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DR. RAM MAHOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

PROJECT ON:

(FINAL DRAFT)

PANCHAYATI RAJ SYSTEM

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

SHOBHIT SAINESH AWASTHI Mr MANWENDRA KUMAR TIWARI

ROLL NO: 130 ASSISTANT PROFESSOR (LAW)

SECTION-B Dr.R.M.L.N.L.U. LUCKNOW

SEMESTER-1st

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Acknowledgement

I express my gratitude and deep regards to my teacher for the subject Mr Manwendra Kumar
Tiwari Sir for giving me such a challenging topic and also for her exemplary guidance,
monitoring and constant encouragement throughout the course of this Project.

I also take this opportunity to express a deep sense of gratitude to my seniors in the college
for their cordial support, valuable information and guidance, which helped me in completing
this task through various stages.

I am obliged to the staff members of the Madhu Limaye Library, for the timely and valuable
information provided by them in their respective fields. I am grateful for their cooperation
during the period of my assignment.

Lastly, I thank almighty, my family and friends for their constant encouragement without

which this assignment would not have been possible

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INDEX

INTRODUCTION.

ROLE OF CUSTOM IN ESTABLISHMENT OF PANCHAYATI RAJ

o Panchayati Raj in Pre-British period

o Panchayati Raj in British period

HOW THE SYSTEM GROWS INTO CONSTITUTIONAL SCHEME .

o Panchayati Raj in Independent India

o Balwant Rai Mehta Committee.

o Ashok Mehta Committee

RECENT TRENDS IN PANCHAYATI RAJ

o 73rd constitutional amendment

STRUCTURE AND FEATURES OF THE PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTION.

PANCHAYATI RAJ SYSTEM AS A FUNCTION OF LAW

EVALUATION OF PANCHAYATI RAJ...

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...

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INTRODUCTION

Democratic Decentralisation

The word 'democracy' is derived from the Greek word 'demos' means 'the people'; and 'cracy'
means 'rule of'. It is the 'rule of the people'. It is governance of the people, by the people, and
for the people. The rule by majority is an important part of this programme.

Decentralisation means devolution of central power among local units close to the areas
served. Where authority devolves by this process on people's institution, it is 'democratic
decentralisation'.

Meaning - Panchayati Raj

Panchayati Raj Institutions, the grass root units of local self government have been
considered as devices of legal socio and economic transformation in rural India. Involvement
of people at the grass root level is the most essential means of bringing about socio-economic
development. Panchayati Raj is identified as institutional expression of democratic
devolution in India.

Devolution of power to the panchayats is seen as a means of authorising people and

involving them in decision making process. Local governments being closer to the people can
be more open to local needs and can make better use of resources.

The self-governing system in a country can be ensured only if there is bulk participation in
the governance. Therefore, the system of democratic decentralization popularly known as
Panchayati Raj System is measured as an instrument to confirm democracy and socio-
economic transformation.

Gandhi encouraged that India lives in her villages. Indian independence must begin at the
bottom, thus making every village a republic or panchayat, enjoying full powers. He said that
true democracy cannot be worked by twenty men sitting at the centre. It has to be worked
from below by the people of every village. These dreams lead to the inclusion of Article 40 in
the Directive Principles of the State Policy of Constitution of India. Almost after five decades
of independence, in the year 1993, the Government of India took a innovative step by making
Panchayati Raj Institutions a part of the Constitution.

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1
The system of Panchayati raj has acquired greater significance with the 73rd and 74th
Amendments to the constitution of India. The Amendments have become a reality after a
long drawn battle, debates, opposition and suspicion that engulfed the people and polity for
quite a long time.

In spite of all those initial setbacks, the 73rd and 74th amendments had given the local
government a legitimacy and an authority in the Indian political system. After the 73rd and
74th amendments, much attention has been drawn towards the state-local bodies relationship.

The basic spirit behind the 73rd and 74th constitutional was to strengthen the local bodies
through decentralization measures. For successful functioning of local bodies at the
grassroots level, it is imperative that the local government should have sufficient power,
autonomy and the power of decision making.

The story of Panchayati Raj has been a story of ups and downs.

