Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
Omitted by Act 37 of 2003 w.e.f. 1.10.2003. (a) make provision for or make contribution towards, any exhibition, conference or seminar within or outside the panchayat area but within the district; or (b) make contribution to any medical, educational or charitable institutions or any other institutions of public utility, within the panchayat area which are registered under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1961, Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959 or under any other law for the time being in force. 1[(4) The Gram Panchayat shall be an institution of local self Government and the state shall, subject to availability of funds, endow the Gram Panchayat with the powers, authority, functions, functionaries and funds as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of local self-Government. (5) It shall be the duty of every Gram Panchayat, to meet the needs of people of the panchayat area and shall have powers to administer the matters enumerated in schedule I and also as elaborated in the responsibility map in respect of Gram Panchayats and to prepare and implement schemes for economic, social, cultural development for the realisation of social justice for all, subject to the availability of the Gram Panchayat fund at its disposal to make reasonable provision within the panchayat area in regard to the following matters, namely: – (i) to ensure an environment that is safe and congenial for all citizens to exercise their rights in an atmosphere of freedom and liberty and to act on measures suggested by the respective Habitation sabha, Ward Sabha and Gram Sabhas to protect its people against every form of abuse and exploitation; (ii) to act against hazards identified by the Habitation Sabha, ward Sabha and Gram Sabhas and to implement measures for the safety, security and freedom of all person residing in the panchayat; (iii) to protect the rights and interests of the disenfranchised and the people belonging to the vulnerable sections of society and also to monitor and prevent practices that tend to violate their rights and to take all measures at their command to safeguard the dignity and freedom of the individual; (iv) to make efforts to prevent the economic, social, religious or sexual exploitation of any citizen of the panchayat by any individual or group or establishment; (v) to promote communal harmony and unity among all groups of people. (vi) to ensure that all functions, meetings and dealings of the Gram Panchayat including meetings of the habitation sabha, ward Sabha and Gram Sabhas are held in an environment that is congenial for the free and active participation of women and the weaker sections and to maintain an environment that is conducive to the participation of women, the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and the backward classes in every office of a panchayat; (vii) to identify the capacity building needs of the elected members and the staff of the panchayat, identify appropriate resource persons and ensure that their capacity is strengthened if necessary with the assistance of the Taluk and zilla panchayat; 71 (viii) to ensure that the office of all Panchayats and public buildings under its management and control have ramps for the physically disabled; (ix) to provide for a baby care centre or crèche in the building or complex within the panchayat area as may be required; (x) to organise and promote cultural festivals, literary activities and sports meets to nurture and promote physical education and the art and culture of the area and give expression to the talents of the people of the panchayat and to equip them with the skills to manage the affairs of the panchayat in accordance with the Act and rules; (xi) to promote programmes of adult education, de-addiction and family counseling within the panchayat area; (xii) to promote scientific processing of cowdung pits and agricultural waste; (xiii) to spread awareness on issues of water conservation, preservation of natural habitat and recycling of bio degradable waste; (xiv) to promote economic development of all with a special focus on women, youth, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, backward classes and weaker sections through the promotion of agriculture, village industries, small enterprises and cooperatives; (xv) to promote cooperation among residents and all co-operatives in the area with a view to enabling economic development and social harmony; (xvi) to facilitate the formation of self-help groups for the social and economic advancement of women, farmers and labourers. (xvii) to report the concerned authorities regarding money-lending activities which are in violation of the usurious loans Act and money lending Act to the concerned authorities so as to prevent the exploitation of people in the Panchayat area; (xviii) to plan and design systems for knowledge management and the maintenance of all records including those related to caste wise population census, crop census, cattle census, census of unemployed persons and persons below poverty line; (xix) to be a “front office” for all official requirements of the residents of Grama Panchayat and attend to their needs either through addressing them if within the purview of the Gram Panchayat or to follow up with other panchayats or Government agencies; (xx) to take steps for disposal of carcasses; and (xxi) to protect and nurture the bio-diversity of the area; (6) (i) with the assistance of the habitation sabha, ward sabha and Gram Sabhas, the Gram Panchayat shall once in five years collate the plans of the Gram Sabhas reflecting the needs of all residents and the requirements for the development of their areas in order to compile and draw up a forward looking plan called the vision plan; (ii) in order to determine the priority of the economic, social, cultural and environmental development programmes and schemes to be implemented in the area of the Gram Panchayat, the Gram Panchayat shall collate all the plans approved by the Gram Sabhas taking into account the interests of every group constituting the Gram Panchayat for inclusion in the vision plan and the annual development plans of the Gram Panchayat and this plan shall be placed before the Gram Sabha and forward to the taluk planning and development committee (TPDC) with a copy to the Taluk Panchayat; (iii) the Gram Panchayat shall also make provisions for carrying out any other work or programme or take such measures to promote the health, safety, education, comfort, convenience or social or economic well-being of the inhabitants and for the protection of the environment within the panchayat area. (iv) subject to availability of funds and guidelines issued by the Government, plans approved by the Gram Sabhas shall be considered by the Gram Panchayat; (v) to ensure that the priority of economic, social, cultural and environmental development programmes and schemes to be implemented in the area are based on the “priority ranking” method, the Gram Panchayat shall take into consideration and give due weightage to backwardness of the area, urgency of need of the people within the area, level of impact and coverage. 72 (7) subject to availability of funds, the entrustment of every function to the Grama Panchayat shall result in the vesting of the respective functionaries and funds in the Grama Panchayat]1