Panchayati Raj System

Twenty-five years have gone by since India passed the 73rd/74th Constitutional Amendments heralding decentralized governance ushering in the third tier of government in Indian federal polity. Looking back, this was a momentous event, a paradigm shift in democratic governance and fiscal federalism. Even after a quarter century of decentralization, local expenditure as a percentage of GDP is only 2 per cent compared with the OECD (14 per cent), China (11 per cent), and Brazil (7 per cent).

Recent Developments

Haryana Gives 7 Star Rankings to Panchayats

In a novel initiative, Haryana government has decided to give star rankings to its panchayats on the basis of seven social parameters under the state’s 7-Star Gram Panchayat Rainbow scheme.

  • As many as 1,120 villages of the state have achieved the rankings under the scheme.
  • The panchayats will be judged on sex ratio, education, hygiene, environment preservation, governance and social participation.
  • The villages would be rewarded Rs. One lakh for achieving each parameter. The villages having equal or more girl population will be given Rs. 50,000 as bonus with their reward money.
  • Similarly, the villages which adopt Swachhta Mission will be given additional Rs. 50,000 as reward.
  • Ambala topped the star ranking with 407 stars followed by Gurugram with 199 stars and Karnal with 75 stars.

Devolution of Power

Strengthening the third tier of governance - the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) like municipal corporations, municipalities, is one of the objectives of Central Finance Commissions.

  • The present Fifteenth Finance Commission (FFC) is tasked to consider provision of grants-in-aid to Local Bodies for basic services, including quality human resources, and implementation of performance grant system in improving delivery of services.
  • The FFC has to recommend specifically the amount to be devolved to the States during its award period (2020-25) for local bodies.

Panchayati Raj System

  • The Panchayati Raj system is a three-tier system with elected bodies at the village, taluk and district levels. The modern system is based in part on traditional Panchayat governance, in part on the vision of Mahatma Gandhi and in part by the work of various committees to harmonize the highly centralized Indian governmental administration with a degree of local autonomy.

Evolution of Panchayati Raj as a Concept

  • The Panchayati Raj System in India is an ancient concept but modern type originated in the last decades of the 19th century. The idea of Panchayat was discovered in the Bengal Presidency under the Bengal Choukidari Act of 1870.
  • It was the Mayo’s Resolution of 1870 that initiated a dialogue on local institutions by attempting to enlarge their powers and responsibilities. The passage of Lord Ripon’s Resolution on local governments in 1882 for the first time paved the way for local boards, consisting predominating of elected members.
  • A highly centralised imperial rule was gradually decentralised at the level of the provinces with the Government of India Act 1919 and the Government of India Act 1935 (in central Provinces and Berar province).
  • Later, different committees were formed for Panchayat system, of them Rajasthan (1959) adopted the system first (after independence), followed by Andhra Pradesh in the same year.

Committee

Year

Balwant Rai Mehta

1957

V.T. Krishnammachari

1960

Takhatmal Jain Study Group

1966

Ashok Mehta Committee

1978

G.V.K. Rao Committee

1985

Dr. L.M. Singhvi Committee

1986

S.Mohinder Singh Committee

2013

Different Bodies

  • Urban and Rural Local Bodies: The Urban local bodies include Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayat. The rural local bodies in corporate Zilla Parishad, Panchayat Samiti and Gram Panchayat.
  • Municipal Corporation: The Municipal Corporation consists of the Council, where in representatives from every ward are elected by the people known as Councillors for the term of five years. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor are elected by the Councillors for a period of two and half years. They enjoy great honour in the city. Mayor is regarded as the first citizen of the city. The MPs, MLAs are the ex-officio members of the corporation.
  • Gram Panchayat: It works at the village level. It is formed in a village which has minimum population or else two or more villages are clubbed together. Sarpanch is the head of the Gram Panchayat. He supervises and implements the resolutions passed by the Gram Panchayat.
Composition of Panchayats Composition of Municipal Corporations
  • Seats shall be reserved for The Scheduled Castes, and The Scheduled Tribes.
  • Seats shall be reserved for The Scheduled Castes, and The Scheduled Tribes.
  • Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
  • Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
  • The offices of the Chairpersons in the Panchayats at the village or any other level shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women in such manner as the legislature of a State may, by law, provide
  • The offices of the Chairpersons in the Municipalities at the village or any others level shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women in such manner as the legislature of a State may, by law, provide.
  • The State Legislature can reserve seats in any Panchayats or offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at any level in favour of backward class of citizens
  • The State Legislature can reserved seats in any Municipality or offices of Chairpersons in the Municipalities at any level in favour of backward class of citizens.
  • Nagar Panchayat: The composition and functions of the Nagar Panchayat are similar to Municipal Councils. Nagar Panchayats are established in those rural areas to be soon transformed into urban. Nagar Panchyat is formed according to the 74th constitutional amendment.
  • Zilla Parishad: It is a local government body at the district level. It looks after the administration of rural areas in a district. The members to the Parishad are elected by the people for the term of five years. Some seats are reserved for SC, ST, OBC and women. The President and Vice-President are elected for the term of two and half years.
  • Panchayat Samiti: The Panchayat Samiti is formed at the Taluka level. Every Panchayat Samiti is headed by the Chairperson. In the absence of Chairperson, the Deputy Chairperson performs his functions. The Block Development Officer (BDO) is the executive head of the Panchayat Samiti. He is appointed by the State government.
  • Municipal Council: The smaller cities are looked after by Municipal Councils. When the cities grow in size of population it is transformed under the administration of Municipal Corporations. The Council consists of:
    • The Council members are elected by the people for the term of five years.
    • President and Vice-President are elected by the members of the Council for the term of two and half years. The President is honoured as the first citizen of the town.
    • Each Council has among its appointed Staff, one Executive Officer and its subordinate staff and nominated selected citizens of the town.

Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA Act)

Since the laws of Panchayati Raj/Municipalities do not automatically cover the scheduled areas, the PESA Act was enacted on 24 December 1996 to enable Tribal Self Rule in these areas. The Act extended the provisions of Panchayats to the tribal areas of nine states that have Fifth Schedule Areas. Most of the North eastern states under Sixth Schedule Areas (where autonomous councils exist) are not covered by PESA, as these states have their own Autonomous councils for governance. The nine states with Fifth Schedule areas are:

  • Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan.
  • PESA can be only as effective as the PRIs, and that in turn depends on the capability of the elected representatives to deliver. Although there is a scheme of Panchayat Development and Training (PD&T) sponsored by the Central government, it needs further augmentation both in terms of funds and the training quality.

25 years of Democratic Decentralization in India

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the enforcement of the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments, which gave official status to the Panchayati Raj institutions in rural India and Local Administrative bodies in urban areas, respectively. An analysis of PRIs performance in all these years-

Success of PRIs

  • Grass root Democracy: Today we have more than 2.5 lakhs Panchayats and Municipalities with some 32 lakhs elected representatives. The SCs/STs got the representation on accordance with their population in Village panchayats, blocks, talukas, tehsils etc. Also the women penetration in very deep rooted in such tier of system.
  • Government at the Door: The Panchayat Act has empowered the rural voters to actively participate in planning, budgeting, execution and supervision of development activities, identification of beneficiaries for welfare schemes, effective functioning of government institutions etc.
  • Women empowerment: This is only one level of government with reservation for women, whereas other disadvantageous groups like SCs/STs got reservations since very early. According to many researches it is resulted that females having political representation got empowered and inspires to other.
  • Caste Based development: Reports also shows that SC Sarpanch is more likely to make investments for public goods in SC hamlets- an important change in severely segregated village of India. In a country where access in determined by gender and caste, even more than economic basis; these change are remarkable.

Failures of PRIs

  • Transfer of government function: The first failure of 73rd amendment was that the transfer of various governance function- like the provision of education, health, sanitation and water was not mandated. Instead the amendment listed the functions that could be transferred, and left it to the state legislature to actually devolve the function. There has been very little done in last 26 years.
  • Lack of Finance for PRIs: Local governments can either raise their own revenue from the local taxes or receive inter-governmental transfers; but the 73rd amendment mandated neither of them. This power to authorize was provided to State Legislatures, and most of the states have not exercised such powers as it was given as a choice than a mandation.
  • Flouting the Constitution: It has become clear that states can flout the constitution with impunity. The mandate to establish a district planning committee to prepare a draft development plan has been violated and distorted in most states.
  • Gender inequalities persists: The stark reality is that the empowerment of women and inclusion with dignity of excluded (inclusion in the terms of the excluded) is a distant dream despite after a quarter century of decentralized governance. Still, Women, Adivasis and Dalits remain largely excluded.
  • Inter-state differences the implementation: The pace of implementation of genuine Panchayati Raj is highly variable- Kerala and Karnataka well in the lead, U.P. consistently bringing up the rear – every state is progressing, some at snail’s pace, other leapfrogging.

Institutions

Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR)

  • The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is a branch of the Government of India looking after the ongoing process of decentralization and local governance in the States.
  • In a federation the powers and functions of the government are divided among two governments. In India it is the Union Government and the various State Governments.
  • However, with the passage of 73rd and 74th amendment act of the Constitution of India, in 1993 the division of powers and functions have been further trickled down to Local Self Governments (Panchayat at Village levels and Municipalities and Municipal Corporations in towns and large cities). As such India now has not two but three tier of Governments in its federal setup.
  • Ministry of Panchayati Raj looks into all matters relating to the Panchayati Raj and Panchayati Raj Institutions. It was created in May 2004. This ministry is headed by a minister of cabinet rank.

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