This project provides a historical account of the village panchayati system in ancient India
.And it traces the role of the custom in establishment of Panchayati Raj system in India.
After that , it briefly evaluates how the system of Panchayati raj grows into constitutional
scheme. This project also gives an overview of the Panchayat raj Institutions. And presents
balanced complete picture of the philosophy, objective, evolution, success, and failures of
these institution in last decades and shows recent trends of the Panchayati raj system.

ROLE OF CUSTOM IN ESTABLISHMENT OF PANCHAYATI RAJ

Custom occupies an important place in regulation of human conduct in almost all the
societies. In fact, it is one of the oldest sources of law-making. It has been generally said that
custom is to society what law is to the state. Each one of them is the expression and
realisation, to the measure of mens insight and ability, of the principles of rights and justice.
The influence of custom on society is similar to that of law on the state.
2
Role of custom in establishment of Panchayati raj are as follows in a chronological order.3

1 Panchayati raj by Kuldeep Mathur

3 Dr N.V Paranjape ,Studies in Jurisprudence and Legal Theory

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a) Panchayati Raj in Pre British Period

The word panchayat is derived from the word pancha panchasvanusthitah, has references
in to the existence of Grama Sanghas or rural communities. The institution of Panchayati Raj
is as old as Indian civilization itself. It was in existence since ancient periods, having an
effective control over civil and judicial matters in the village community. The Rigveda,
Manusamhita, Dharmashastras, Upanishads, Jatakas and others, refer extensively to local
administration, i.e. the panchayat system of administration.
It is mentioned in Rigveda that dates from approximately 200 B.C. The village was the basic
unit of administration in the Vedic period. The most remarkable feature of the early Vedic
polity consisted in the institution of popular assemblies of which two namely Sabha, and
the Samiti deserve special mention. A Samiti was the Vedic Folk Assembly that in some
cases enjoyed the right of electing a king while the Sabha exercised some judicial functions.
Both the Samiti and Sabha enjoyed the rights to debate, a privilege unknown to the popular

assemblies of other ancient people.The office of the village head man (Gramani)
indicates the emergence of the village as a unit of administration. In the later Vedic period,
the Samiti disappeared as a popular assembly while the Sabha sank into a narrow body
corresponding to the kings Privy Council.

In the Mouryan period, the village was the basic unit of administration. Villagers used to
organize works of public utility and recreation, settle disputes, and act as trustees for the
property of minors. But, they had not yet evolved regular councils. The village council
appeared to have evolved into regular bodies in the Gupta period. They were known as
Panchamandalas in central India and Gramajanapadas in Bihar. These bodies negotiated with
the government for concessions and settlement of disputes. The inscription of Chola dynasty
shows the construction and functions of the village assembly and their executive committees.
The village administrations were performed by the elected representatives forming village
council.

During the medieval and Moghal periods, village bodies were the pivot of administration. In
the Moghal period, particularly in the regime of Sher Shah, the villages were governed by
their own panchyats. Each panchayat comprised of village elders who looked after the
interest of the people and administered justice and imposed punishment on defaulters. The
head man of the village, a semi government official, acted as a coordinator between the

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village panchayat and the higher administrative hierarchy. Akbar accepted this system
and made it an indispensable part of civil administration. In this period, each village had its
own panchayat of elders. It was autonomous in its own sphere and exercised powers of local
taxation, administrative control, justice and punishment.The Moghals introduced elaborate
administrative machinery with a hierarchy of officials, particularly in the field of revenue.
The Moghal local administrative system lasted over centuries. It was with the collapse of the
Moghal strong hold, the British established their hegemony in India.

b) Panchayati Raj in British Period

It was Lord Mayo, the then viceroy of India (1869 to 1872), who felt the need to decentralize
powers in order to bring about administrative efficiency and in the year 1870 introduced the
concept of elected representatives in the urban municipalities. The revolt of 1857 that had put
the imperial finances under considerable strain and it was found necessary to finance local
service out of local taxation. Therefore it was out of fiscal compulsion that Lord Mayos
resolution on decentralization came to be adopted.

