Panchayati Raj in Arunachal Pradesh

          
1. Introduction

1.1 Arunachal Pradesh, located in the north-easternmost part of India in the trans-Himalayan region between the latitude of 26˚28’ N and 29˚33’ N and Longitude 91˚31’ E and 97˚30’ E. It is a land of lush green forests, deep river valleys and beautiful plateaus surrounded by mountains inhabited by 26 main tribes and about 100 sub-tribes and clans. 

1.2 The tribal region now called Arunachal Pradesh finds mention in the literature of Kalika Purana and Mahabharta. This place is known to be the Prabhu Mountains of the Puranas. It was here that sage, Parashuram atoned of his sin, sage Vyasa meditated, King Bhismaka found his Kingdom and Lord Krishna married his consort Rukmini. 

1.3 Arunachal Pradesh is the largest state in north-east India, with an area of 83,743 sq. kms. It has international borders with Bhutan to the west (160 kms. of border), China to the north and north-east (1,080 kms.) and Myanmar to the east (440 km). The agro-climatic regions across Arunachal Pradesh range from snow-capped mountains in the north to the plains of the Brahmaputra valley in the south. 

1.4 The area, now known as Arunachal Pradesh, remained as an independent area without an administrative control till about 1824. The British Indian Government brought the area under the Chief Commissioner of Assam in 1874. The administration of this areas may be traced back to the Government of India Notification, 1914, vide which the Assam Frontier Tract Regulation (AFTR), 1880 was extended to hilly areas and was known as North East Frontier Tract (NEFT). This was later on named as North East Frontier Agency(NEFA) on 5 January, 1954 and continued to be known as NEFA till 1972. The area was administered by the administrators of Assam and the Agency Council was set up to advice the administrators. NEFA gained the Union Territory status on January 20, 1972 and renamed as Arunachal Pradesh, the name approved and announced by the then Prime Minister of India, Mrs Indira Gandhi at a place known as Ziro.  Thus the NEFA was upgraded as Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh in 1972 in pursuance of the North East Frontier Areas (Re-organization) Act of 1971. Consequently, the Agency Council was replaced by Pradesh Council. In 1975, an elected Legislative Assembly was constituted and the first Council of Ministers assumed office .The first general  election to 30 members Assembly was held on 1978. Arunachal Pradesh acquired the status of full pledged state on 20th February 1987, as the 24th State of Union of India as declared by the then Prime Minister of India Shri Rajiv Gandhi. The present strength of members of the State Legislative Assembly is 60. 

1.5 Census 2001

Census 2001 records the population of Arunachal Pradesh as 10,91,117 with a sex ratio of 901 females to 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 54.74%. Arunachal Pradesh has a 60 member state assembly and has 1 seat in Rajya Sabha and 2 in Lok Sabha.

1.6             Panchayats in Arunachal Pradesh has been in existence from very old days. The people used to manage their daily affairs at the village and community levels through the traditional village institutions. The traditional village councils were in existence, which got the status of Gram Panchayats later on. After the NEFA Panchayat Raj Regulation,1967, the following tiers: (i)Gram Panchayat at village level; (ii) Anchal Samiti at circle level; (iii) Zilla Parishad at district level and (iv) Agency Council at Agency level. This system was dissolved in 1997, after the  Constitution (73rd' Amendment) Act, 1992, which marked a new era in the federal democratic set-up of the country and the Arunachal Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act, 1997. The Act provided 3-tier Panchayati Raj system at District, Intermediary and Village level. The first elections were held in 2003 as per this system.