The Assam Panchayat (Amendment) Act, 1964
ASSAM ACT VII O F 1964

THE ASSAM PANCHAYAT (AM ENDMENT) AGP, 1964

# (Received the assent of the Governor on the 23rd April, 1964)

[Published in the Assam Gazette Extraordinary, dated the 25th April, 1964)

An

# Act

 further to amend the Assam Panchayat Act, 1959

Preamble Whereas it is expedient furthe r to amend the ^ a m Act

Assam Panchayat Act, 1959, hereinafter called the °

principa l Act, in the m anner hereinafter appearing ;

It is hereby enacted in the Fifteenth Year of the

Republic of India as follows :—

Short title, 1. (1) This Act may be called the Assam Pa ncha­

extent and yat (Amendm ent) Act, 1964.
commence­
ment.

(2) It shall have the like extent as the princi*

pal Act.

(3) It shall come into force at once.

Amendment 2. In section 2 of the principal Act,—

of section 2
of Assam (1) clause (4) shall be deleted and clauses

Act XX IV

to (16) shall be renumbered as clauses (4) to (15)

respectively ;

(2) for clause 13 as so renumbered, the following

shall be sub stituted, na mely:—

“ (13) ‘Fina ncial Year’ means the Year starting

from 1st July and-ending on the 30th Ju ne of the
following year;” ;

,, (3) after clause (15) as so renumbered, the fol­

lowing shall be inserted as clause (16), name ly:—

“ (16) ‘House’ includes a building, hut, shed,

shop, warehouse, workshop or Mill house;”.

_[ Price 0-12 P. or 2d. ]_


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Amendment 3. Provisos to sub-section (4) and sub-section (6)

              - [C] Assam section 9 of the principal Act shall be deleted and

Act XXIV f° [r] sub-section (5) the following shall be substituted,
of 1959. na mely:—

“ (5) The voting shall be by show of hands” .

4. In section 11 of the principal Act,—

Amendment (1) for sub-section (1) and (2) the following

of section 11shall be substituted, name ly:—

°X ^rv [1]of[Ct] “ (1) Every Gaon Sabha shall have an

1959, Executive Committee called the Gaon Panchayat con­

sisting of nine members to be elected in the m an­
ner prescribed :

Provided that every Gaon Sabha having a

population over two thousand five hundred shall be
entitled to one additional member for the Gaon

Panchayat for every increase of population of five
hundred subject to a maximum of eleven :

Provided further that the Gaon Panchayat shall

co-opt from amongst the members of the Gaon

Sabha, two women members if no' woman is

elected, and one woman member if only one is

elected:

Provided further that wherever five per cent

or more of the members of a Gaon Sabha are

Scheduled Castes, then in case no mem ber belong­
ing to the Scheduled Castes is elected to the-

Gaon Panchayat, the Gaon Panchayat shall co­

opt one such member from amongst the mem­

bers of the Gaon Sab ha:

Provided further that wherever five per cent

or more of the members of the Gaon Sabha are
Scheduled Tribes, then in case no member belong­
ing to the Scheduled Tribes is elected to the

Gaon Panchayat, the Gaon Panchayat shall co­

opt one such member from amongst the members
of the Gaon Sab ha:

Provided further that this representation shall

continue only as long as special representation

for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

continues to be provided for in the Constitution

of In dia:

Provided further that such co-opted members

shall be in addition to the members provided in the
first proviso to this sub-section.

(2) When th e constitution of the Gaon Pancha­

yat under sub-section (1) is complete, the Deputy
Commissioner or the Subdivisional Officer, as the

case may be, shall call a meeting of the Gaon Pancha­
yat (which shall be called the first meeting of the
Gaon Panchayat) for election of a President and

Vice-President from amongst its members in the

manner prescribed.’[,]


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(2) In sub-section (3) for the woid ‘three’

occurring between the words ‘be’ and ‘years’ the word
‘four’ shall be substituted.

(3) The existing sub-section (5) shall be deleted

and sub-section (6) shall be renumbered as sub­

section (5).

Substitution 5. For section 13 of the principal Act, the

of section 13 following shall be substituted, namely :—

of Assam Act

X XIV of

1959.