Ripon Resolution (1882)

In 1882, Ripon abandoned the existing system of local government by the officially
nominated people. According to his local self government plan, the local boards were split
into smaller units to achieve greater efficiency. In order to ensure popular participation, he
introduced an election system for the local boards. The government resolution of 18th, May,
1882, stands as a landmark in the structural evolution of local governments. It provided for
local boards consisting of a large majority of elected non-official members and presided over
by a non-official chairperson.This is considered to be the Magna Carta of local democracy in
India. This resolution proposed the establishment of rural local boards where 2/3rd of whose
membership was composed of elected representatives.He brought in the concept of self-
government in urban municipalities. He is treated as the founding father of urban local
government. The Royal Commission on Decentralization in 1909 elaborated further the
principles of Ripon resolution. But this remained merely on paper. Ripons scheme did not
make much progress in the development of local self government institutions.

Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919

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In this backdrop, Montagu Chelmsford reforms were passed in the year 1919. This reform
transferred the subject of local government to the domain of provinces. The reform also
recommended that as far as possible there should be a complete popular control in local
bodies and the largest possible independence for them, of outside control. By 1925, eight
provinces had passed village panchayat acts. However, these panchayats covered only a
limited number of villages with limited functions. But this reform could not get much result
as far as democratization of panchayats was concerned and lead to a lot of organizational and
fiscal constraints.

The Government of India Act 1935

This is considered as another important stage in the evolution of panchayats in British India.
With popularly elected government in the provinces, almost all provincial administrations felt
duty bound to enact legislations for further democratization of local self government
institutions, including village panchayats. Although the popular government in the provinces
governed by the Congress vacated office following the declaration of Second World War in
1939, the position as regards local government institutions remained unchanged till August
1947, when the country attained independence. Even though the British government did not
have interest in the village autonomy, they were forced to do so, in order to continue their
rule in India and moreover to meet financial necessities. The Indian rural republic had
flourished till the advent of British. It received a set back during the British rule. Self
contained village communities and their panchayats ceased to get substance. They were
replaced by formally constituted institutions of village administration. In the highly
centralized system of British rule, village autonomy seems to have lost.

How the system grows into constitutional scheme

a).Panchayati Raj in Independent India.

The task of strengthening panchayati raj system fell on the Indian government formed after
independence. It was clear that India a country of villages had to strengthen village
panchayats to strengthen democracy. Mahatma Gandhi who strongly believed in Ggrama
Swaraj pleaded for the transfer of power to the rural masses. According to him the villages
should govern themselves through elected panchayats to become self sufficient. But
surprisingly, the draft Constitution prepared in 1948 had no place for Panchayati Raj
Institutions. Gandhi severely criticized this and called for immediate attention. It is thus, that
panchayat finds a place in the Directive Principles of the State Policy. Article 40 of the

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Directive Principles of the State Policy states that the states shall take steps to organize
village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to
enable them function as units of self governments.
The most important aspect to strengthen grass root democracy was neglected by
the Constitution makers as Directive Principle of State Policy is not legally binding on the
governments.
The first organized effort to tackle the problem of rural India was made through Community
Development Programme in 1952 and National Extension Service in 1953. The programme
was based on an integrated approach to the various aspects of rural development. The
objectives were to promote self help and self reliance among the rural people, to generate a
process of integrated social, economic and cultural change with the aim of transforming
social and political life of the villagers. The programme was based on an integrated approach
to the various aspects of rural development. The programme made provisions for appointing
Block Development Officers [BDO] and Village Level Workers [V.L.W]. This programme
was intended to bring socio economic development of the rural masses on democratic lines,
but failed to take off along the expected lines due to the absence of an effective instrument
for peoples participation.

Balwant Rai Mehta Committee(1957)

Balwantrai Mehta Committee was the first Committee set up in 1957 to look into the
problems of democratic decentralization in independent India. The Committee was asked to
report on community development projects. The Committee made far reaching
recommendations in the direction of democratic decentralization and rural reconstruction. It
pointed out that the community development programme was not successful because it failed
to evoke local initiative and that in the absence of local initiative and local interest,
development would not be possible. The committee laid down five fundamental principles.
1). There should be three tier structures of local self government bodies from village to the
district level and these bodies should be linked together.
2). There should be genuine transfer of power and responsibility to these bodies to enable
them to discharge their responsibility.
3). Adequate resources should be transferred to these bodies to enable them to discharge their
responsibilities.
4). All welfare and developmental schemes and programmes at all three levels should be

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channeled through these bodies, and

