Gram Panchayats : Became The Institute of Havituated Corruptions
| In West Bengal the first Panchayat Act in1956 endorsed a two-tier panchayat. In 1973 when the S. S. Ray ministry was in power the current Panchayat Act came into force and it prescribed the current 3-tier Panchayat system. A fundamental transformation in the agrarian sector is not possible without the extension of democracy to the grassroots through the Panchayati Raj. With its three tiers – Gram Panchayat at the village level, Panchayat Samiti at the block level, and Zilla Parishad at the district level –the Panchayat system has become the main agent of the state government budget, indeed. The Gram Panchayats has been materialized by setting the illusion of people’s panchayats as centers of alternative power. Showing an utopian illusion panchayats became the centres for distribution of small money, odd jobs, | contracts and other favours to consolidate the powerbase of the political parties at the grass roots. Hasn't the corruption laied behiend this this reality?  Eventually, the panchayati democracy begin to centralize in favour of ruling parties without any hypothetical efforts. Such power base and power centralizetion breeds certain corruptions. |