is concluded or if there is no discussion, put the resolution to vote.
(2) Any subject taken for consideration in a Panchayat meeting shall be decided on the majority opinion of the members present and in case of equality of votes the Chairman may also exercise a casting vote.
Except in cases otherwise provided.
(a) the manner of taking votes in a meeting may be as per the discretion of the Chairman;
(b) if any member demands a poll, it shall be done by raising of hand;
(c) the Chairman shall declare the results of the poll and it shall not be challenged.
When the Chairman rises for talking, the member speaking shall stop it and sit down immediately. The Chairman may direct the member repeatedly raising monotonous and improper matters on disputes to stop his speech.
The Chairman shall have full competence to take decision on any point of order and shall have necessary powers to enforce it.
(1) The Secretary shall attend all the meetings of the Panchayat and in case it becomes impossible for him to attend the meeting due to unavoidable reasons, an officer authorised by the Secretary in this behalf shall attend the meeting.
(2) The Ex-officio Secretaries concerned with the subjects which are under consideration of the meetings of the Panchayat shall, where the President so requires, attend the meetings.
(3) There shall be a Decision Register to record the decisions and resolutions passed in the Panchayat meeting and a Minutes Book to record the proceedings of the Panchayat meeting and the page numbers of the same shall be serially marked in advance and shall be under the custody of the Secretary.
(4) The Secretary or the Officer authorised by him shall record in the Decision Register, along with the carbon paper copy, the decisions and resolutions passed by the Panchayat after assigning each of them a serial number in the order of passing the same a
(1) The Chairman or members concerned shall not note on issues taken up for consideration in a Panchayat meeting if the Chairman or such member have financial or personal interest, whether direct or indirect, in such issue.
(2) The Chairman may, if satisfied that a member has financial interest in an issue being discussed direct him to abstain from the discussion and prohibit him from voting.
(3) Such member may question the decision of the Chairman and if so questioned, it shall be presented before the meeting. The decision of the meeting thereon shall be final.
(4) Any member may, if so believes that the Chairman has financial or other interest in the issue put to discussion, present the same in the meeting by a resolution and if the resolution is accepted the Chairman shall be liable to abstain from such discussion.
(5) The member and the Chairman concerned shall not have any right to vote in the resolutions referred to in sub-rule (3) and sub-rule (4)
Where a member of the Panchayat has dissenting opinion on a decision or a resolution passed in the Panchayat meeting, he may, after the conclusion of the meeting and within forty-eight hours of receipt of a copy of the minutes, give his dissenting note to the Secretary:
Provided that, any member who was not present in the meeting or if being present has not voted against the decision or the resolution concerned shall not have the right to give dissenting note under this rule]
(1) The Secretary shall, 11[within ten days] after the date of meeting, forward a copy of the minutes of every meeting of a Panchayat with dissenting note, if any, with the approval of the President, to the officer authorised by the Government in this behalf.
12[(2) Where the decision of the Government or of the Authorised Officer is required on any matter in connection with implementing a decision of the Panchayat or on a dissenting note, the Secretary shall, along with his detailed report thereon, bring the same to the notice of the Government or the Authorised Officer,
(3) Where the Secretary is of the opinion that a decision or resolution passed by the Panchayat has not been passed in accordance with law or is ultra vires the powers conferred by the Act or if implemented, it may endanger human life, health or public safety, he shall, in writing, request the Panchayat to review the said decision and if the Panchayat, after discussion of such re
The minutes and records of the Panchayat and other Committees shall be under the custody of the Secretary.
APPENDIX
FORM
[See sub-rule (2) of Rule 15]
(Notice regarding the intention to move no-confidence motion in the *President/Vice-President 13[x x x] of.........................................*Village Panchayat/Block Panchayat/District Panchayat.
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