West Bengal Assembly passes Bill depriving panchayat pradhans of financial powers

The West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Saturday, July 26, 2026, passed the West Bengal Panchayat (Second Amendment) Bill, 2026, which deprives the elected representatives of the financial powers of the panchayats.

The bill was passed with 169 votes in favour, while 13 MLAs voted against. 32 MPs did not participate in the voting.

The proposed legislation seeks to amend various provisions of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973, with the objective of ensuring administrative stability, uninterrupted public service delivery and smoother functioning of rural local institutions.

The statement of objects and reasons for the legislation says that the bill has been introduced to ensure stability of panchayat bodies for time-bound delivery of public services.

The bill provides for the prescribed power to appoint an extension officer or higher rank officer as Administrator for a maximum period of 30 days in case both the pradhan and the deputy pradhan are absent for more than 15 days and no elected member is willing to discharge the responsibilities.

The bill also deals with cases where gram panchayat meetings are not held for two consecutive months due to absence of pradhan and deputy pradhan. In such cases, the panchayat secretary will have the authority to convene the meeting with the approval of the Block Development Officer (BDO).

Panchayat Affairs and Rural Development Minister Dilip Ghosh, who participated in the discussion, said that the Bill does not intend to restrict the constitutional powers of elected panchayat presidents.

“Rather, it aims to reduce the power of the commission against corruption and rural civil services. From now on, elected panchayat presidents will only approve any proposal. But the bill will be approved and approved by the bureaucrats,” he said.

The State Panchayat Minister alleged that in many cases pradhans refused to sign work-related documents due to issues related to claims of ‘deduction of money’ (commission). He stated that the purpose of the change was to prevent such irregularities. Mr. Ghosh claimed that among all the States in the country, it is only in West Bengal that panchayat pradhans have such financial power and that economic interests are a major factor behind the violence witnessed during panchayat elections.

A few days ago, the State government issued a notification depriving panchayat pradhans and elected representatives of the power to issue birth and death certificates.

Despite the regime change in West Bengal, most of the panchayats and local bodies are ruled by the Trinamool Congress. The Bharatiya Janata Party government in West Bengal argues that most panchayat pradhans have stopped performing their duties and hence such legislative changes are necessary.