Zilla Panchayath Office is a body constituted under the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act, 1993. The Zilla Panchayat is a body corporate and is assigned a legal status. The Zilla Panchayat is entrusted with execution of development schemes, providing civic functions in rural areas and looking after the duties of the government delegated in respect of certain departments as per the schedule of the Act.
The Zilla panchayat structure and activities are categorised into six important elements as listed below.
- The Political Structure
- The Administration
- Annual Budget
- Departments coming under the direct administrative control of Zilla Panchayat
- Development schemes and works taken up by Zilla Panchayat
- Role of Taluk and Gram Panchayats
Zilla Panchayat shall perform the functions specified in Schedule III : Provided that where the State Government or Central Government provide funds for the performance of any function specified in Schedule III, the Zilla Panchayat shall perform such functions in accordance with the guidelines or norms laid down for performance of such function.Not withstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) or schedule III, it shall be obligatory on the part of the Zilla Panchayat so far as the Zilla Panchayat fund at its disposal will allow, to make reasonable provisions within the area under its jurisdiction, in respect of the following matters, namely;
- Establishment of health centres including maternity centres so as to cover the entire population within five years, as per the norms laid down by the Government
- Construction of underground water recharge structures to ensure availability of water in the drinking water levels
- Prevention of drilling of irrigation borewells in the vicinity of drinking water wells to ensure adequate drinking water, specially in lean season
- Drawing up a plan for social forestry development in each taluk and spending not less than such percentage of the District Plan allocation every year as may be specified by the Government from time to time
For smooth functioning & administration of the zilla panchayat office , an officer designated “Chief Executive Officer” is appointed by the state government to carry out administration of Zilla Panchayat. Chief Executive Officer is designated head of department for all the department offices within the Zilla panchayat. He is assisted in the discharge of his duties by Senior Officers of following sections in the Zilla Panchayat .
Administration and Development Section : Under the provisions of Section 196(2) of The Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act 1993, government have appointed two Deputy secretaries to the Zilla Panchayat. They will assist the Chief Executive Officer in the performance of his duties prescribed under Section 197 of the said Act. Accordingly the Deputy Secretary(Admn) will assist in respect of Administration matters and the Deputy Secretary(Dev) will assist in respect of Developmental activities. They will also be functioning as Ex-officio Secretaries of Standing Committees constituted under the provisions of section 186 of Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act 1993.
Accounts Section : It is headed by a senior Officer from the State Accounts Department, designated as Chief Accounts Officer. This section acts as Finance department as well as Audit department in Zilla Panchayat System. There will be two Accounts officers to assist the Chief Accounts Officer in his duties & functions. The CAO is the custodian of the Zilla Panchayat Fund & also he advises the Chief Executive Officer & President of the Zilla Panchayat in Financial matters. He will directly Work under the Chief Executive Officer.
Planning Section : Headed by Chief Planning Officer, This section looks after formulation of Draft Annual Plan, formulation of action plan for different development schemes & monitoring & evaluation of schemes.
