Powers and duties of a sarpanch — under the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act

Under the Act the sarpanch shall —

1. be responsible for convening Gram Sabha meetings and preside over them.
2. be responsible for convening panchayat meetings and preside over and regulate them.
3. be responsible for maintaining the panchayat's records.
4. have the general responsibility for the panchayat's financial and executive administration.
5. exercise administrative supervision and control over the panchayat's staff and the officers and employees placed at its disposal by any other authority.
6. for business under the Act, exercise the powers and duties the Act or its rules give the panchayat.
7. furnish the prescribed reports, returns and records to the State Government or the officer in charge of panchayats.
8. exercise other powers and duties that the panchayat by resolution, or the Government by rules, gives.

⚠️ Proviso to Section 32: if the State Government so directs by a gazette notification, the sarpanch exercises powers 4 to 8 above only with the prior approval of the Administration and Establishment Committee under Section 55-A.

Every gram panchayat has an up-sarpanch. When the panchayat is constituted the competent authority calls a meeting, presides without a vote, and the up-sarpanch is elected in it (Section 27). In 2026 the newly elected panches and sarpanch choose the up-sarpanch by secret ballot the day after the panch/sarpanch poll.

The up-sarpanch shall —

• exercise the powers and duties the sarpanch delegates by written order, subject to the rules.
• in the sarpanch's absence (office vacant or otherwise), exercise all of the sarpanch's powers and duties.
• exercise other powers given by panchayat resolution or Government rules.

If there is neither a sarpanch nor an up-sarpanch, the competent authority directs an elected member of the panchayat to exercise the sarpanch's powers (Section 32(3)). The up-sarpanch holds office only while a member of the panchayat (Sections 30, 36(5)).

These are the functions the sarpanch runs the panchayat's administration for. The panchayat performs them subject to conditions set by the State Government; the full list is in the First Schedule of the Act. The main ones:

• Annual development plan and annual budget; relief in natural calamities; removing encroachments on public property.
• Registration of births, deaths and marriages; essential village statistics and panchayat records.
• Drinking water: building and repairing wells, tanks and ponds; maintaining hand pumps and pump-and-tank schemes.
• Building and maintaining village roads, drains and culverts; lighting of public streets.
• Sanitation: cleaning public roads, drains, tanks and wells; burning and burial grounds; rural latrines.
• Rural housing: allotment of free house sites, records of houses and properties.
• Grazing grounds, community land, threshing floors and cattle stands; fairs and festivals.
• Selecting beneficiaries of poverty alleviation schemes through the Gram Sabha; help with old-age and widow pensions.
• Full enrolment and attendance in primary schools, especially of girls; supervision of anganwadi centres.

Everyone on the panchayat area's voter list is a member of the Gram Sabha. It meets at least twice a year — in the first and the last quarter of the financial year. If more than one-tenth of the members ask in writing, a meeting must be held within 15 days (Section 8A).

At the first-quarter meeting the panchayat places the previous year's accounts, its administration report, this year's programmes and the last audit report; at the last-quarter meeting, the year's expenditure and progress of programmes.

Main functions of the Gram Sabha (Section 8E):

• Approving development plans and works in order of priority.
• Selecting beneficiaries of poverty alleviation and other schemes.
• Social audit, for example of plots allotted to weaker sections.
• Seeking clarification from the sarpanch and panchayat members on any activity, scheme, income or expenditure.

Ward Sabha: all adults of each ward are members, and it too meets twice a year (Section 3). It proposes and prioritises development schemes, identifies beneficiaries, verifies the eligibility of pension and subsidy recipients and does a social audit of works in the ward (Section 7).

1. A written notice signed by at least one-third of the panchayat's directly elected members, with a copy of the motion, is delivered in person to the competent authority by one of the signatories.
2. The competent authority calls a meeting at the panchayat office within 30 days of the notice, gives members at least 7 clear days' notice and presides (or an officer nominated by him does).
3. Neither the meeting nor the debate can be adjourned; debate lasts at most 2 hours, then the vote. Quorum: one-third of those entitled to vote.
4. The motion is carried only with the support of at least three-fourths of the panchayat's elected members. The sarpanch vacates office as soon as the notice is put up on the panchayat's notice board.
5. No notice can be given within 2 years of taking office; if a motion fails or the meeting lacks a quorum, no new motion against the same sarpanch for 1 year.

⚠️ The same rules apply to the up-sarpanch, pradhan, up-pradhan, zila pramukh and up-pramukh.

Removal and suspension by the State Government (Section 38): after a hearing and the necessary enquiry, the Government can remove a sarpanch who refuses to act or becomes incapable of acting, or is guilty of misconduct or disgraceful conduct. A removed person cannot contest for 5 years. The Government can suspend a sarpanch once an enquiry has begun, or while a criminal case involving moral turpitude is pending trial.

Suspension on the Gram Sabha's recommendation: if the Gram Sabha passes a resolution to suspend the sarpanch, the Government refers it to the Collector, who calls a special Gram Sabha meeting; only if two-thirds of the members present and voting reaffirm it can the sarpanch be suspended. No such resolution before the sarpanch completes 2 years. The same process applies to a panch on the Ward Sabha's recommendation.

• Resignation: a sarpanch, up-sarpanch or panch resigns in their own hand to the Vikas Adhikari; it takes effect 15 days after receipt unless withdrawn meanwhile (Section 36).
• Term: 5 years from the panchayat's first meeting (Section 17).
• Honorarium: ₹6,679 a month for a sarpanch, from 1 April 2025 (Panchayati Raj Department notification).