Lesson 9 – Panchayats
Grassroots democracy is a tendency towards designing
political processes where as much decision-making authority as practical is
shifted to the organization's lowest geographic level. It leads to the creation
of institutions both formal and informal which are collectively called local
governance. Grassroots democracy thus helps in pursuing collective action by
defining the framework for citizen-citizen and citizen –state interaction.
History of Local Governance in India: an Overview
Local governance historically predates the emergence of
nation-states. In ancient history, tribes and clans established systems of
local governance in most of the world. They established their own codes of
conduct and ways of raising revenues and delivering services to the tribe or
clan. Tribal and clan elders developed consensus on the roles and
responsibilities of various members.
Some tribes and clans with better organization and skills
then sought to enlarge their spheres of influence through conquest and
cooperation with other tribes. In this way, the first Chinese dynasty, the Xia,
was established (2070 BC to 1600 BC) (see Zheng and Fan 2003). A similar
situation prevailed in ancient India, where in the third millennium BC (about
2500 BC) a rich civilization was established in the Indus Valley (now
Pakistan).
The philosophical basis of local government is well laid out
in the Gandhian ideas when he defined village panchayats in the following words
“My idea of village Swaraj is that it is a complete republic independent of its
neighbours for its own vital wants and yet interdependent for many others in
which dependence is necessity. The government of the village will be conducted
by the panchayat of five persons annually elected by the adult villagers, males
and females, possessing minimum prescribed qualifications.
Local Governance in Pre-Colonial Period
It is widely recognized that self-governing village
communities characterized by agrarian economies had existed in India from
earliest times. Not only they are mentioned in the Rig Veda which dates from
approximately 1200 B.C., There is also definite evidence available of the
existence of ‘village sabhas’ (council of assemblies) and ‘gramins’ (senior
persons of the village) until about 600 B.C.
These village bodies were the lines of contact with higher
authorities on day to day matters affecting the villages. In course of time,
these village bodies took the form of panchayats (an assembly of five people)
which looked after the affairs of the village. They had both police and
judicial powers. Custom and religion elevated them to a sacred position of
authority. Besides the Village panchayats, there were also Caste panchayats to
ensure that persons belonging to a particular caste adhered to its code of social
conduct and ethics.
If this was the general pattern in the Indo- Gangetic
plains, in the south, village panchayats generally had a village assembly whose
executive body consisted of representatives of various groups and castes. Both
the panchayats in north and south had been pivot of administration, the center
of social life and focus of solidarity. Even during the Medieval and Mughal
periods, this characteristic of the village panchayat remained unchanged.
Although under the Mughals their judicial powers were curtailed, local affairs
remained unregulated from above and village officers and servants were
answerable primarily to the panchayats.
Local Governance in British Colonial Period:
With the advent of the British, the self-contained village
communities and their panchayats ceased to get sustenance. In course of time,
they were replaced by formally constituted institutions of administration. It
is a historical fact that self-government in India, in the sense of responsible
representative institutions was the creation of colonial rulers.
This body was empowered to levy taxes for building halls and
schools. With the passage of time, the sphere of activities of this corporation
and similar bodies set up in other major towns increased and their
administrative power widened. Although symbolizing local government of some
sort, the bodies continued to comprise of nominated members only.
The passing of Ripon resolution in 1882 was a watershed in
the structural evolution of the government in the country. He established the
local bodies’ consisting of elected non-official members and presided by a
non-official chairperson. It is considered to be ‘Magna Carta’ of local
democracy in India. The role of local administration was elevated by the
passing of the resolution.
To make local self-government both fully responsible and
representative, the reforms had suggested that there should be as far as
possible, complete popular control in local bodies and largest possible
independence for them of outside control. Notwithstanding this professed
objective of Montagu-Chelmsford scheme, it did not make the panchayat
institutions truly democratic and vibrant instruments of self-government at the
level of villages due to various constraints, both organizational and fiscal.
Still in almost all provinces and a number of native states, acts were passed
for the establishment of village panchayats.
The Government of India Act 1935 and the inauguration of
Provincial Autonomy under it marked another important stage in the evolution of
panchayats in the country. With popularly elected government in the provinces
almost all provincial administration felt duty-bound to enact legislations for
further democratization of the local self-government institutions including
village panchayats.8 From 1935 till 1947 the status of panchayats remained
unchanged.
Constituent Assembly Debates:
India gaining Independence and Gandhi’s influence upon
political freedom during national movement with village panchayats at its
center made the people think that India’s commitment to democratic
decentralization would find a special status in the constitution. the first
draft of India’s constitution did not give any place to panchayats.
