WP(C) 1139/2011 BEFORE THE HON’BLE MRS. JUSTICE ANIMA HAZARIKA Heard Mr SK Talukdar, learned counsel appearing for the petitioners. Als o heard Mr BJ Talukdar, learned Addl. senior Government Advocate appearing for t he respondents. 2. The writ petitioners herein are the various Gaon Panchayats under the Pa therkandi Development Block, Karimganj, Assam, represented by their respective Presidents have challenged the action of the respondent authorities, more parti cularly, the respondent No. 6 seeking to override the provisions of the Panchaya t Act, 1994 in so far as selecting beneficiaries of the Indira Aawas Yojana (’IA Y’ for short) scheme is concerned. Petitioners’ grievance is that without any po wer and authority, the respondent No. 6 after having constituted a Committee e ntrusted the function of selection of beneficiaries, in oblivious to any list of beneficiaries prepared from the IAY Wait list by the Gaon Sabha. The respondent s even without authority has been seeking to release fund of the IAY scheme, per taining to financial year 2009-2010 to persons not meant under the said Scheme and on the basis of a list prepared by the said Committee , inasmuch as, under the Panchayat Act, 1994 as well as the various guidelines prepared by the Gover nment, Gaon Sabha is the only authority for selection of beneficiaries under the provisions of the Act, 1994 and the IAY Scheme/guidelines etc. The further case of the petitioners is that the impugned action thus amounts to defeat the purpo se and object of the IAY scheme, meant for rural people living below the poverty line (’BPL’ for short). Hence, this writ petition. 3. In view of the nature of grievance projected by the writ petitioners and as agreed to by the learned counsel appearing for the parties, this writ petiti on is being disposed of at the motion stage itself without issuing formal notice to the remaining respondents. 4. Section 4, under Chapter III of the Assam Panchayat Act, 1994 (’Act, 199 4’ for short) contemplates the constitution and functions of a Gaon Sabha. Section 4(2) of the Act, 1994 defines Gaon Sabha as follows: Gaon Sabha shall consist of persons registered in electoral rol ls relating to a village or group of villages comprised within the area of G aon Panchayat . 5. The circular dated 17.07.10 issued by the respondent No. 2, i.e. the Dep uty Secretary to the Government of Assam, Panchayat and Rural Development Depart ment has laid down the guidelines for implementation of IAY Scheme in terms of s election of beneficiaries and disbursement of funds. By the said circular, the f ollowing guidelines, inter alia, was laid down: (a) A Gaon Sabha shall be called for selection of beneficiaries fro m the permanent wait list. (b) The Gaon Sabhas are authorized to delete those who have at tained A.P.L. status. (c) Though the score based on permanent wait list shall be generall y followed, in case the economic condition of a family has changed, citing that as a ground the Gaon Sabha may identify a more deserving household from the wait list. (d) Under no circumstances, household outside the permanent wait lis t shall be chosen. 6. The above guidelines thus make it clear that Gaon Sabha has been assigne d to the prominent and decisive role while identifying and selecting the benefic iaries under the IAY Scheme. 7. The Ministry of Minority Affairs of the Govt. of India, on the other han d, has formulated a Scheme/Programme, namely, the Programme for Multi Sectoral D istrict Development Plan (MSDP) for minority concentration district of India in order to ensure that the benefit of Schemes and Programmes of the Govt. of India reach the relatively disadvantaged segments of society. It was decided to ident ify the district on the basis of minority population of census 2001 and backward ness parameters. Under the said scheme 90 Minority Concentration District (MCD) have been identified throughout the country and Karimganj is one of such MCD bei ng identified under the said programme of MSDP. 8. Pursuant to the guidelines dated 17.7.10, the Deputy Commissioner, Karim ganj, respondent No.6 by an order dated 22.4.10 constituted a committee for sele ction of beneficiaries of IAY scheme under MSDP consisting of five members heade d by one Chairman in so far as Karimganj district is concerned. Pursuant to the selection of the said committee total 365 beneficiaries of IAY under the MSDP pr ogramme of different villages falling under the respective Gaon Panchayat being represented by the petitioners under the Patherkandi Development Block were iden tified and selected by the said committee and the list so prepared by the said c ommittee were sought to be implemented in view of the contents of the letter dat ed 8.9.10 sent by respondent No.6 to the Block Development Officer, Patherkandi Block, Karimganj, which makes it abundantly clear that the approved list so prep ared has no connection with any list of beneficiaries prepared by the Gaon Sabha , in so far as the Patherkandi Block is concerned. 9. The Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India has issued for IAY wit h effect from 1.4.04, which is still in force, clause 2.1 of the said guidelines is relevant for this decision which reads as thus: 2.1- Identification of beneficiaries, The District Panchayat/Zilla Panchayat/ District Rural Development Agenc ies (DRDA) on the basis of allocations made and targets fixed shall decide the n umber of houses to be constructed/upgraded Panchayat wise under the IAY during a particular financial year. The same shall be intimated to the Gram Panchayat co ncerned. Thereafter, the Gram Sabha will select the beneficiaries from the list of eligible BPL households, restricting this number to the target allotted as pe r the programme guidelines. Selection by the Gram Sabha is final. No approval by a higher body is required. Zilla Parishad/DRDAs and Block Development Offices s hould however, be sent a list of selected beneficiaries for their information. 10. In view of the guidelines issued vide circular dated 17.7.10 and 1.4.04 Gaon Sabha has been assigned to identify and select the beneficiaries under the IAY scheme. Hence, the list of beneficiaries prepared by the committee constitut ed by respondent No.6 is without any authority of law, inasmuch as, the committe e so constituted by respondent No.6 admittedly is not functioning as Gaon Sabha. Hence, the course of action adopted by the respondent No.6 is not in conformity with the guidelines mentioned hereinabove, inasmuch as, clause 2.1 of the said guidelines as quoted hereinabove abundantly makes it clear that it is for the Di strict Panchayat/Zilla Panchayat/DRDA to decide the number of houses to be const ructed/upgraded on Panchayat basis under the IAY scheme during the current finan cial year, which shall then be intimated to the Gaon Panchayat concerned and tha t Gram Sabha will select the beneficiaries from the list of eligible BPL househo lds restricting this number to the target allotted as per the programme guidelin es. The above clause 2.1 further makes it clear that such selection is final and no approval by a higher body would be required. Inspite of the aforesaid guidel ines, it would appear that the selection of beneficiaries under the scheme in qu estion has been undertaken by the committees constituted by the respondent No.6, which are admittedly not functioning as Gram Sabha. Therefore, course of action adopted is ultravires the guidelines issued by the Central Govt. which calls fo r interference of this Court. 11. For what has been stated above, this writ petition is disposed of by dir ecting the State respondents to ensure that the selection of beneficiaries under the MSDP scheme is done by the concerned Gram Sabha strictly in accordance with the guidelines applicable to IAY as indicated by the guidelines of MSDP. 12. With the aforesaid direction, this writ petition stands disposed of. No costs.