"rf [C]Gann ®^a t e g overnm ent may appoint a Secretary

P° nchayat. t ^i e Gaon Panchayat who shall also function as

’ the Secretary of the Gaon Sabha concern ed:

Provided that one Secretary may be appointed

for more than one Gaon Panchayat.”

Amendm ent 6. In sub-section (1) of section 16 of the princ ipal

of section 16 Act,—
of Assam Act

XXIV of

1959.

(1) in clause (e), between the words “ Government”

and “or” occurring in the first line, the words ‘‘or any
educational institution recognised by and receiving
grant from the Government” shall be inserted ;

(2 ) at the end of clause (f ), for the punctua­

tion full stop, the punctua tion semicolon shall be

substituted and thereafter the word “or” shall be

added ;

(3) after clause ( f ), the following shall be inserted

as clause (g), na mely:—

“ (g) has been a defaulter of payment of any

rate, tax, cess or fee imposed under sections

75 or 76 of the Act and the rules framed
thereunder or of any loan of any Co-opera­

tive Society.”

7. In section 17 of the principal Act,—

Amendm ent (1) for sub-section (1) the following shall be

° [f]of [C]As9am7 substituted, name ly:—

Act X XIV

of 1959.

“ (1) The Anchalik Panchayat) as established under

section 5 shall consist of—

(i) all Presidents of the Gaon Panchayats falling

within the jurisdiction of the Anchalik Pan­

chayat :

(ii'i one-third of total num ber of members

under the preceding clause subject to a


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cribed manner from amongst the members

of Gaon Sabhas by an electoral college
consisting of all members of the Gaon Pan-
chayats falling within the jurisdiction of the
Anchalik Panchayat:

Provided that when one third is a fraction

which is half or more than half of a whole number,
then the n umber shall be rounded to the next higher
num ber and if less shall be igno red:

Provided further that if a member of the Gaon

Panchayat is elected as a member of the Anchalik
Panchayat, he shall immediately cease to be a mem ber
of the Gaon Panchayat;

(iii) one representative to be elected, in the

manner prescribed, by the Chairmen of
Co-operative Societies falling within the
area of the Anchalik Panchayat from

amongst themselves:

Provided th at notwithstanding anything herein

contained no member elected before coming into

force of the Assam Panchayat (Amendment) Act, 1964
shall be disqualified even if such member was not
a Chairman of any Co-operative Society at the tim e of
his election;

(iv) such num ber of member or members as

may be nominated by the State Go­

vernment from the unrepresented areas

like tea-gardens and forest villages fal­
ling within the jurisdiction of the An­
chalik Panchayat.” ;

(2) for sub-section (5) the following shall be

substituted, namely:—

“ (5) No person shall be elected, co-opted or no­

minated and rem ain as member of the Anchalik

Panchayat, if he suffers from any of the disqualifi­
cations mentioned in sub-section (1) (a) to (g) of sec­

tion 16.”

Am endment 8. Existing section 18 of the principal Act shall be

of section renumbered as sub-section (1) and the following

'I cfxxiV [s]h [a] M h [e] inserted as sub-section (2), namely

of 1959.

“ (2) If the President of a Gaon Panchayat is elec­

ted as the President of the Anchalik Panchayat,

he shall, on and from the d ate of his election as such,
cease to be, and vacate the office of the Gaon Pa n­
chayat but such cessation shall not affect in any way
his election as the President of the Anchalik Pancha­
yat as such and he shall continue to hold the

office of the President of the Anchalik Panchayat,”


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Insertion of 9. After section 18 of the principal Act, the follow

tion I8A in an ew sec-j n „ gjja a ll be inserted as section 18A, nam ely:—

Assam Act
XXIV of

1959.

“Additional I8A. Th e President of the Gaon Panchayat who

n?e “l b c r, vacates his office as such under sub-section (2) of

lil^Pancha"-[s e c t] ’[o n] 18 because of his having been elected as
yat. the President of the Anchalik Panchayat shall also
be the member of such Anchalik Panchayat.”

Amendment 10. In sub-section (1) of section 19 of the principa l

ofA«am Act, f° [r] ^ [i e] word “ three ” occurring between the

Act XXIV words “ be” and “ years” the word “four” shall

of 1959. be substituted.

Substitution jj. For s e c tion 22 of the principal Act, the

22 oMssam following shall be substituted, namely :—

Act XXIV
of I95g.