5). The three tier system should facilitate further devolution and disposal of power and
responsibility in future.
The committee envisaged three tire system of panchayats known as Zilla Parishad, Panchayat
Samiti and Gram Panchayat and recommended encouragement of peoples participation in
community work, promotion of agriculture and animal husbandry, promoting the welfare of
the weaker sections and women through the panchayats.
The recommendations of the Balwantrai Mehta Committee came into effect on 1st April
1958. Rajasthan was the first state to implement it on 2nd October 1959. By mid 1960s,
panchayat had reached all parts of the country. There was enthusiasm in rural India and
people felt that they had a say in the affairs affecting their daily life. These were considered
as the promising days of Panchayati Raj Institutions in India.
The recommendations of Balwantrai Mehta Committee were implemented by many states in
the country. Till the mid sixties, Panchayati Raj system flourished in India. But there was
decline in Panchayati Raj Institutions after the mid sixties mainly because of centralized
tendencies of functioning all over the country. The elections were not held regularly and the
participation of people weakened in these bodies. Inefficiency, corruption, favoritism,
uncertainty and irregularity led to their decline. Most of the development programmes were
kept out of their preview. Centrally sponsored schemes were initiated; parallel administrative
bodies were created and government reduced funds considerably. During the period of
national emergency, bureaucracy got the upper hand and these institutions lost their
significance.

Ashok Mehta Committee (1977)

In this backdrop in 1977, the Janata government appointed a Committee with Ashok Mehta
as chairman and was entrusted with the task of enquiring into the causes responsible for the
poor performance of Panchayati Raj Institutions. It was also asked to suggest measures to
strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions. The committee suggested two tire system of
Panchayati Raj consisting of Zilla Parishads at the district level and Mandal Panchayats at the
grass root level as against three tier system suggested by the Balwantrai Mehta Committee.
The committee recommended constitutional protection to the Panchayati Raj Institutions and
further decentralization of power at all levels.

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A noteworthy feature of the report is that it recommended regular elections to these bodies
and open participation of political parties.

The Ashok Mehta Committee Suggested:

Reservation of seats for the weaker sections

Two seats for women
Adequate financial resources for the panchayats
Requirement of Constitutional sanctions
To extend peoples participation in developmental activities.

Due to the fall of the Janata government, the Ashok Mehta Committee recommendations
were not implemented. Few states formulated new legislation on the basis of the
recommendations of this Committee. Both the Committees overlooked the importance of
panchayats as units of self government.

During 1980s, two important Committees were appointed to look into local governments.
GVK Rao Committee in 1985 and Dr. L.M. Singhvi Committee in 1986. The GVK Rao
committee recommended the revival of Panchayati Raj Institutions such that greater
responsibility of planning, implementation, and monitoring of rural development programmes
could be assigned to them. L.M. Singhvi Committee recommended that the Panchayati Raj
Iinstitutions should be constitutionally recognized and protected. New chapter in the
constitution should be provided to define their powers and functions and free and fair election
to be conducted through the election commission. Committee recommended for the
appointment of finance commission and all the rural development programmes are entrusted
to the Panchayati Raj Institutions by amending schedule VII of the constitution.

Recent Trends in Panchayati Raj

a) 73rd Amendment Act, 1992

Following these circumstances, Rajiv Gandhi the then Prime Minister of India, introduced the
64th Amendment bill on local government on the 15th May, 1989 in the Parliament, but it
failed to get the required support. A second attempt was made in September 1990 to pass the
bill in the Parliament. The bill however was not even taken up for consideration. In
September 1991, a fresh bill on Panchayati Raj was introduced by the Congress government

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under P. V Narasimha Rao, the then Prime Minister. It was passed in 1992 as the 73rd
Amendment Act 1992 with minor modifications and came into force on 24thApril 1993.4

The Salient Features of the Act are:

1).The Act provided for the establishment of grama sabha in each village. It will be a body
comprising of all the adult members registered as voters in the panchayat area. Three shall be
a three-tier system of panchayat at village, intermediate and district levels.

2).Smaller states with population below 20 Lakes will have option not to have intermediate
level panchayat.Seats in panchayats at all three level shall be filled by direct election.
In addition, the chairperson of the village panchayat can be made member of the panchayat at
the intermediate level. MP, MLA, MLC, could also be member of panchayat at the
intermediate and the district level.

