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31changes that would ensure support from the grassroots into which the Left was steadilymaking inroads. Some observers contend that the West Bengal Panchayat Act 1973, wasan attempt in this direction. On May 3, 1973, Santosh Kumar Ray, Member-in-charge(MIC) presented the Bill, indicating that the Acts of 1957 and 1963 had failed to actualizethe spirit of decentralization and accordingly voicing the intention of the Congressgovernment to replace the two Acts by a comprehensive legislation. In keeping with theall-India perspective, the Bill proposed to introduce a 3 tier structure of PRIs from thevillage to the district level, with direct elections of members.The MIC stressed that the chief objectives of the Bill were to :i. Structurally reorganize the PR system.ii. Provide for a direct election at the newly created 3 tier PR system.iii. Ensure coordination between the PR bodies and the district and State PlanningBoards in the overall backdrop of the planned economy of India.iv. Create conditions to augment resources of PRIs and imbibing a sense of socialresponsibility to ensure proper utilisaiton of scarce resources.Dissenting notes in the Select Committee : Certain members of the Select committeecame up with several reservations, which were recorded in the ‘Minutes of Dissent’. Forinstance, the CPI members, Ajit Kumar Basu and Ajit Kumar Ganguly observed:i. Powers of PRIs are to be interpreted as powers of the bureaucracy, for the formerwere subject to approval by the ‘prescribed authority’ - an euphemism for thebureaucracy.ii. Non-performing Panchayats could be easily earmarked by a vindictivegovernment; therefore supersession of such bodies or removal of PR functionariesare defective provisions.iii. The 1957 Act provided for a Gram Sabha; it had a supervisory role. This roleunder the new Bill has been earmarked for the government. This strengthens thebureaucracy.iv. The Bill empowers government officials to be in charge of Panchayat bodies.Panchayats must be consulted when such officials are recruited, (esp. the GPSecretary). Such officials must be made responsible to the panchayat bodies,and not to the government.v. The government should provide sufficient funds to PRIs.vi.By retaining total control over PR matters, the government has paid only lipservice to ‘devolution of powers’.