An Overview of Panchayati Raj Institutions in India

By:

Dr. Vipin Kumar Singhal

Post Doctoral Fellow (ICSSR)
Department of Political Science,
C.C.S. University, Meerut (U.P.)

Abstract: Panchayati Raj Institutions have been playing a pivotal role for rural development in

general and socio-economic upliftment of downtrodden section of the rural society in particular.

PRIs become more strengthen after implementation of 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment

and also reservation of women. Government have been helping Panchayati Raj Institutions in

terms of financial help programmes and schemes for rural development at all levels.

Introduction:

Panchayati Raj, a synonym of democratic decentralization, was introduced in

India in the late 1950s and early 1960s to restore to the erstwhile institution of

Panchayat the pristine glory that it enjoyed in ancient India. It represents a political ideal

and is reflected in the rural local-self government in its institutional form. The concept as

such is not new to India. The plea for greater autonomy to the rural bodies received

conceptual strength with the advent of Mahatma Gandhi on the national scene and his

enunciation of the doctrine of the national development through autonomous rural

organizations which he drive to model on the lines of Panchayat system as it prevailed

in ancient India. He envisaged five-tier system of Village Panchayats, Taluka

panchayats, District panchayats, Provincial panchayats, and All-India panchayats. The

administrative system envisaged by him was that of a pyramid whose broad base was

composed of numerous village communities of the country. The higher panchayats shall

tender sound advice, give expert guidance and information supervise and co-ordinate

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2692135

the activities of the village panchayats with a view to increasing the efficiency of the

administration and public service. But it would be the basic units that would dictate to

the centre and not vice versa. In fact, the whole system would turn upside down, the

village shall become the real and moving unit of administration.

Jayaprakash Narayan, having his own concept of Panchayati Raj had no place

for political parties. He opined that the success of them depended upon the extent to

which political parties refrained from interfering with it and trying to convert it into their

hand maiden, and using it as a jumping ground to climb power. “Self-government

through faction-fighting will not be self-government, but self-ruination.” Nehru provided a

very elaborate account of the Panchayats which worked admirably in the ancient period.

They had enjoyed vast powers, including executive and judicial. Cases brought before

Panchayats were expeditiously decided. It has been clearly brought out by Radha

Kumud Mukerji in his book entitled “History and Culture of Indian People” that in the

Mauryan Empire the village community functioned like a self-governing corporation or

republic giving to the people healthy chance to run their government and manage their

own local concerns and affairs. Thus, the Indian polity in those days was broadly based

on truly democratic institutions.

The dawn of freedom had created the hope that the decentralized governance

will be able to achieve its lost glory through the institutionalization of Mahatma Gandhi’s

ideal of Gram Swaraj by creating a polity with maximum powers with the Panchayats

and minimum powers with the central government. But this hope was shattered by the

Constitution-makers who framed a Constitution that provided for the creation of a highly

centralized federal system having no room for Panchayats. However, the strong

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pressure from the Gandhians did make them to provide for setting up of Panchayats as

the units of self-government in the villages in the non-justiciable Directive Principles of

State Policy. Consequently, no worthwhile legislation was enacted either at the national

or at the state level to implement it.

Government’s attempts to do developmental work through the institutions of

Block Development Officers, in addition to nominated representatives of village

Panchayats of that area and some other organizations like the cooperatives societies,

failed miserably to accomplish decentralization to any satisfactory extent. Some state

governments did try their best to decentralize powers but the overall situation did not

improve. From 1957 to 1986, many committees including Balvantray Mehta (1957), K.

Santhanam (1963), Ashok Mehta (1978), GVK Rao (1985) and L.M. Singhvi (1986)

made a number of recommendations to the center. The resulting idea was introduced

as a bill (64th Constitutional Amendment Bill) in the Lok Sabha in 1989 to achieve the

above stated conflicting objectives. Though this bill could not be enacted, the idea was

translated into the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, which has brought about a

new innovation in the grassroots politics in the country. It was hailed as a historic step in

the empowerment of the people not only with a view to ensuring their more effective

participation in the electoral process at the grassroots level, but also for entrusting them

with a greater role in decision-making and developmental functions in matters of their

immediate concern. For the first time PRIs have been admitted as the third stratum of

our democracy and federal polity. The new law focused the attention of the nation on

the political structures and process of rural India, their significance for the rural society

and their participation in the operation of these structures.