Despite some leaders defending the Local governance they
were not made statutory. They were made part of Article 40 of the Indian
constitution and list II entry 5 in the seventh schedule. The entry empowered
the state legislature to legislate with respect to all matters relating to
local government including the constitution and establishment of such local
authorities. The constitution also empowered the state legislatures to confer
such powers upon local authority including power to levy taxes which the state
could levy under the state list. In spite of such direct and indirect powers, no
substantial steps were taken to give village panchayats a role in social
transformation and implementation of development programmes .
Rise and Decline of Panchayats till 1977:
India’s development strategy in the early fifties was
through centrally administered plans It did not take long to realize the folly
of this approach. The Community Development Project, in 1952, experimented in
Shantiniketan, Baroda, and Nilo kheri soon found themselves in a pit in the
absence of effective instruments of people’s participation.
National Extension Service Program, the committee on planned
projects constituted a team to study the failure of these two projects. The
study team was headed by Balwant Ray Mehta, a Member of Parliament and was set
up in 1957.The team gave following two recommendations (a) administrative
decentralization for effective implementation of development programme, (b)
control by elected bodies for this decentralized administrative system. Its
recommendation was that public participation in community works should be
organized through statutory representative body, gave a fillip to prevailing
nation-wide sentiments.
Even the National Development Council affirmed the basic
principle of democratic decentralization enunciated by Balwant Ray team and
left it to the states to work out the measures suitable to each state. During
this stage the term “Panchayati Raj” came to mean, as a process of governance.
It led to a system organically linking people from Gram Sabha to Lok Sabha.
Nehru had felt similar sentiments while inaugurating the new
Panchayati Raj at Shadnagar, near Hyderabad nine days later S.K. De. Ministry
of Community Development in Nehru’s cabinet and the architect of Panchayati Raj
after Independence elevated the whole idea to a philosophical level and viewed
it as an instrument which linked individual with the universe. In the sphere of
national democracy, he visualized an organic and intimate relationship between
Gram Sabha and Lok Sabha.
By 1959, all the states had passed panchayat acts, and by
mid- 1960’s, panchayats had reached all parts of the country. More than 217,
3000 village panchayat, covering over 96 percent of the 579,000 inhabited
villages and 92 percent of the rural population had been established. On an
average, a panchayat covered a population of about 2,400 in two to three
villages.
The report of the Ministry of Community Development had
started in 1964-65 than younger and better leadership was emerging through the
Panchayati Raj institutions and there was a fairly high degree of satisfaction
among the people with their working.
In yet another comment, a study team, appointed by the
Associations of Voluntary Agencies for Rural Development (AVARD) in 1962 to
evaluate Panchayati Raj in Rajasthan, had made the following observation: It
was reported that the people felt that they had sufficient powers to enable
them to mould their future.
In other words, Panchayati Raj institutions fulfilled all
the functions of a local government and acted as the nurseries or even the
primary schools of democracy. Due to interest generated by the Panchayati Raj
institutions several states set up committees to assess their working and to
recommend measures for improvement.
Ashok Mehta Committee 1978
Ashok Mehta committee was setup to enquire into the working
of the Panchayati Raj institutions and to suggest ways to strengthen it. It
marked a turning point in the concept and functioning of Panchayati Raj. It
launched second generation panchayats. First generation panchayats were in the
Nehruvian era.
Mehta committee had suggested the following :
(1) All development activities should flow through the block
level organization.
(2) Panchayat samiti is a key unit of decentralization and
in most cases, it was coterminous with the Block.
Second generation panchayats started with the setting of
panchayats in Bengal on the lines of recommendation given by Mehta Committee.
West Bengal, Karnataka Jammu and Kashmir, and Andhra Pradesh either revised
their existing panchayats or enacted new acts in theory accepting Ashok Mehta
Committee.
Ashok Mehta committee made the first official recommendation
for including in the constitution.. Though the states had gone ahead in
devolving powers to the panchayats but concentration of power at the center was
working as a serious impediment. For instance, in 1985 Abdul Nazir Sab, the
Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Rural Development in Karnataka under the Janta
Government, had stressed that “without a constitutional amendment guaranteeing
the- ‘Four Pillar State’, our efforts may not be fruitful as we desire.”
By the end of 1988 a sub-committee of parliament for
Ministry of Rural Development under the chairmanship of P. K. Thungon made
recommendations for strengthening the Panchayati Raj system. It also
recommended for giving constitutional status to panchayats. It was against this
scene that on 15th May the constitution (64th Amendment Bill) was drafted and
introduced in Parliament.
