24 April: National Panchayati Raj Day

• 25 Apr 2022

Every year, April 24 is observed as National Panchayati Raj Day by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to celebrate the constitutional status accorded to the Panchayati Raj system in the country.

This annual celebration is done in order to commemorate the historic day on which the Constitutional Act (73rd Amendment) passed in 1992. However, the 73rd Constitutional Amendment came into force on April 24, 1993, and hence led to the formation of the Panchayati Raj system in India.

A Historic Background

• In 1957, a Committee was formulated which focused on the evolution of the Panchayati Raj in India.
• The committee was headed by Balwantrai Mehta and proposed a decentralised gram panchayat system consisting of Gram Panchayat at the village level, Block Panchayat or Panchayat Samiti at the intermediate level and Zilla Panchayat at the district level.
• In 1959, Rajasthan became the first state in India to launch the Panchayati Raj while Andhra Pradesh became the second state to launch the system.

This Year’s Observation

• This year the main event of National Panchayati Raj Day was held at Palli Panchayat in Samba district of Jammu & Kashmir.