“ Consti­ 22. (1) The Mohkuma Parishad as established

tution of the under section **4** shall consist o f -
Mohkuma
Parishad.

(i) the Presidents of all Anchalik Panchayats

within the area of the Mo hkuma Parishad ;

(ii) the Deputy Commissioner and theS ub-

divisional Officer ;

(iii) all members of Parliament and members

of State Legislature, representing the area

of the Mo hkuma Parishad ;

(iv) the Chairmen of Municipalities, Town

Committees and Co-operative Central Bank
falling w ithin the area of the Mohkuma

Parishad as _Ex-officio members ;_

(v) such Government officials as _Ex-officio_

members as the State Government may
appoint from time to time :

Provided that if no person belonging to the

Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, as" the case
may be, is a member, the Mohkuma Parishad shall
co-opt from within its area one such mem ber

from amongst the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled

Tribes, as the case may b e:


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Provided further that the Mohkuma Parishad shall

from within the area of its jurisdiction, co-opt two
women members if no woman is elected and one
woman member, if only one is elected.

(2) No persons shall be elected or co-opted and

rem ain as mem ber of the Mohkuma Parishad, if he
suffers from any of the disqualifications mentioned
in sub-section (1) (a) to (g) of section 16.

(3) An _ex-officio_ member of the Mo hkuma

Parishad shall have no right to vo te.”

Amendment 12. In section 23 of the principal Act,—

of section 23
XXIV™ [A]Co‘f W after sub-section (1) the following shall be

1959. inserted as sub-section (2) and the existing sub-sections
(2) and (3) shall be renum bered as sub-sections (3)
and (4) respectively, namely:—

“ (2) If the President of an Anchalik Panchayat

is elected as the President of the Mohkuma Parishad
he shall on and from the date of his election as
such, cease to be, and vacate the office of the Presi­
dent of the Anchalik Panchayat bu t such cessation
shall not affect in any way his election as the Presi­
dent o f the Mohkuma Parishad as such and he shall
continue to hold the office of the President of the
Mohkuma Parishad.” ;

(2) for sub-section (3) as so renumbered the follow­

ing shall be substituted, na mely:—

“(3) The Mo hkuma Parishad shall form such

numb er of Standing Committees and with such

powers and functions as may be prescribed.”

Insertion of ] 3. After section 23 of the Principal Act, the

don W23A M ow in g shall be inserted as section 23A, namely :—■

in Assam
Act XX IV
of 1959.

“Additional 23A. The President of the Anchalik Panchayat

n?em ^ r , o f who vacates his office as such under sub-section (2)
_ku maP ar i- °?_ [s e c t] i° [n] 23 because of his having been elected as
shad. the President of the Mohkuma Parishad shall also

be the member of such Mohkuma Parishad.”

Amendment 14. In sub-section (1) of section 24 o f the pr im

21 of[C t]As- [c] ip [a] l Act, for the word “three” occurring between
sam Act the words “ be” and ‘‘years”, the word “ four” shall

XX IV of be substituted.

195 [9.]


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Amendment 15. In section 27 of the principal Act,-

of section

27 of As­

sam Act (I) in sub-section (1)—

X X IV ot

1959,

(a) in clause (a), for item (i), the following

shall be substituted, namely :—

“ (i) if he suffers from any of the disqualifi­

cations mentioned in sub-section (1) (a) to (g) of
section 16

(b) for clause (b), the following shall be subs­

titu ted, namely:—

“ (b) A President or Vice-President of a Gaon

or Anchalik Panchayat or a Mohkuma Parishad

shall imm ediately cease to hold office, if by three-
fifths majority of votes of members present a motion
of no-confidence is passed by them in a meeting

of the Gaon or Anchalik Panchayat or the Mohku­
ma Parishad, as the case may be, where at least
a minimum of two-thirds of total number of mem­
bers is present:

Provided that at least seven days’ notice in

writing shall be given by the intending mover

of the no-confidence motion to the President and

Vice-President of the Gaon or Anchalik Panchayat or
the Mohkuma Parishad, as the case may be, be­
fore such a motion can be discussed.” ;

(2) in sub-section (2), between the words “ Vice-

President” and “ o f” , the words “or member” shall
be inserted ;

(3) in sub-section (3), after the existing proviso the

following shall be added as the second proviso,

na mely:—

“Provided further that notwithstanding anything

contained in this sub-section, the State Government
may, at any time, suspend a President or Vice-Presi­
dent of a Gaon or Anchalik Panchayat or Mohkuma

Parishad pending his removal under tlus sub-section
if his continuance in office is considered inadvisable by
the State Government on any of the grounds for which
he may be disqualified under sub-section (21 of this
section or on the ground of public interest.”

