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Institution of Local Self Governance and its Linkages with Tourism

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SECTION II:Evolution <strong>of</strong> <strong>Local</strong> <strong>Self</strong> Governing <strong>Institution</strong>s in CountryIt is widely recognized that self governing village communitiescharacterized by agrarian economies had existed in India from theearliest times. Not only are they mentioned in Rig Veda , which datesfrom approximately 1200 B. C., there is also definite evidenceavailable <strong>of</strong> the existence <strong>of</strong> village sabhas ( councils or assemblies)<strong>and</strong> gramins ( senior persons <strong>of</strong> the village) until about 600 BC.Prior to the colonial period, these village bodies took the form <strong>of</strong>Panchayats, ( an assembly <strong>of</strong> five persons) which looked after theaffairs <strong>of</strong> the village. Besides Village Panchayats there were alsocaste panchayats to ensure the persons belonging to a particularcaste adhered to <strong>its</strong> code <strong>of</strong> social conduct <strong>and</strong> ethics. If this was thegeneral pattern in indo Gangetic plains, in the Southern India, villagepanchayats generally had a village assembly whose executive bodyconsisted <strong>of</strong> representatives <strong>of</strong> variobs groups <strong>and</strong> cas+s.During the British rule, the major unit <strong>of</strong> local government was thedistrict. A single district <strong>of</strong>ficer, referred to as the collector, whorepresented the highest status <strong>of</strong> Indian Civil Service wasmaderesponsible for maintaining peace, collecting revenue, <strong>and</strong>administration <strong>of</strong> justice.. In 1882, attempts were made by LordRiponto involve local people in the rural areas <strong>with</strong> theadministrative processes, through creation <strong>of</strong> nominated DistrictBoards.In the post independence period it was Mahatma G<strong>and</strong>hi who wishedto give the PRls a democratic basis <strong>of</strong> their own by investing them<strong>with</strong> such powers so that the villages could have a rcal sense <strong>of</strong>"Swaraj". According to him "greater the power <strong>of</strong> the Panr.hayat, thebetter for the people" as true democracy "has to be wmked frombelow by the people <strong>of</strong> every village". His vision resulted in theintroduction <strong>of</strong> Article 40 in the constitution <strong>of</strong> India (under theDirective Principles <strong>of</strong> State Policy), which states that "the stateshall take steps to organize vii/age Panchayats <strong>and</strong> enr:ow them <strong>with</strong>15

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