Although the 64th Amendment Bill was passed with two-thirds
majority in Lok Sabha, in the Rajya Sabha, it failed to meet the mandatory
requirement by two votes. National Front government introduced the 74th
Amendment Bill (a combined bill on both Panchayats and Municipalities) on 7th
September 1990 during its short tenure but it was never taken up for
discussion.
The Lok Sabha passed the two bills on 22nd December 1992,
while the Rajya Sabha passed them the next day. By the time parliament passed
the two bills, their sequence changed to 73rd and 74th Amendment Act
respectively. Following their ratification by more one-third states assemblies,
the president gave his assent on 20th April 1993. They came into force as
constitution (Seventy Third Amendments) Act, 1992 on April 1993, and
constitution (Seventy-Fourth Amendment) Act, 1992 on 1st June, 1993. These
amendments to the constitution brought about fundamental change not only in the
realm of local government but also in India’s federal character.
5.B.A Political Science Hons. History Lesson 4th Important Notes Part 2
73rd Amendment Act: Key mandatory provisions
Gram Sabha: It is a body consisting of persons
registered in the electoral rolls relating to a village. This body was endowed
with such powers and functions as the legislature of the state may provide by
law.
Constitution of Panchayats: The establishment in
every state (except those with populations below 2 million) of rural local
bodies (panchayats) at the village, intermediate and district levels.
· Elections:
Direct elections to all seats in the panchayats at all levels. Indirect
elections to the position of panchayat chairperson at the intermediate and
district levels (Article 243C). Compulsory elections to panchayats every five
years with the elections being held before the end of the term of the incumbent
panchayat in the event that a panchayat is dissolved prematurely, elections
must be held within six months, with the newly elected members serving out the
remainder of the five year term (Article 243E)
· Reservations
of Seats (Article 243 D): Not less than one-third of the total number of
seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in every
panchayats. And among this one-third of the seats shall be reserved for women
belonging to the Scheduled Castes or as the case may be Scheduled Tribes.
· Not
less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women
belonging.
· to
the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes) of the total seats to be filled by
direct election in every panchayat shall be reserved for women and allotted by
rotation to different constituencies in a panchayat.
· The
act also provides for reservation of one-third of the total number of offices
of chairpersons in the panchayats at all levels for women including women from
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes.
Following the amendment, about eight lakh women
representatives entered the different tiers of rural governance in 1993-1994.
Election Commission(Article 243K) an independent
election commission to supervise and manage elections to local bodies, much as
the Election Commission of India manages state assembly and parliamentary
elections;
State finance commission (Article 243 I) established
every five years, to review the financial position of local bodies and
recommend the principles that should govern the allocation of funds and
taxation authority to local bodies
District Planning Committees Article 243ZD: mandates
the constitution of District Planning Committees to consolidate the plans
prepared by both rural and urban local bodies. In order to facilitate a
well-planned husbanding of available resources, Panchayats and municipalities
should be informed as early as possible of what they might be expected to
receive by way of tied and untied funds under various budgetary heads for
implementing various schemes.
Specific Provisions for Tribal and Scheduled Areas
Article 243M (1) provides that this Part shall apply to the Scheduled Areas
referred to in clause (1) and the tribal areas referred to in clause (2) of
article 244. (2) This Part shall apply to (a) the States of Nagaland, Meghalaya
and
Mizoram; (b) the hill areas in the State of Manipur for
which District Councils exist under any law for the time being in force. (3)
Nothing in this Part (a) relating to Panchayats at the district level shall
apply to the hill areas of the District of Darjeeling in the State of West
Bengal for which Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council exists under any law for the
time being in force;
The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the
Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996
Enactment of “The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to
the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996” (PESA) was a step taken by the Government of
India to provide for the extension of the provisions of the Part-IX of the
Constitution relating to the Panchayats to the Fifth Schedule Areas with
certain modifications as provided under Article 243M(4)(b) of the Constitution.
Issues in the Working of Panchayati Raj Act
PRIs are either a failure or, at best, a series of missed
opportunities. Before 1993, India had only two levels of government. The 73rd
Amendment introduced local governing bodies across India. This amendment,
however, did not require the implementation of local self-governing bodies. It
only mandated the creation of local self-governing bodies, and left the
decision to delegate powers, functions, and finances to the state legislatures.
