The Hindu : National : Panel to draft nyaya panchayat bill

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Sunday, Jun 25, 2006

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National

Panel to draft nyaya panchayat bill

Staff Correspondent

Village level dispute settlement mechanisms

Mani Shankar Aiyar

NEW DELHI: Union Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on Saturday announced the appointment of a committee under the chairmanship of the former Delhi University Vice-Chancellor, Upendra Baxi, to prepare a draft bill for establishment of nyaya panchayats.

It will draft guidelines, rules and explanatory rules for the proposed law on informal dispute settlement mechanisms at the village level.

The members include B.S. Chimni, Vice-Chancellor, West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences; Sanjay Singh, Joint Secretary in the Legislature Department of the Union Law Ministry; Suneeta Ahmad, a specialist in alternate dispute resolution; social activist Vasuda Digambar; Gagan Sethi from the Indian Institute of Paralegal Studies and D. Bandhopadhaya, former Secretary in the Union Ministry of Rural Development.

Speaking at a "Workshop of Writers and Thinkers on Local Governance" here, Mr. Aiyar said he would organise on July 14 a meeting of the ministers for Tribal Affairs and Panchayati Raj from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, and Rajasthan, where the Panchayati Extension of Scheduled Areas Act operates.

Pointing out that there was very little data on the performance of women in the panchayati raj system, he said he was ready to fund a project to undertake a study of their role.

The Panchayati Raj Ministry was planning "Rural Business Hubs," based on the experiences of China and Thailand, to facilitate business enterprises.

The CII had given him a list of 72 entrepreneurs interested in such "Public-Private-Panchayat Partnerships."

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