State Act

Jharkhand Panchayat Raj Act, 2001_English

Section 8 Presiding Officer - (i) Every meeting of the Gram Sabha shall be presided over by the Mukhia of the concerned Gram Panchayat and in his absence by the up-Mukhia; (ii) In case of absence of both the Mukhia and the Up-Mukhia in the meeting, the meeting of the Gram Sabha shall be presided over by such a member of the Gram Sabha who would be elected for the purpose the majority of the member present in the meeting; (iii) PRESIDING OVER OF MEETINGS OF GRAM SABHAS IN SCHEDULED AREA - Meeting of Gram Sabha in scheduled area shall be presided over by such a person belonging to any of the Scheduled Tribes of the Gram Sabha who is neither Mukhia, Up-Mukhia nor a member of the Panchayat, and who is recognized as Gram Pradhan in that area as per prevalent custom such as Manjhi, Munda, Pahan, Mahto or by any other name or by the person proposed by them or nominated/supported by the general consensus of the members present in the meeting. 1[Provided also that in a Gram Sabha in which there is a respected person according to the custom and usage prevalent from traditions who is the Gram Pradhan (Head of the village) e.g. Manjhi, Munda, Pahan, Mahto or called by any other name and is not a member of the Scheduled Tribe, then a meeting of the Gram Sabha in the scheduled areas shall be presided over by him, or if there be any member of the Scheduled Tribe in the said area, then by such person on being proposed by the Gram Pradhan or nominated/supported by a majority of votes of the members present in the meeting, and if there be no members of the Scheduled Tribe then, by a person not belonging to the Scheduled Tribe, who is proposed or nominated / supported in this behalf.]