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1 Short title, extent, application and commencement

(1) This Act may be called the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018.

(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Telangana except,-

• (a) the Municipal Corporations governed by any law relating to Municipal Corporations for the time being in force in the State;
• (b) the Municipalities governed by the law relating to municipalities for the time being in force in the State;
• (c) a Notified area declared under section 389A of the Telangana Municipalities Act, 1965;
• (d) the mining settlements governed by the Telangana Mining Settlements Act, 1956; and
• (e) the cantonments governed by the Cantonments Act, 2006.

(3) In their application to the Scheduled Areas in the State as referred to in clause (1) of article 244 of the Constitution of India; the remaining provisions of this Act shall apply subject to the provisions of Part VII of this Act.

(4) It shall come into force on such date and in such area as the Government ma

2 Definitions

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-

• (1) "Backward Classes" means any socially and educationally Backward Classes of citizens recognized by the Government for purpose of clause (4) of article 15 of the Constitution of India;
• (2) "building" includes a house, out-house, shop, stable, latrine, shed (other than a cattle shed in an agricultural land) poultry shed, farm house, hut, wall and any other such structure whether of masonry, bricks, wood, mud, metal or other material whatsoever;
• (3) "casual vacancy" means a vacancy occurring otherwise than by efflux of time, and 'casual election' means an election held to fill a casual vacancy;
• (4) "Chairperson" means the Chairperson of a Zilla Praja Parishad elected under section 176;
• (5) "Chief Executive Officer" means the Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Praja Parishad appointed under section 182;
• (6) "Collector" means any officer in-charge of Revenue Division and i
  

3 Declaration of a village for the purposes of this Act

(1) On and from the date of commencement of this Act, all the villages specified in Schedule VIII shall stand and deemed to have been declared as villages by the names and jurisdiction specified in columns (4), (5), (6) and (7) thereof, for the purposes of this Act.

(2) The Government may, subject to sub-section (3), by notification, amend or alter the Schedule, so as to,-

• (a) form a new village by separation of local area from any village or by uniting two or more villages or parts of villages or by uniting any local area to a part of any village;
• (b) increase the local area of any village;
• (c) diminish the local area of any village;
• (d) alter the boundaries of any village;
• (e) alter the name of any village;
• (f) merge a village or a part of a village to any Nagar Panchayat or Municipality or Municipal Corporation;
• (g) remove a village from the purview of this Act;
• (h) describe the area of the Village
  

4 Constitution of Gram Panchayats for villages and their incorporation

(1) A Gram Panchayat shall be deemed to have been constituted,-

• (a) for every village which has been specified in Schedule VIII, on and from the date following the date on which the present term of the elected body of the existing Gram Panchayat corresponding to the areas covered by such village expires;
• (b) for every village which has been specified in Schedule VIII, where there is no elected body for the existing Gram Panchayat corresponding to the areas covered by such village as on the date of commencement of this Act, on such date of commencement, and
• (c) for any village added subsequently to Schedule VIII by a notification in terms of section 3, from the date of such notification.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the administration of the village shall vest in the Gram Panchayat, but the Gram Panchayat shall not be entitled to exercise functions expressly assigned by or under this Act or any other law to its Sarpanch, or t

5 Township

(1) The Government may declare, by a notification in the Telangana Gazette a village or any other area to be a township if it is an industrial or institutional colony, a labour colony, a project area, a health resort or a place of religious importance.

(2) If the area declared as township under sub-section (1) comprises a village, or forms part of a village the Government shall issue a notification in terms of sub-section (2) of section 3 either to remove the village or as the case may be, exclude such part from the village.

(3) In regard to any area other than a place of religious importance declared to be a township, the Government shall, by notification in the Telangana Gazette constitute a Township Committee, which shall consist of a "Chairperson" and such number of members as nominated by the Government and they would hold office during the pleasure of the Government.

(4) A notification issued by the Government under subsection (3) may direct that any funct

6 Gram Sabha

(1) There shall come into existence a Gram Sabha for every village on the date of its formation under section 3.

(2) A Gram Sabha shall consist of all persons whose names are included in the electoral roll for the Gram Panchayat referred to in section 4 and such persons shall be deemed to be the members of the Gram Sabha.

(3) (a) Gram Sabha shall meet once in two months on such day and at such place and at such time as fixed by the Gram Panchayat, and in any case within a period of 10 days from such date;

• (b) the Sarpanch or in his absence the Upa-Sarpanch shall convene such meetings of the Gram Sabha; and
• (c) the Sarpanch or as the case may be the Upa-Sarpanch as the convenor of meetings of the Gram Sabha shall, invite the members of the Mandal Praja Parishad, the Zilla Praja Parishad and the State Legislature representing the area of the Gram Panchayat to such meetings.

(4) Every meeting of the Gram Sabha shall be presided over by

7 Total strength of a Gram Panchayat

(1) A Gram Panchayat shall consist of such number of elected members inclusive of its Sarpanch as may be notified from time to time, by the Commissioner in accordance with the following Table and for greater clarity, Schedule VIII shown the number of members against the Gram Panchayats concerned:-

TABLE

Gram Panchayat with a Population at the last census. (1) Number of members (2)

Up to 300 5

Exceeding 300 but not exceeding 500 7

Exceeding 500 but not exceeding 1,500 9

Exceeding 1,500 but not exceeding 3,000 11

Exceeding 3,000 but not exceeding 5,000 13

Exceeding 5,000 but not exceeding 10,000 15

Exceeding 10,000 but not exceeding 15,000 17

Exceeding 15,000 but not exceeding 25,000 19

Exceeding 25,000 21

(2) The Member of the Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency shall be permanent invitee to the meetings of Gram Panchayats and he shall have the right to speak in and otherwise to take part in the

8 Election of Members

All members of the Gram Panchayat shall be elected by the registered voters in the ward by the method of secret ballot and in accordance with such rules as may be made in this behalf.