£ „ , . . 16. For section 32 of the principal Act, the

stsection following shall be substituted, namely :—

32 of Assam

V Act X X IV

of 195g.

32. Save as otherwise provided, the Mohkuma

' ofm Pp”mcha- Parishad may appoint such staffs may be necessary

yat staff "for the Gaon or Anchalik Panchayat or Mohkunw

Parishad.


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Salary, promotion and other conditions of services

including disciplinary action of such staffs shall be
determined by rules to be made for the purpose.”

Amendm ent l7« Part H of section 36 of the principal

of section Act—

oH 95 9 36 of Assam V n a m e l y : -(j) fo r item (19), the following shall be substituted,

“(19) establishment of hat and maintenance and

regulation thereof according to the provisions of section

76A.”

^section *8* Existing section 37 of the principal Act shall

37 of[C] As- be renumbered as sub-section (1) and in the sub-section

A«am Act (1) as so renum bered—

X X IV of (i) (a) for item (6) in Part II , the following shall

19 59, be substituted, namely :—

“ (6) establishment of hat and maintenance and

reg ulation thereof according to the provisions of sec­

tion 76A ; _T_

(b) for item (8) in Pa rt **V,** the following shall I

be substituted, namely:—

“ (8) preparation of development plans for the area
under the jurisdiction of the Anchalik Panchayat.”

(2) After sub-section (1) as so renumbered the

following shall be inserted as sub-section (2), namely :—

“ (2) The State Government may transfer any of its

institutions, works or development schemes in relation
to any subject enumerated in sub-section (1) along
with such funds as may be deemed necessary to the
Anchalik Panchayat. On such transfer, the institu­

tions, works or development schemes shall vest in the
Anchalik Panchayat and all rights and liabilities which
are enforceable by or against the State Government in
relation to such institutions, works or development
schemes under any contract or agreement or otherwise,
shall be enforceable by or against the Anchalik

Panchayat.”

Am endn,ent 19. In section 38 of the principal Act,—

of section 38

of Assam (1) the word “and” occurring at the end of

Act X X IV

of 1939. clause (g) shall be deleted ;

(2) for the punctuation full stop “ (.)” occurring

at the end of clause (h) the punctua tion

semicolon “ (;)” shall be substitu ted and

thereafter the word “ and” shall be

*!
inserted ;

(3) after clause (h) the following shall be

inserted as clause (i), namely :—

“ (i) administration of subdivisional cadre of

Panchayat employees as prescribed.”


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**of itoendmen* section** 20. In section 69 of the principal Act,— r **’**

**Act X X IV** (1) for clause (iv), the following shall be substitu-

**of** 1959. ted, namely ;—

“ (lv) contribution from Government including

a share of land revenue which shall be a
sum not less than thirty-three naye paise

_per capita of the population,_ and local

rate collected from the area of the Gaon
Panchayat calculated at twenty-five naye
paise _per capita of the population :_

Provided that the State Government may direct the

Goan Panchayat to spend a specified share of the

net rece ipt of local rate for any purpose specified by
the State Government

(2) the word "a nd ” occurring at the end of clause

(ix) shall be deleted ;

(3) for the punctu ation full stop "( ,)” at the end

of clause (x) the punctuation semicolon "(; )” shall be
substituted and thereafter the word "a nd” be added ;

**(4)** after clause (x) the following shall be Linserted

as clause (xi), namely :—

"(xi) an equal amount of contribution from

Government as matching grant on every
rupee of house-tax collected by the Gaon
Panchayat under section 75(1) (i) (a) of
the A ct,”

Amendment j l. In section 70 of the principal Act,—
**of section 70** **r** **r** **»**

