The 73rd Constitution Amendment Act of 1992 provided guidelines and directives for bringing uniformity in Panchayati Raj Institutions throughout India. So, the Assam Legislative Assembly enacted the Assam Panchayat Act, 1994 as per the guidelines of the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992. The new act replaced the Assam Panchayati Raj Act, 1986. The Act of 1994 provided for a three-tier Panchayat system comprising of Gaon Panchayat at the village level, Anchalik Panchayat at the block level and Zilla Parishad at the district level.
Features of Assam Panchayat Act, 1994:
- Three-tier system of Panchayati Raj: Gaon Panchayat at village level, Anchalik Panchayat and intermediate level and Zilla Parishad and District level.
- Gaon Sabha consisting of all voters of a village or villages falling within the area of a Gaon Panchayat.
- Regular meeting of Gao Sabha. Such a meetings is convened by the Secretary of the Gaon Panchayat with approval of the President and in consultation of the Block Development Officer.
- Interval between such two meetings of Gaon Sabha mustn’t be more than three months.
- Presence of one-tenth of the total members or one hundred members, whichever is less, is necessary to form a quorum.
- Outlined functions of Gaon Sabha such as to consider the report of development programmes; promote unity and harmony in the village; send suggestions to Gaon Panchayat; mobilising voluntary labour for community welfare programmes; identifying beneficiaries for development schemes etc.
- Mahkuma Parishad replaced with Zilla Parishad at District level.
Assam Government first postponed Panchayat elections in 1997, citing the then ongoing Budget Session. In 1998, elections were postponed due to monsoons and the law and order situations. Then in year 2000, the Registrar General of Census Operations had put a restriction on holding of Panchayat elections during March – June. Finally, the first Panchayat election under the Assam Panchayat Act, 1994 was held in December 2001. Accordingly, 2487 Gaon Panchayats, 203 Anchalik Panchayats and 21 Zilla Parishads were constituted in Assam.