3).In all the panchayats, seats should be reserved for SCs and STs in proportion to their
population and 1/3 of the total number of seats will be reserved for women. Offices of the
chairperson of the panchayat at all levels shall be reserved in favour of SCs and STs in
proportion in the state. One-third of the offices of chairperson of panchayats at all levels shall
also be reserved for women.

4).Legislature of the state shall be at liberty to provide reservation of seats and office of
chairperson in panchayat in favour of backward class citizens.

5).Panchayats shall have a uniform five year term and elections to constitute new bodies shall
be completed before the expiry of term.

6).In the event of dissolution, election will be compulsorily held within six months. The
reconstituted panchayat will serve for remaining period of five year term. It will not be
possible to dissolve the existing panchayats by amendment of any Act before the expiry of its
duration.
7).A person who is disqualified under any law, election to the legislature of the state or under
any of the state will not be entitled to become a member of a panchayat.

4 Panchayati raj by Kuldeep Mathur

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8).Independent election commission will be established in the state to

superintendence,direction, and control of the electoral process and preparation of electoral
rolls.

9).Specific responsibilities will be entrusted to the panchayats to prepare plans for economic
development and social justice in respect of matters listed in XI Schedule. For the
implementation of development schemes, main responsibility will be entrusted to the
panchayats.

10).The panchayats will receive adequate funds for carrying out their plans. Grants from state
government will constitute an important source of funding but state government is also
expected to assign the revenue of certain taxes to the panchayats. In some cases, panchayat
will also be permitted to collect and retain revenue it raises.

11).In each state, finance commission will be established within one year and after every five
years to determine principles on the basis of which adequate financial resource would be
entrusted for panchayats.

12).Panchayats existing on the 24th April 1993 will be allowed to complete their full term
except when they are dissolved by the house by resolution5.

The 73rd Amendment Act is an attempt to restructure the Panchayati Raj to reach the
grassroot level. The bill for the first time gave constitutional status to Panchayati Raj
institutions and it became mandatory on all state governments to implement it.

This Amendment brought about uniformity in structure, composition, powers and functions
of panchayats. It gave impetus to Panchayati Raj to promote function of law, social and
economic development and improvement in living condition of rural India.
The main criticism leveled against the Act is that these institutions are viewed as
implementing agencies for developmental activities and that they are not given the status of
decentralized political institutions. Criticism apart, the Act fulfilled the dream of
constitutional status to Panchayati Raj Institutions and the state governments brought new
legislations to implement it. It has been explained as the beginning of silent revolution. This
Amendment for the first time in the history of Panchayati Raj Institutions gave opportunities
for women in large numbers to enter local administration.

5 The Constitution (Seventy -Third Amendment) Act, 19 92, Government of India

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Structure And Features of Panchayati Raj Institutions

The structure of Panchayati Raj (PR) varies from state to state. Main structure and features of
Panchayati raj institutions are as follows.

a).The Three-tier System of Panchayat (Articles of 243A, B & C )

The constitution amendment provides for a three-tier system of panchayat at village level,
block/ taluk and district levels. Smaller states with population less than twenty lakhs may
have their own option whether or not to keep the intermediate level. The panchayats would
have the power of self-governance. There will be gram sabha in each villages comprising all
the adult members registered as voters in the panchayat area.

b).Power, Functions and Responsibilities (Articles 243 G & H)

The legislature of each state, may by law, endow the panchayats with such powers and
authority as may be necessary in order to enable them to function as institutes of self-
government . They should be entrusted with powers and responsibilities so as to prepare ,
plan and implement schemes for development and social justice in rural India. Specific
responsibilities will be assigned for different tiers regarding the distribution of subjects listed
in eleventh schedule. The amendment also calls for creation of a Fund specifically for
panchayats (perhaps on the lines of consolidated fund of the state) so as to manage inflow and
out flow of money dealt within that fund.

c).State Finance commission (Article 243 I)

Eacn state government should constitute a finance commission for every five years to review
the financial position of the panchayats and suggest guidelines to state governments on the
basis of which adequate financial resources could be provided to panchayats to carry out the
development activities entrusted to them. The commission is also required to suggest
measures for the improvement of financial position of the panchayats.