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 Rajasthan, the first state to implement the recommendations on ‘Democratic

Decentralization’ resorted to minimum variation and patterned the three-tier structure of

Panchayati Raj more or less, on the model suggested by the Balvantray Mehta team.

The other states which followed suit, viz., Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab

also did not bring out radical variation. In 1960, however, the Maharashtra government,

while planning for the introduction of Panchayati Raj, made public its intention to make

the district level body, i.e., the Zila Parishad, as the key executive authority in the

Panchayati Raj system and thus initiated a basic change. A notable aspects of the

evolution of Panchayati Raj in the early sixties, was the way the two western states, i.e.

Maharashtra and Gujarat – not only accepted the ideas of Panchayati Raj, but in effect

preferred a stronger tier at the district level. These two pioneers of a strong Zila

Parishad pattern have remained the best examples of Panchayati Raj in the country

notwithstanding fluctuations, vicissitudes and setbacks, being experienced practically in

the rest of the country.

Various Approaches:

Number of studies conducted by social scientists on Panchayati Raj Institutions

and Rural Development in India at various levels have been reviewed after taking

accounts various issues and dimensions at all levels. Their main findings have been

discussed in the following paragraph:-

Training exercise covering about 11,000 women in eight districts of Karnataka,

over a four years period, noted interesting transformations in women after the third and

fourth phases in training. Study revealed that one-third did not face any constraints at

home, they found it difficult to overcome gender subordination within the Gram

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Panchayat and about one-third were functioning effectively and have gained some

power within the family.1

Brief overview of the action taken to implement the mandate of the 73 rd

Amendment and the 1996 law extending panchayat provisions to the schedule V areas

show that while mandatory provisions have been complied with, there are still some

deviations. The most important are the deviations from the spirit of these amendments.

The development programmes and funds for rural areas need to be squarely entrusted

to the panchayat institutions for planning and implementation according to local

aspirations and requirements. The increasing practice of creating parallel structures for

implementation of development programmes and for people's participation must be

stopped and any new mechanisms should be created only within the structure of the

panchayats.2

Study of women sarpanches in 20 villages from 10 blocks of Amritsar and

Gurdaspur districts of Punjab. On the basis of the study, it was found that majority of

women representatives, particularly Jats, belonged to the family of ex-sarpanches or

panches. This has strengthened the grip of existing rural elite. Even if they do not

belong to well to do families (as it was in case of SC women sarpanches), the rural elite

i.e. the ex-sarpanches of these villages were instrumental in getting them elected as

village head. That is why they are acting as de-facto sarpanches. Being illiterate, they

are totally dependent not only upon their husbands but also on formal sarpanches.

Ironically, none of the women respondents were aware of the various aspects of 73 rd

Amendment, related to their reservation. If they have to go outside to village for

panchayat work, they have to take permission from their parents or family members.

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This shows that in spite of all provisions for women empowerment the real power still

remains in the hands of men.3

Karnataka experiences also indicate that women in the younger generation show

an interest in the PRIs. The majority of them are married but the significance attached to

marital status seems to be declining. Illiteracy among female members is higher at the

gram panchayat level, while female members at the zilla panchayat level were

graduates. The women members had a little exposure to mass media compared to

men, particularly in newspaper reading, perhaps due to lower literacy rates among rural

women. The participation of female members in youth associations, mahila mandals,

cooperative societies, etc. was low compared to male counterparts. The participation of

female, members increase from gram to the zilla panchayat level. The lack of previous

political experience was higher among female than in male members. The motivators

for women were mostly family members, village community and self. Social justice is the

ideology of the majority of male and female members at all levels? The women

members particularly preferred family planning and health to education. The reverse

was the case with male members.4

If the quest for local democracy has to be kept alive, its base has to be

expanded. This will require a host of other complementary actions and interventions. By

merely ensuring the survival of the structure through periodic elections, this objective

cannot be achieved. The 73rd Amendment has ensured the life of the structure. It has

given minimal satisfaction to locally elected leaders. It has also offered ample scope for

the participation of other stakeholders at the local level. But it has failed to make real

progress. On their own panchayats would never gather momentum, since the calls for a

