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 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 (Nagaur, 1995) adopted the system first (after independence), followed by Andhra Pradesh in the same year.