d).Election to Panchayats ( Articles 243 E, F & K )

All the three-tiers of the panchayats shall have direct election. Further, chair persons of the
village panchayats can become members of intermediate/ block level panchayats and the
chairpersons of the intermediate/ block level panchayats can become members of district
panchayats. Members of Parliament, legislative assembly and councils could become

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members of panchayats at the intermediate and district levels. But their functional status in
the panchayat proceeding, voting etc. are left to be decided by the respective legislature of the
states.
Every state panchayat shall have a uniform tenure of five years and election to constitute a
new body has to be completed before the expiry of the existing term. In the event of
dissolution of panchayat, election will have to be conducted compulsorily within six months
of dissolution. The reconstituted panchayat shall serve for the remaining period of the five
years term.

The state government shall appoint an independent Election Commission for

superintendence, direction and control of electoral process and preparation of electoral rolls.

e). Reservation of Seats in Panchayats (Article 243 D)

In all panchayats , seats would be reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in
proportion to their population . In the same way , the offices of the chair persons of the
various tiers of panchayats wold also be reserved for them. Not less then one-third of the
total number of reserved seats would be provided to women belonging to SCs and STs. One-
third of the total number of seats will be reserved for women and in the same manner one-
third of the offices of the chairpersons wold also reserved for women. The amendment

The System of Panchayati Raj as a Function of Law

The passage of the 73rd Constitution Amendment Act,1992 is regarded as a milestone in

opening up a new era in the federal democratic set up of the country. This act had gained
importance due to the fact that it has provided a constitutional status and thus legitimacy for
the PRIs. It would be relevant to examine the status of the PRIs after the 73rd Constitutional
Amendment, 1992 in order to see as to how best the state governments have implemented the
various provisions given in the act. The constitutional amendment has provided for
implementation of some obligatory functions such as ;

a).Devolution of Powers and Functions to PRIs

According to Article 243(G) of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, the State government

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are required to devolve adequate powers and functions to PRIs in order to make them
institutions of self-government. The PRIs have been assigned the responsibility of preparing
plans for development and social justice.
The Constitution reads, .the Legislature of the State may by law, endow the panchayats
with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions
of self-government and such law may contain provisions for the devolution of powers and
responsibilities upon panchayats at the appropriate level, subject to such conditions as may be
specified therein.
The above provision has not clearly delineated the function and authority to devolve to PRIs
and as such the state governments have enacted legislations according to their internal
convenience.

b).Devolution of Financial Resources and Powers

Article 243 (H) and Article (I) of the constitution provide for the financial devolution to the
PRIs. Article 243H empowers the State legislatures: (a) to authorize, by law, to levy, collect
and appropriate specified taxes, duties, fees and tolls on panchayats; (b) to assign state taxes
duties, fees and toll to panchayats for specific purposes; (c) to provide for making grants-in-
aid to the panchayats from the consolidated fund of the state; and (d) to constitute specified
funds for creating all moneys received by or on behalf of the panchayats and for their
withdrawal. The above provisions endows the state governments with the discretionary
powers to strengthen the finances of panchayats through aaignment of certain revenues
powers to panchayats and sharing of state revenues with panchayats and providing grants-in-
aid to them.
Article 243(I) stipulates that the state governments should constitute a state finance
commission within one year from the date of commencement of 73rd amendment act and at
the expiry of every 5th year thereafter to review the financial position of the panchayats and to
make appropriate recommendations to improve their finances.

c).District Planning Committee

Under Article 243(ZO) of 74th constitutional amendment act 1992, the state government are
required to constitute District Planning Committee in order to facilitate the process of
decentralized planning. The DPCs are supposed to prepare composite plans covering both
urban and rural areas.