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new strategy, a new programme mode. It might even encourage them to move away

from their so-called core functions.5

The new challenges of globalisation of our agrarian economy pose not only new

compulsions of making the growth process self-sustaining and recombinant, but also

new opportunities of decentralised decision-making by the participants of the growth

process in different forms to help ameliorate the poverty of the underprivileged without

the tyranny of the inefficient bureaucracy raj in the name of management of poverty

alleviation programmes in our rural economy.6

It revealed that the sacrosanct institutions of Panchayat have turned into tools in

the hands of the power-managers to mobilize rural people in their quest for more power

and ultimate supremacy in the state politics. Notwithstanding the process of

democratization in rural society initiated by the PRIs, these institutions seem too

vulnerable to fall victims to party bias (in some other state it may be caste or class bias),

apart from personal corruption. The political usurpation of panchayati power by the party

may be more fatal than the economic usurpation of panchayati funds as evident in the

case of West Bengal.7

It may be stated that Rural India, which was unnoticed for the past several years,

is not at the center of attention for India Inc. The change has not happened overnight,

government's thrust on aam aadmi, extended scope of NREGS and led to higher

expenditure on rural infrastructure development, what are the factors, that would see

increased cash flow in the hands of rural masses in coming years, which in turn will

create lot of Business Opportunities for India Inc to grow.8

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 The 73rd Constitution Amendment in 1993 for the first time created a statutory

imperative for the establishment of legally empowered Gram Sabhas or village

assemblies in India, although such direct democracy was integral to the Gandhian

vision of panchayati raj even earlier. Most state legislatures accordingly provided for the

establishment of Gram Sabhas, but the statutes remained vague and half-hearted about

procedures and powers, and in the absence of political mobilisation and awareness

about the potential of Gram Sabhas, they have for the most part remained dysfunctional

and unempowered instructions. Most states have statutorily empowered Gram Sabhas

for development planning and social audit. However, it is only in Kerala that a massive

devolution of state plan resources to the Gram Sabha and enormous mobilisation and

capacity building have allowed the Gram Sabhas to realise their potential. Arguably

even the more important power of social audit will become a reality only where there are

mandatory legal outcomes of the social audit. And full legal empowerment of the Gram

Sabha would also require the detailing of powers for the sustainable management of

natural resources as well as the adjudication of justice.9

The paper analysis states role and participation in local government the world.

So, the panchayat raj system this is one of the technique and powerful tool of Indian

democracy. About six lakhs villages are there in India. So Indian Government's main

intention or view the effective service delivery for the infrastructure development at the

village level. In globalisation era the competition has been increasing between country

to country in the field of economically, socially, politically, technologically, etc., now a

day the development concept is became challenge to the Indian democracy system.

The panchayat raj institutions vital role for become the successful Indian democracy as

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well as the local government is the back bone of the Indian democracy. The democracy

and local government in India this theme is mainly lights on the people participation at

the local level and focus on the political operations or activities of particular state and

comparative study between states in India. The paper also analysis the how many state

government show the keen interest in Panchayat raj institution as well as several state’s

performance in the local government operations.10

There are enormous hopes as Panchayat Institutions under the Act have

established their significance in sharing of the power among the larger community, in

managing the local resources otherwise ignored, in providing a large number of talents

in political works and in protecting the socio-economic and political interests of the

marginal sections of the Indian society. The office bearers of Panchayats can perform a

very significant role to construe, a society enriched with social justice, economic

development, and advanced agriculture and free from all kind of deprivation. Functions

and powers are to be executed by the leaders of Panchayats. No development scheme

can work in true sense and achieve its goal without sincere, dedicated and innovative

leadership. The duties, powers and functions entrusted to the Panchayats initiate the

local leaders to come on the fore-front of the development of the community. Generally

attention is focused on the powers conferred upon the Panchayats. Powers given to the

