Article 243C of Constitution of India "Composition of Panchayats"
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, the
Legislature of a State may, by law, make provisions with
respect to the composition of Panchayats:
Provided that the ratio between the population of the
territorial area of a Panchayat at any level and the number
of seats in such Panchayat to be filled by election shall,
so far as practicable, be the same throughout the State,
(2) All the seats in a Panchayat shall be filled by persons
chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in
the Panchayat area and, for this purpose, each Panchayat
area shall be divided into territorial constituencies in
such manner that the ratio between the population of each
constituency and the number of seats allotted to it shall,
so far as practicable, be the same throughout the Panchayat
area.
(3) The Legislature of a State may, by law, provide for
the representation-
(a) of the Chairpersons of the Panchayats at the village
level, in the Panchayats at the intermediate level or, in
the case of a State not having Panchayats at the
intermediate level, in the Panchayats at the district level;
(b) if the Chairpersons of the Panchayats at the
intermediate level, in the Panchayats at the district level;
(c) of the members of the House of the People and the
members of the Legislative Assembly of the State
representing constituencies which comprise wholly or partly
a Panchayat area at a level other than the village level, in
such Panchayat;
(d) of the members of the Council of States and the members
of the Legislative Council of the State, where they are
registered as electors within-
(i) a Panchayat area at the intermediate level, in Panchayat
at the intermediate level;
(ii) a Panchayat area at the district level, in Panchayat at
the district level.
(4) The Chairperson of a Panchayat and other members of a
Panchayat whether or not chosen by direct election from
territorial constituencies in the Panchayat area shall have
the right to vote in the meetings of the Panchayats.
(5) The Chairperson of-
(a) Panchayat at the village level shall be elected in such
manner as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide;
and
(b) a Panchayat at the intermediate level or district level,
shall be elected by, and from amongst, the elected members
thereof.
Article 243D of Constitution of India "Reservation
of seats"
(1) Seats shall be reserved for-
(a) the Scheduled Castes; and
(b) the Scheduled Tribes, in every Panchayat and the number
of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the
same proportion to the, total number of seats to be filled
by direct election in that Panchayat as the population of
the Scheduled Castes in that Panchayat area or of the
Scheduled Tribes in that Panchayat area bears to the total
population of that area and such seats may be allotted by
rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat.
(2) Not less than one-third of the total number of seats
reserved under clause (1) shall be reserved for women
belonging, to the Scheduled Castes or, as the case may be,
the Scheduled Tribes.
(3) Not less than one-third (including the number of seats
reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled
by direct election in every Panchayat shall be reserved for
women and such seats may be allotted by rotation to
different constituencies in a Panchayat.
(4) The offices of the Chairpersons in the Panchayats at the
village or any other level shall be reserved for the
Scheduled Castes the Scheduled Tribes and women in such
manner as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide:
Provided that the number of offices of Chairpersons reserved
for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the
Panchayats at each level in any State shall bear, as nearly
as may be, the same proportion to the total number of such
offices in the Panchayats at each level as the population of
the Scheduled Castes in the State or of the Scheduled Tribes
in the State bears to the total population of the State:
Provided further that not less than one-third of the total
number of offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at each
level shall be reserved for women:
Provided also that the number of offices reserved under this
clause shall be allotted by rotation to different Panchayats
at each level.
(5) The reservation of seats under clauses (1) and (2) and
the reservation of offices of Chairpersons (other than the
reservation for women) under clause (4) shall cease to have
effect on the expiration of the period specified in Article
334 .
(6) Nothing in this Part shall prevent the Legislature of a
State from making any provision for reservation of seats in
any Panchayat or offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats
at any level in favor of backward class of citizens.
Article 243E of Constitution of India "Duration of Panchayats, etc"
(1) Every Panchayat, unless sooner dissolved under any law
for the time being in force, shall continue for five years
from the date appointed for its first meeting and no longer.
(2) No amendment of any law for the time being in force
shall have the effect of causing dissolution of a Panchayat
at any level, which is functioning immediately before such
amendment, till the expiration of its duration specified in
clause (1).
(3) An election to constitute a Panchayat shall be
completed-
(a) before the expiry of its duration specified in clause
(1);
(b) before the expiration of a period of six months from the
date of its dissolution:
Provided that where the remainder of the period for which
the dissolved Panchayat would have continued is less than
six months, it shall not be necessary to hold any election
under this clause for constituting the Panchayat.
(4) A Panchayat constituted upon the dissolution of a
Panchayat before the expiration of its duration shall
continue only for the remainder of the period for which the
dissolved Panchayat would have continued under clause (1)
had it not been so dissolved.