Panchayat Raj: Still a pipe dream?

New Delhi: Ushering the Panchayati Raj system in India, the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said in 1960, "It is the most revolutionary development in India because behind it are all the forces which, when released, will change the structure of the country."

More than half a century later, India has 2.5 lakh panchayats and 32 lakh representatives, including 12 lakh women, who are democratically elected.

Every year, April 24 is celebrated as the national Panchayat Raj Day in India. While we hail the system as an important cornerstone in the democratic structure of the nation, the 20th anniversary report of an expert committee (on leveraging panchayats for efficient delivery of public goods and services) recommends decentralisation of planning to reflect local priorities so that panchayats can ensure 'last mile' delivery.

The report points out that though the Central government has increased its spending on centrally sponsored schemes by 25 per cent, India hasn't progressed proportionately on the Human Development Index. Our position has been more or less stagnant, ranked 136 out of 186 countries, much like it was two decades ago.

Congress MP and Chairman of the expert committee Mani Shankar Aiyar says, "Panchayat Raj has been seriously suborned by establishing parallel bodies under CSS (centrally sponsored schemes) that are neither embedded in the system nor have organic link to it. In consequence, all responsibility in these bodies is upwards to officers and not downwards to the people in gram and ward sabhas." "Importantly" he also adds, "outlays are not commensurate with outcomes."

Advertisement

The committee also puts the onus of ensuring effectiveness of the Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs) on the Central government since the bulk of funds for the social sector and poverty alleviation come from there. As a part of this report, eight CSS were evaluated to study how effective the devolution of PRIs has been. The report found the last mile delivery particularly lacking, a shortcoming that can be changed with encouraging more community ownership involving PRIs. The report also encourages greater synergy between the state and the Centre to ensure that the monies that are pledged for the benefit of the aam aadmi reaches the intended beneficiary.

Advertisement