Limited Transfer of Power to the Panchayats
Despite XI schedule of the India constitution delegating
powers to the panchayats, their transfer of power has been limited. This has
been due to reluctance of state legislature to make Panchayats autonomous. As a
result, panchayats are mere implementing agency for the state and central
governments. A study carried out by Planning Commission17 showed a terrible
state of affairs with regard to all state governments in transferring power to
panchayats.
Lack of funds to Panchayats
Local governments can either raise their own revenue through
local taxes or receive intergovernmental transfers. The 73th Amendment
recognized both forms of public finance, but did not mandate either.
However, these are merely recommendations and the state
governments are not bound by them. Though finance commissions, at every level,
have advocated for greater devolution of funds, there has been little action by
states to devolve funds .
As a result, PRIs are so starved for funds that they are
often unable to meet even payroll obligations. They are reluctant to take on
projects that require any meaningful financial outlay, and are often unable to
solve even the most basic local governance needs. The only long-term solution
is to foster genuine fiscal federalism where PRIs raise a large portion of their
own revenue and face hard budget constraints, i.e. fiscal autonomy accompanied
by fiscal responsibility.
Proxy Candidate:
The 73rd Amendments required that no less than one-third of
the total seats in local bodies should be reserved for women. At 1.4 million,
India has the most women in elected positions. this is the only level of
government with reservation for women.
They lacked knowledge and experience for carrying out
functions of panchayats. At the same time Research using PRIs has shown that
having female political representation in local governments makes women more
likely to come forward and report crimes. Further, female PRI leaders are more
likely to focus on issues pertinent to women.
They also show that SC sarpanch/pradhans are more likely to
invest in public goods in SC hamlets an important change in the severely
segregated villages of India. In a country where access is determined by gender
and caste, even more than economic status, these changes are remarkable.
Unscientific distribution of functions
The Panchayati Raj scheme is defective in so far as the
distribution of functions between the structures at different levels has not
been made along scientific lines. The blending of development and local
self-government functions has significantly curtailed the autonomy of the local
self-government institutions. Again, it has virtually converted them into
governmental agencies. Even the functions assigned to the Panchayat and the
Panchayat Samiti overlap, leading to confusion, duplication of efforts and
shifting of responsibility. The three-tiers do not operate as functional
authorities.
Bureaucratic Attitude towards Panchayats
Introduction of the Panchayati Raj aimed at securing
effective participation of the people but in reality this hardly happens since
the key administrative and technical positions are manned by the government
officials.
Generally, there is lack of proper cooperation and
coordination between the people and the officials like Block Development
Officers, the District Officers etc. Again, the officers fail to discharge the
developmental duties more efficiently and sincerely. Bureaucracy at the state
level that had long enjoyed autonomy refuses to be under elected
representatives.
Undemocratic composition of various Panchayati Raj
institutions
Various Panchayati Raj Institutions are constituted setting
aside democratic norms and principles. In many cases state governments shows
reluctance in setting elections commission that can aid the lections at this
level. As a result, there are long delays in holding elections. At the same
time the indirect election of most of the members to Panchayat Samiti only
increases the possibility of corruption and bribery. Even the Zila Parishad
consists of mainly ex-officio members. They are, for the most part, government
officials. This negates sound democratic principles.
Disillusionment on structural-functional front
The performance of Panchayati Raj Institutions has been
badly affected by political cum caste factionalism, rendering developmental
projects into an illusion or dream. Corruption, inefficiency, scant regard for
procedures, political interference in day to day administration, parochial
loyalties, motivated actions, power concentration instead of true service
mentalityall these have stood in the way of the success of Panchayati Raj.
Furthermore, the power to supersede the local bodies on the part of the State
Government clearly violates the spirit of democratic decentralization.
Politicization of PRIs
It is being increasingly noticed that the Panchayati Raj
Institutions are viewed only as organisational arms of political parties,
especially of the ruling party in the state. The State Government, in most
states, allows the Panchayati Raj Institutions to function only upon expediency
rather than any commitment to the philosophy of democratic decentralisation.
Way Ahead
Now that there are millions of elected representatives
giving voice to Indians at the grassroots level, these representatives need
clear mandates of local functions, and the ability to raise their own revenue,
to foster better local governance.
Panchayats can play an effective role in convergence of
development efforts at the local level. This convergence can be of two kinds –
one, internal to the efforts of the line departments working under the control
of the PRIs and another external by converging the efforts of the line
departments with the efforts of the organs of the larger society.
Panchayats through the system of internal audits can Enhance
Accountability of Elected Representatives to face his constituency
periodically, can be activated so that the elected representatives are made to
explain to the electorate what they had done and what they propose to do.
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