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d) Gram Sabha
Gram Sabha is considered as the centre of democratic power in the village. Under Article
243(b) of the constitution, Gram Sabha is defined as a body consisting of all persons
registered as voters in the electoral roll relating to the village within the area of the panchayat
at the village level. Article 243(A) stipulates that Gram Sabha may exercise such powers and
perform such functions at the village level as the legislature of a state may, by law, provide.
The working group on decentralisation and Panchayati raj institutions has stated that Gram
Sabha is not only an institution articulating the needs and aspirations of the community
participation. Truly empowered Gram Sabha can prevent abuse of power by the panchayat.
They could also assist the panchayats to implement development programmes. They could
act as watchdog to protect community interests and maintain law and order.

e).Conduct of Elections
Through the 73rd amendment act, people were given the power of electing their own
representatives in each level of Panchayati raj system. The constitution provides for
panchayats at village, block and district level. Under Article 243(1) of the constitution,
panchayt elections have to be conducted regularly every five years. Almost all the states to
which Part IX of the constitution applies have constituted panchayats according to the new
provisions excepting very few states.
Part IX of the Constitution pertaining to formation of panchayats is not applicable to the
states of Jammu & Kashmir, Hill areas of Manipuri, Meghalaya.

Evaluation of Panchayati Raj

The above structure and functions of all the Panchayati Raj bodies have been changing over
the years. It has stimulated a spirit of self-help and popular participation to some extent
among the rural people. The process of decision-making has come close to the rural people. It
has also helped in development of a new democratic leadership at the local level. But, the
competitive elections have politicized the atmosphere of all villages.
This essence has even entered into the family circles also. It is alleged that panchayat
elections have given birth to caste politics , communal politics and groupism and factionalism
in the villages.
It is also alleged that due to panchayat elections, a cold war atmosphere overcomes among
various sections of the village people. Some studies made on the Panchayati Raj system
revealed that functional tensions are on the increase and this can be seen during elections and

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panchayat meetings. The so-called harmonious relations of the villages have almost vanished.
People did not extend full cooperation from the core of their heart to the panchayats and as a
result developmental activity has slowed down. Theoretically, the decisions had to be
taken by the non-officials at all the three-tiers of the Panchayat Raj system, but in practice, it
was the government officials who used to take the decisions.
The non-officials (Panch or Sarpanch) being illiterate and uneducated could not use their
power. Most of the benefits of development programmes started by Panchayati Raj
Institutions were cornered by the high castes and big peasants. The poor sections of society
remained neglected as before. There was a great lack of coordination among the three-tiers.
Thus, to conclude, it can be stated that the devolution of power to the people without
mandatory development of character, training and capacity had been found to be a blasphemy
in the functioning of democratic institutions in our country and there were apprehensions that
this new step in democratic decentralization, designed to be blessing, would turn out to be a
curse to the people in the villages.
The success of the step more than anything else depended on the quality of elected
representativePanchas and Sarpanchasof these institutions. No institutional change can
bring about climatic change or strengthen the roots of democracy in this country, if it is
divorced of the spirit behind it. In the absence of this basic change, which is a sine qua non to
all other changes, we doubt, if institutional changes alone will take the country very far.

In the beginning, responsibility for the planned development of the country through
Community Development Programs and cooperative institutions was binding on the people
who were expected to discharge them in Panchayati Raj Iinstitutions who were mostly
uneducated and untrained mass of people. But there is a great change now in this condition.
Obviously, such a step, though basic and pregnant with great possibilities to strengthen the
roots of democracy, was troubled with grave risks, disappointments and failures in its
traditional phase.

The main objective behind the Panchayati Raj is that the people in the village should
undertake the responsibilities of governing themselves and maintain law and order.
Panchayati Raj is a real democratic political gear which would bring the masses into active
political control from below, from the vast majority of the weaker, poor sections of rural
India.
People in the villages should actively participate in the development activities regarding

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social justice, agriculture, irrigation, animal husbandry, public health, education, etc. In a
nutshell, the whole idea of this scheme is based on the statement that rural development is
for the rural people, of the rural people, and by the rural peoples themselves.
It is based on self-help, as an old saying God help those who help themselves. This scheme
of rural development confers on the rural people the power of decision-making regarding
developmental activities. This is democracy at the grassroots. It will decentralize
democracy. This system has got a very important role to play in the social, economic and
cultural life of the village community of India.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Panchayati Raj by Kuldeep Mathur.

2. Panchayati Raj and Financial Resources by Dr S. Chandra Sekar.

3.Studies In Jurisprudence and Legal Theory by Dr N.V. Paranjape.

4.The Constitution (Seventy -Third Amendment) Act, 19 92, Government of India

5. The Constitution of India by P.M. Bakshi.

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