9 Reservation of seats of members of Gram Panchayat

(1) The seats (wards) of members of Gram Panchayats in the State shall be reserved for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and Women, by notification, in the manner specified below.

(2) Out of the total strength of elected members determined under section 7, the Revenue Divisional Officer shall, in respect of each Gram Panchayat in his jurisdiction determine in the first instance, the number of wards to be reserved, in the Gram Panchayat concerned, for the members belonging to Scheduled Tribes and the Scheduled Castes subject to the condition that the number of wards so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of wards to be filled by direct election to the Gram Panchayat as the population of Scheduled Tribes or as the case may be, of the Scheduled Castes in that Gram Panchayat bears to the total population of that Gram Panchayat, subject to the condition that the Revenue Divisional Officer shall, in the Scheduled Area

10 Division of wards

For the purpose of electing members to a Gram Panchayat, the Commissioner shall, subject to such rules as may be prescribed divide the village into as many wards as there are seats, determined under section 7, on a territorial basis in such a manner that all wards shall have, as far as practicable, equal number of voters and allot not more than one seat for each ward.

11 Preparation and publication of electoral roll for a Gram Panchayat

(1) The electoral roll for Gram Panchayat shall be prepared by the person authorized by the State Election Commissioner in such manner by reference to such qualifying date as may be prescribed and the electoral roll for the Gram Panchayat shall come into force immediately upon its publication in accordance with the rules made by the Government in this behalf. The electoral roll for the Gram Panchayat shall consist of such part of the electoral roll for the Assembly Constituency published under the Representation of the People Act, 1950 as revised or amended under the said Act, upto the qualifying date, as relates to the village or any portion thereof:

Provided that any amendment, transposition or deletion of any entries in the electoral roll, or any inclusion of names in the electoral roll of the Assembly Constituencies concerned, made by the Electoral Registration Officer under section 22 or section 23, as the case may be, of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, upto

12 Rearrangement and republication of electoral rolls

Where, after the electoral roll for the Gram Panchayat has been published under sub-section (1) of section 11, the village is divided into wards for the first time or the division of the village into ward is altered or the limits of the village are varied, the person authorized by the State Election Commissioner in this behalf shall in order to give effect to the division of the village into wards or to the alteration of the wards or to the variation of the limits, as the case may be, authorize a re-arrangement and republication of the electoral roll for the Gram Panchayat or any part of such roll in such manner, as the State Election Commissioner may direct.

13 Identification of Backward Class voters

The Government shall identify all the Backward Class voters. This activity shall be conducted as per the schedule issued by the Government which shall be not more than fifteen days.

14 Term of office of members

(1) Save as otherwise provided in this Act the term of office of members elected at ordinary elections shall be five years from the date appointed by the Commissioner for the first meeting of the Gram Panchayat after the ordinary elections.

(2) Ordinary vacancies in the office of elected members shall be filled at ordinary elections which shall be fixed by the State Election Commission to take place on such day or days before the occurrence of the vacancies, provided such day or days shall not fall beyond three months prior to the occurrence of the vacancies.

(3) (a) Every casual vacancy in the office of an elected member of Gram Panchayat shall be reported by the Panchayat Secretary to the election authority within fifteen days from the date of occurrence of such vacancy and shall be filled within four months from that date;

(b) a member elected in a casual vacancy shall enter upon office forthwith but shall hold office only so long as the member in whose place

15 Election and term of office of Sarpanch or Upa-Sarpanch

(1) There shall be a Sarpanch for every Gram Panchayat, who shall be elected in the prescribed manner by the persons whose names appear in the electoral roll for the Gram Panchayat, from among themselves. A person shall not be qualified to stand for election as Sarpanch, unless he is at least twenty-one years of age:

Provided that a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the State or a Member of the Legislative Council of the State or of either House of Parliament who is elected to the office of Sarpanch or Upa-Sarpanch shall cease to hold such office unless within one month from the date of election to such office he ceases to be a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the State or a Member of the Legislative Council of the State or of either House of Parliament by resignation or otherwise.

(2) The election of the Sarpanch may be held at the same time and in the same place as the ordinary elections of the members of the Gram Panchayat.

(3) Save as otherwise expr

16 Training for the Sarpanches and Ward Members

All Ward Members, Upa-Sarpanches, Sarpanches elected under this Act, shall undergo training on developmental activities of Panchayat Raj Institutions, the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018 and the rules made thereunder, in the manner prescribed.

17 Reservation of office of Sarpanch

(1) The offices of Sarpanches of Gram Panchayats in the State shall be reserved for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and Women, by notification, in the manner specified below.

(2) (a) Out of the total number of offices of Sarpanch in the State, the Commissioner shall determine in the first instance, the number of offices of Sarpanches of Gram Panchayats to be reserved for the members belonging to Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes.

(b) The number of offices to be reserved to the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes as may be determined by the Commissioner, shall be subject to the condition that the number of offices so reserved shall, bear as nearly as may be the same proportion to the total number of offices to be filled in the State, as the population of the Scheduled Tribes or as the case may be Scheduled Castes in the State bear to the total population of the State:

Provided that while computing the total population of the State for t