Panchayats have to be digested for which capacity is needed. Without building the

capacity devolving power is meaningless. The State is much backward in reference to

enlightened tribal leadership at grassroots. Panchayat leaders can make a difference in

the life of the rural poor. The task is to be performed at various fronts by involving

intellectuals, academic institutions, the higher level bureaucracy, development

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institutions, training institutions and the media. Panchayat management relies wholly on

the efficiency of the leaders. So increasing their capabilities and efficiency through

capacity building is imperative. Otherwise power on its own will not produce any positive

result.11

Gram Sabha has been described as the institution tor direct democracy, for

participation of the local community in decisions on their concerns, programmes and

projects, fixing priorities, selecting beneficiaries, receiving annual reports and accounts,

approving the coming year's programmes, conducting social audit, etc. But the

enthusiasm of scholars and policy makers has not caught the imagination of the local

citizens and the extent of participation has remained a matter of concern. Measures

suggested and sometimes even implemented e.g., smaller size of Gram Sabha holding

meetings in the ward/village as Paili Sabha. Ward Sabha appointing nodal officers to

ensure that Gram Sabha meetings are conducted on the days/dates even quarter or six

months fixed in different slates and even changed.12

The political ideology aimed at people's empowerment is indeed a praiseworthy

effort. Gram Sabha, MNREGA, social audit, etc, are big milestones in this direction.

However, making those things happen needs proper management. Lots of gaps have

been identified in the processes and methods of management of these institutions.

There is a necessity to reconcile the 'efforts for people's empowerment' with 'principles

of operational management'. Lots of things like devising correct organisational structure,

reworking planning mechanism, strengthening social audit, etc. are to be taken up

seriously. Finally, while Gram Panchayat Administration Rules are to be framed and

given to these institutions, the principles of management should be given the highest

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importance, because the destiny of 70 per cent of Indian citizens is linked with the

management efficiency of these institutions.13

The 73rd Amendment has emerged s an effective instrument to unleash the

tremendous energies for social transformation in the Indian society Strong political

institutions at the grass roots level are a necessary condition for carrying out the new

possibilities of the post-73rd Amendment PRIs. The 73rd Amendment has aided the

process of inclusion by providing reservation to Dalits and other weaker sections.

However, reservations alone cannot carry forward this democratic process: the

provisions for education and employment by the state will help rise capabilities and

awareness among Dalits, together with political mobilization through civil society and

political parties. Indian society with thousands of years of its oppressive, anti-human

and status quoits history could be changed through democracy, practised through

vibrant self-governing institutions at me village level. However, it is not a quantum jump

but a painfully slow process.14

One major, and indeed unique programme for poverty alleviation through

employment generation and asset creation and which has elicited world-wide attention,

is the Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Act. It is based on the genius of using

public works to play the role of a safety net by providing stabilization benefit to the rural

poor women who lack skills of any kind except perhaps possess physical stamina. It has

enabled the deployment of labour of the poor to build infrastructure for development. Its

preponderant and immediate benefit every year, especially during times of distress due

to droughts, is the effect of enabling the poor to handle the risk of decrease in

consumption.15

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 The schemes launched by the government from time to time have provided relief

to the rural population. These programmes never guaranteed employment to every

household in the village, but they were just allocation-based programmes. A typical

feature of these schemes is that none of the jobs are permanent in nature; they are all

short term casual jobs, usually for a period of hundred days or more. Job opportunities

created by these schemes and programs acted just as a supplement to the rural house

income and in most of the circumstances they failed to ensure the basic amenities of life

for a rural family in sustainable manner. Taking into consideration the limitation of earlier

rural employment programs, in recent years the government has taken a historic move

by enacting the MGNREGA, which is perhaps the largest employment generating

program in the world ensuring a one-step-ahead move towards guaranteeing the right to

work in a country with a population over a billion.16

Panchayati Raj is no longer an idea but a practice. The constitutional provisions

have laid the foundation stone of local government the superstructures of which have to

be built up for which what is urgently needed is spontaneous initiative on the part of the

people. There is some ray of hope following the rise and growth of the civil society

organization in India working for democratization of governance. Right to Information

has strengthened their hands. But one has reasons to be doubtful about the bright

future of grassroots democracy because globalization and liberalization are hitting the

