Unit 3.
Panchayati Raj
The Panchayati Raj system in India has existed from the time as far back as we can imagine.
Evidences from the time of Rig Veda suggest the existence of self-governing bodies in villages. With
the passage of time, these bodies became panchayats which means council of five persons. They
used to distribute land among farmers and collect revenue (in kind earlier and in cash later). Thus
with the passage of time and particularly during the British colonial rule, the village self sufficiency
gave way to feudalism and the Zamindari system leading to the exploitation of farmers, rural
poverty, unemployment and backwardness. The British commercialization of agriculture destroyed
all that was good in the villages of India. Thus during the drafting of the constitution, the Directive
Principles of State Policy under Article 40 provided for the state effort to organize village panchayats
as units of self governance.
Panchayati Raj is a system of local self government wherein the people take upon themselves the
responsibility for development. It is also a system of institutional arrangement of achieving rural
development through people’s initiative by securing their participation in the administration of
developmental programmes aimed at social, economic and cultural development, provision for
community and welfare services.
Panchayati Raj as an institution has gone numerous stages. The first five year plan failed to bring
about active participation of the people in the plan process in 1957, the government appointed a
committee to review the Community Development Programme and National Extension Service
under the chairmanship f Shri Balwant Rai Mehta. The suggestions given by the committee are:
a. A three tier structure consisting of village panchayat at the village level, panchayat samitis at
the block level and Zila parishad at the district level.
b. Adequate resources to all bodies to enable them to discharge their responsibilities, that all
social and economic development programmes be channelized through these agencies.
c. The higher level body, Zila parishad should play as an advisory role.
In the year 1978 Ashok Mehta committee was formed in order to examine the measures
and to strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions. The Ashok Mehta Committee made the
following recommendations:
a. Panchayati Raj Institutions as a tow tier system with Mandal Panchayat at the base and Zila
Parishad at the top.
b. District planning should take care of the urban-rural continuum.
c. Representation of SCs and STs on the election to Panchayati Raj Institutions on the basis of
their population.
d. Panchayat should be given more power.
e. Any fincancial devolution should be committed to accepting that much of the developmental
functions at the district level would be played by the panchayats.
The sates of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal paased new legislations
based on this report. However, politics at the state level rejected though the
suggestions to hold elections of Panchayats political was accepted.
[Link] committee was appointed in 1985 to look at various aspects of Panchayati Raj
Institutions once again. The committee was of the opinion that a total view of rural
development must be taken in which Panchayati Raj Institutions must play a central role
in handling peoples problems. It recommended the following:
a. Panchayati Raj Institutions have to be activated and provided with all required support to
become effective organizations.
b. Panchayati Raj Institutions at the district level and below should be designed the work of
planning, implementation and monitoring of rural development programmes.
c. The block development office should be the spinal cord of the rural development process.
The [Link] committee studies the panchayati Raj system in 1986. The Gram Sabha
was considered as the base of a decentralized democracy and Panchayati Raj Institutions
were viewd as institutions of self governance which would actually facilitate the
participation of the people in the process of planning and development. It
recommended:
a. Local self government should be constitutionally recognized, protected and preserved by the
inclusion of a new chapter in the constitution.
b. Non-involvement of political parties in Panchayat elections.
The next major landmark in decentralized governance came in the form of 64 constitutional
th
Amendment Act in 1989 by the Rajiv Gandhi government. However the suggestions of giving
panchayats the constitutional status was opposed by the Sakaria commission and could not passed
in the Rajya Sabha. It may be noted that all these various suggestions and recommendations and
means of strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions were considered again while formulating new
constitutional Amendment Act.