Ashok Mehta Committee, 1978

It was setup in 1977 by Janata government to evaluate the working of panchayats and suggest the measures to strengthen them.

Recommendations: A two-tier system with Zila Parishad as the apex at district level and Mandal Panchayat at the base level in place of Gram Panchayat.

• Redistribution of powers between the Centre and the States,
• Assignment of the work on planning at the lower level
• To set up coordination in development programmes.
• The elections of PRI should be held on the party basis.

The recommendations of the committee were not accepted as there was change in guard at the centre. However, West Bengal, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh were accepted a few of these recommendations.

• The Planning Commission set up C.H. Hanumanta Rao in Committee 1983, which emphasized on the need of decentralization of planning process and recommended the district as a unit of decentralized planning.