Panchayati Raj institutions in its present form and structure have now completed 25 years of existence (73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992).
But a lot remains to be done in order to further decentralisation and strengthen democracy at the grassroots.
What is the 73rd Constitutional Amendment?
The 73rd constitutional amendment, passed in 1992 mandated the creation of a 3 tier panchayat structure in rural India.
Even political parties that vehemently opposed the 73rd Amendment 25 years ago are presently celebrating the current occasion.
This indicates a univocal consensus towards the local-self governance as per the provisions that were ingrained in the constitution.
Notably, there were panchayats before too, but it functioned largely at the State government’s discretion and elections weren’t held for them regularly.
The 73rd Amendment specificed provisions for devolution through the 11th schedule and provided for financial self sustainability for panchayats.
What are the significant milestones achieved?
All states have ensured the full and diligent implementation of the mandatory provisions provided in the 73rd amendment.
Moreover, states have also provided statutory safeguards for many devolution provisions, which have considerably empowered local governments.
Successive (central) Finance Commissions have, so substantially, increased fund allocations for local bodies and grants have also been increased.
Currently, 15th Finance Commission is considering to further increase allocations for local governments to match international standards.
There are about 2.5 lakh panchayats in India, which are represented by about 32 lakh people.
This is greater than the sum total of elected representatives from all other countries.
Uniquely, SC/ST representation in elected bodies is another big push towards their empowerment. There are about 1 lakh SC/ST sarpanches.
Also, about 14 lakh women elected representatives and heads have now got political representation as the constitution has mandated 33% reservation for them.
More significantly, some states have enhanced women representation to about 50%, thereby furthering their voices.
What are some actions that can be done?
Progress across states has been highly uneven with some states like Kerala and Karnataka leapfrogging, while others like UP crawling.
District planning should increasingly be made bottom-up, based on grassroots inputs received from gram sabhas.
Like in Karnataka, all states should create a separate bureaucratic cadre for Panchayats that will work in a subordinate capacity to the elected authorities.
This is because, it has been observed that officials who work on deputation to Panchayats often lord over the elected representatives.
Activity maps need to be incorporated in all centrally sponsored schemes for poverty alleviation in order to directly transfer funds to the local governments.
The centre also needs to financially incentivise states to encourage effective devolution to the panchayats in functions, finances, and functionaries.