local hard. One may argue that the current emphasis on local autonomy and resource

mobilization for financing local services smacks of the colonial brand of local

governance.17

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 There is no doubt that Gram Sabha has been described as the Institution for

direct democracy through participation of local community in decision making, fixing

priorities about the development works, analyzing and approving the forthcoming

programmes, perusing annual reports and conducting social audits of all the works

being carried out at village level. But the big question arises whether it is being done or

allowed to be happening by the Sarpanch or Pradhans. This is because of the low level

of the education among Gram Sabha membes at village level, lack of awareness about

their rights and responsibilities, fear of being exploited, indifferent attitude of the

Panchayat representatives, infighting and bad politics at village level, low participation

of the people, lack of coordination among the Gram Sabha members etc. The need of

the hour is that the people should be educated and aware about their rights and

responsibilities toward society through capacity building of asking questions and raising

their voice against the odds. Social Adult is one of the leading measures to move

forward in this direction about which people should be made sure that Gram Sabhas

should be informed and educated. It should be made sure that Gram Sabhas should

take place time to time and all the reports are being presented in those meeting for the

information and evaluation of the Gram Sabha members to bring transparency in the

functioning of the Panchayats. Media (either public or private) can also play an

important role in spreading the awareness and education among the Gram Sabha

members thorough their specially designed programmes for this purpose.18

While clearly much more needs to be done here, it is also heartening to note that

the proposal to move to direct benefits transfer would cut at the innards of the present

delivery system that vests discretion (and thereby creates the circumstances for

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fostering corruption, something that Gandhi flagged) in the hands of various

intermediaries. At the moment, it is a work in progress, but over the next five years, it

should gradually gain momentum and further alter the changing nature of the

relationship between the top and bottom tiers of governance. At the same time, the

rapid growth of urbanization and influx of migrants overflowing with aspirations is forcing

greater accountability. Officially, about 33 per cent of India is classified to be living in

urban areas; however, if we take into account the so-called census towns (that mimic

towns, but are overgrown villages governed by village-level bodies), the proportion is

closer to 50 per cent. Through the use of instruments such as the Right to Information,

people are increasingly maintaining a closer scrutiny of government programmes and

obviously their elected representative. In the final analysis, it is obvious that the Indian

experience with local governance is not what it should have been. The good news is

that change is underway; at the least, we are seeing the beginning of the end of

business as usual.19

Despite their responsibility for water collection and sanitation management,

women rarely participate in decision-making when the construction of facilities is

planned. All too often they have no say about the location of a pump or the design of

latrines. It is now recognized that the exclusion of women from the planning of water

supply and sanitation schemes is a major cause of their high rate of failure. In order to

improve health and quality of life for women, water and sanitation programmes must

concentrate on reducing the time and energy women expend in water collection, and

increasing women’s participation in community decision-making regarding water and

sanitation. Efforts must also be increased to ensure access to safe water. According to

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broad estimates, currently, more than one billion people in developing countries do not

have access to safe water.20

The principles of sustainable development underpin all government policies and

in particular those on the economy, health, education, welfare, employment, social

exclusion, transport, agriculture and the environment. Education is the basis need of

any society, economic opportunity and capabilities. An educated person is better aware

of his rights and duties and it also empowers individual both socially and economically.

Therefore, for complete development of any society rural education is the need of the

hour. Sustainable development goals can only be fulfilled by imparting quality education

in rural areas. The Government has already started this mission and very soon a day

will come when our targeted rural communities will be developed and equipped.21

Thus, number of issues, problems, aspects have been discussed by these social

scientist about role of Panchayati Raj Institutions in India. But due to developmental

changes taken place in the rural as well as urban areas new issues, aspects,

dimensions have been emerged therefore, there is still need to analyze emerging issues

of grass roots level in India.

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References:

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Murthy, Sage Publications, New Delhi.

2. Buch, Nirmala, (2004): Let the own shine on the grassroots. Too: 73rd

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3. Kahlon, P.K., (2004): The impact of 73rd Amendment Act on Women’s Political

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19. Padmanabhan, Anil (2013), “Panchayati Raj: Key to Good Governance and

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