**Act X X IV** ( [l] ) for clause (iii), the following shall be sub-

**of 1959*** stituted, namely         -

"(iii) all other sums collected by the Anchalik

Panchayat or assigned to the Anchalik

A Panchayat by the State Government as

 - well as grants from the Union or the State
Government including a share of

lan d revenue which shall be. a sum not

x less than seventeen naye paise _per capita_

of the population, public contribution and
contribution by' Local Authorities;” ;

(2) the word ‘and’ occurring at the end of

clause (vi) shall be deleted ;


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(3) for the punctuation fullstop at the

end of clause (vii), the punctuation semi­
colon shall be substituted and there­

after the word “ an d” be added ;

(4) after clause (vii), the following shall be

inserted as clause (viii), namely

“ (viii) such amount of contribution from the

State Government as matching grant, on
local rate surcharge collected by the

Ancbalik Panchayat under section 76(1)

(d) of the Act.”

22. In section 75 of the principal Act, in sub-

75 of Assam [8 c c t] *o n (1 ), for item (a) of clause (i), the following

Act XXIV shall be sub stituted, namely s —-

of 1959.

“ (a) house

2 ^‘ s e c ,i o n 7 6 of the principal Act—

_16_ of Asians
Act XXIV

(1) in sub-section (1), after clause (c) th e

following shall be inserted as clause (d ),
na mely:—•

“ (d) surcharge on local rate collected from

within the area of an Anchalik Pancha­

yat.” ;

{2) in clause (b) of sub-section (2) for the

words “brick or concrete building” the

word “house” shall be substituted.

AcscBtlmeat 24. In section 76A of the principal Act­
or section

Ac t^JoSv" (0 [f o r] sub-section (4), the following shall be

of 1959. substituted, na mely:—

“ (4) All sale proceeds of hats shall be depo­

sited in the Subdivisions! Ru ral Deve­
lopm ent Fund and distrib uted in the
manner hereinafter provided after

deducting the amount due. if any, as
ann ual instalment for repaym ent of
the loan with interest incurred by a
Gaon or Anchalik Panchayat for the

improvement of hat : —

0) if the balance of the sale proceeds of any

hat after providing as aforesaid, for
rep ayment of loan, if any, does not
exceed rupees three tho usand, then
the entire amount shall be made over
to the Gaon Panchayat within whose

jurisdiction the hat is situate j


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11

(/«) if the balance of the sale procaeds of any

hat after providing for repaym ent of
loan, if any, as aforesaid exceeds

rupees three thousand bu t does not
exceed rupees ten thousand, then a
sum of rupees three thousand shall go
to the Gaon Panchayat within whose

jurisdiction the hat is situate and the

balance to the Anchalik Panchayat
within whose jurisdiction the hat is
situate ;

(ti») if the balance of the sale proceeds of any

hat after providing as aforesaid for
repayme nt of loan, if any, exceeds
rupees ten thousand, then a sum of
rupees three thousand shall go to the
Gaon Panchayat within whose jurisdic­
tion the hat is situate and a sum of
rupees seven thousand shall go to the
Anchalik Panchayat within whose

jurisdiction the hat is situate and the

balance shall go to a common pool ;

(u>) five per cent of the common pool shall be

kept for meeting the expenses of con­
ducting the sale of hats and one-
third of the balance be distributed
among all the Anchalik Panchayats
and the remaining two-thirds among
all the Gaon Panchayats within the
area of the Mohkuma Parishad. The

basis of distribution shall be area-«rwt-
population in both the cases.” ;

(2) for the punctua tion full stop "(. )” occurring

at the end of sub-section (5), the punc­
tuation colon “ (;) ” shall be substituted
and the following proviso shall be added
thereafter, namely

‘’"Provided th at the Gaon or Anchalik Pancha­

yat which receives a loan for improve­

ment of a hat, shall continue to maintain
and regulate the hat till the entire amount

of loan with interest is repaid.”

25, R epeal an d savin g.— (1) Th e Assam Pan- Assam O rd h

chayat (Amendment) Ordinance, 1964 is hereby nance No .I

repealed. o f

(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything do ne

  - or any action taken under the Assam Pa nchayat

, (Am endment) Ordinance, 1964 shall be deemed to
have been done or taken under this Act as if this Act
had commenced on twenty second day of Janu ary,

1964 (the date of prom ulgation of the Ordinance).

A G P (Leg) 27/64—7,612-16-7-64


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