(1) In the event of casual vacancy of Chairman or Vice-Chairman or both of the Panchayat Samiti or Zila Parishad on account of passing of no-confidence motion, or death, or resignation or his becoming a member of State Legislative Assembly, or member of either house of Parliament or otherwise, the Deputy Commissioner or any other officer authorised by him, shall convene a meeting of the concerned Panchayat Samiti or Zila Parishad within seven days from the date of passing of no confidence motion or receipt of information about the vacancy that has occurred, to elect such Chairman or Vice-Chairman, as the case may be, as per the procedure laid down in section 131 of the Act and rules made thereunder.
(2) In the event of casual vacancy occurring in the office of Pradhan due to resignation or death or otherwise, the Up-Pradhan shall perform all the 52 duties and exercise all the powers of the Pradhan during the period of casual vacancy.
137. Other officers and servants of Panchayats (section 135 of the Act)-. (1) The Panchayats subject to the availability of funds in the budget, may by a resolution propose, to the Director or any other officer authorised, the number of employees required by it and salary and allowances to be paid to them and duties to be assigned to each of them. The Director or any other officer authorised by him may allow the appointment of such servant as he considers necessary for the efficient discharge of the duties with following conditions:- 1 [(i) that no office bearer shall be included in the selection committee, if he is a near relative (father, grandfather, fatherin-law, maternal or paternal uncle, son, grandson, son-in-law, brother, nephew, brother-in-law, wife, sister, sister’s husband, mother, daughter, niece, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law and husband) of any of the candidate who has applied for any post in the Panchayat;
(ii) that no person shall be employed by a Panchayat if he has been convicted of any criminal offence involving moral turpitude; and
(iii) that no employee of the Panchayat shall be retained in service after he has attained the age of superannuation as is applicable in the case of Government servants for their retirement.]
(2) A Panchayat for good and sufficient reasons may impose the following penalties on its employees 2 [where such provision has not been prescribed in the specific appointment and conditions of services rules]:
(i) Censure.
(ii) Recovery of whole or part of any pecuniary loss caused to the Panchayat by negligence or breach of orders of the Panchayat.
(iii) Removal or dismissal of employees:
1. Inserted vide Notification. No. PCH-HA(1)19/2008-II., dated 24 th October, 2017, published in the Rajpatra, Himachal Pradesh, dated 31 st October, 2017, pp.7483-
7485.
2. Substituted for the words, signs an d figures “No person shall be employed by a Panchayat, if he is a near relative (father, grandfather, father-in-law, maternal or paternal uncle, son, grandson, son-in-law, brother, nephew, brother-in-law, wife, sister, sister’s husband, mother, daughter, niece, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law and husband) of any of its members or if he has been convicted of any criminal offence involving moral turpitude. No employee of the Panchayat shall be retained in service after he has attained the age of 58 years.” vide Notification.
No. PCH-HA(1)19/2008-II., dated 24 th October, 2017, published in the Rajpatra, Himachal Pradesh, dated 31 st October, 2017, pp.7483-7485.
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Provided that before imposing any penalty the employee shall be informed of the specific charges against him and shall be given a reasonable opportunity to explain his position or produce any evidence.
(3) An employee who has been punished under sub-rule (2) may prefer an appeal within thirty days of communication of the order of punishment to the employee to the District Panchayat Officer in case penalty is imposed by the Gram Panchayat or Panchayat Samiti and to the Director in case the penalty is imposed by Zila Parishad..
(4) In case of non-availability of sufficient work, the services of any employee of a Gram Panchayat can be dispensed with by giving him one month’s notice or in lieu thereof one month’s pay .
(5) CCS(Conduct) Rules, 1965, as amended from time to time, shall apply to the servants of a Panchayat in so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of the Act and these rules:
Provided that for the word “Government” and the words “Government Servants” where-ever they occur in the aforesaid Rules, the words “Gram Panchayat” and the words “employees of Gram Panchayat” shall be deemed to have been substituted, respectively.