RAS question
Which of the following is NOT a function of the Gram Sabha under the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act?
Correct answer: (C) Levying and collecting taxes in the Gram Panchayat area.
Levying and collecting taxes in the Gram Panchayat area is a function of the Panchayat, not of the Gram Sabha under the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act.
Explanation
The Gram Sabha is the general body of voters in a Panchayat Circle, so its role is deliberative and supervisory rather than executive. The Act requires the Panchayat to place accounts, development programmes, audit material, budget and tax proposals before the Gram Sabha, and the Gram Sabha may discuss these matters and pass resolutions on matters entrusted to it. Its listed functions include approving social and economic development plans, selecting beneficiaries for poverty alleviation and other programmes, obtaining utilisation-related certification through the Ward Sabha, and exercising social audit for specified allotments. Taxation is treated separately: Section 65 says a Panchayat may impose specified taxes, which are then assessed, raised and realised as prescribed.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Approval of plans, programmes and projects for social and economic development is expressly listed among Gram Sabha functions, and the Panchayat also places the budget before it for discussion.
- (B) Identification or selection of beneficiaries under poverty alleviation and other programmes is specifically assigned to the Gram Sabha from among persons identified by the Ward Sabhas.
- (D) Social audit is part of the Gram Sabha’s statutory role, including audit-related scrutiny of village-level works and specified allotments.
Concept
This tests the institutional division between the Gram Sabha as the village-level deliberative body and the Gram Panchayat as the elected executive body. RAS repeatedly asks this because Panchayati Raj questions often turn on which tier or body has a specific statutory power.