DECENTRALIZATION OF POWER TO THE THIRD

TIER OF GOVERNMENT
POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH PAPER FOR THE INTERNAL CONTINUOUS
ASSESSMENT (ICA)

SEMESTER 1

Submitted by: Vidhisha Agrawal

Course: B.A.L.L.B (hons.) 2021-26

SAP ID: 81012100265
ROLL NO: B 223
Submitted to: Professor Vishakha Patil

1
 DECLARATION

I make a statement that the research work is originally done by me and the content in it is not
given anywhere. The references of used content is mentioned and given appreciation. I state that
research paper is made by me and the work done is my own except where it is mentioned in the
text itself, and the work done in this paper is not been submitted by any other degree holder or
any university.
Vidhisha Agrawal

2
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would sincerely like to thank our Dean, Saurabh Sir, and our professor for the subject of Political
Science, Professor Vishakha Patil for giving the opportunity to work on this research papar and
helping with out with the same.
Making this research paper has truly been an enlightening experience, apart from giving me an
occasion to be creative as much as I can. This project has given me tremendous insight into the
workings of the world of research and given a great opportunity of putting forth my view, thus
showing what is expected of me as a researcher, making it extremely helpful for the future.
And At last I really want to thank my brother Divyank Agrawal for helping and advising me
throughout the process.

3
 INDEX

TITLE PAGE NUMBER

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3

ABSTRACT 5
KEYWORDS 5
INTRODUCTION 6
• OBJECTIVE 6
• HYPOTHESIS
• RESEARCH QUESTION
• RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
IMPORTANCE OF PANCHAYATI RAJ SYSTEM 6
• BALWANT RAI MEHTA COMMITTEE 6
• ASHOK MEHTA COMMITTEE 7
• GADGIL COMMITTEE 7
CONSTITUTIONALIZING 8

MAHATMA GANDHI POINT OF VIEW 9

PESA ACT OF 1996 10
REASON OF INEFFECTIVE CONDUCT 10
CONCLUSION 11
BIBLIOGRAPHY 11-12

4
 ABSTRACT
This paper consists of study on The Panchayati raj system and what exactly it is, how it works. It
is from the ancient times but in India it is talked and known by all but it was not
constitutionalized till 1994 under the Narsimha Rao government. It has faced many challenges
and an extension act was also introduced known as Pesa act of 1996. The paper also discusses
the reason behind local self-government not functioning properly in India.

KEYWORDS
Local self-government, Panchayati raj system, committees, Three tier government, constitution.

5
INTRODUCTION
Panchayati Raj System
The phase Panchayati Raj in India means rural local self-government. The term ‘raj’ means ‘rule’
and the term ‘Panchayati’ means ‘gathering’ of five ‘Panch’. Conventionally, it consist of
honorable and clever elders selected and welcomed by the rest of the people. In these
assemblies’ matters were being resolved between the individuals and the villages. Will be
implemented by every state in India by the Act of state legislatures to build self-government at
grass root level. The grass root level states that the subject is stated in the state list under the
70th Schedule of the constitution. It was legalized through 73rd constitutional Amendment Act of
1992.

(Ignited minds , n.d.)

OBJECTIVES
• To know why Panchayati raj system is important in India
• Reasons behind ineffectiveness of local self-government.
• Importance of 73rd amendment act.

HYPOTHESIS
Though it took many years for local self -government to be in power and become powerful but
now local government work and function on their own and there is no interference by state or
central government on the authority or decision making by the local government.

RESEARCH QUESTION
• What is panchayati raj system?
• Importance of panchayati raj system?

6
 • Mahatma Gandhi’s view point

METHODOLOGY
The research is based on secondary sources, article, books, websites etc.

IMPORTANCE OF PANCHAYATI RAJ SYSTEM

Some of the main reason why local self-government is important are:
a. It reduces the burden on central government.
b. It ensures direct participation of people in decision making. As the people who stay in the
same ambience knows the better way to deal with the things happening than the outsiders,
and therefore they are the better decision makers.
c. It helps decentralization of power in different levels.

And for many of such reasons several committees were formed to work on the matter to get
Panchayati raj system constitutionalized after the Independence and the very first council was

Balwant Rai Mehta Committee

In January 1957, a committee was appointed to survey the operating system of Community
Development Program (1952) and National Extension Services (1953) and advice ways of finer
operating. It was headed by Balwant Rai G Mehta. It relent its first detail in November 1957 and
suggested making of the scheme of ‘Democratic Decentralization’. The recommendation given by
the committee for the creation of decentralization which is local self-government were:
1. Creating three-tier system, Gram Panchayat at vill stage, Zila Parishad at district and
Panchayat Samiti at brick stage Tier would be made through indirect elections.
2. Village Panchayat should constitute direct election whereas Panchayat Samiti and Zila
parishad should be constituted with indirect elections.
3. The bodies should be made responsible for planning and development.
4. District Magistrate is the head of zila parishad.
5. Actual shift of power, authority to the democratic frame should take place.
6. Panchayat samiti will be the managerial frame whereas zila parishad will be the
consultative, synchronize & superior authority.
7. Enough sources should be provided to the department to fulfill their duties.
The recommendation was adopted by the National Development board in 1958. The board didn’t
insisted a particular firm design and left states to decide and develop their own convenient ways,
but the basic structure was uniform all around the country.
Rajasthan was the first state which implemented the local self-government in 1959 in Nagaur
district.

Ashok Mehta Committee

In December 1977, a council was appointed by the Janta government on local self-government
organization headed by Ashok Mehta. A report was created and presented in August 1978 and
gave hundred and thirtytwo suggestions. Some recommendation given by assembly were:

7
 1. The system of local government or Panchayati raj should be changed to two-tier system.
2. Zila parishad being a department should be made responsible for arranging at district
level.
3. A district should be the starting point for decentralization under administration below the
state level
4. There are reservations for SCs and STs based on population.
5. The Panchayati raj should have mandatory capacity of taxation to manage financial
resources by themselves.
6. Because of the fall down of Janta government, no action took place on the suggestion of
Ashok Mehta committee. However, states like Karnataka, West Bengal and Andhra
Pradesh took steps to modify Panchayati raj according to the recommendation of Ashok
Mehta committee.
Gadgil Committee
The Council on Policy and Programmes was formed in 1988 by Congress party which was headed
by V.N. Gadgil. This committee was questioned that how can self-government can be made
effective. In the text below the suggestion given by the committee is mentioned.
1. A system with panchayats at the village, block and district stage.
2. The authority should have the responsibility of preparation and implementation of plans
for socioeconomic development. For this purpose, a list of subjects should be specified in
the constitution.
3. Forming of a State Finance Commission for the allocation of finances to the Panchayats.
4. Forming of a State Election Commission for helding elections to the panchayats.
The above recommendations of the Gadgil Committee became the basis for drafting an amendment
bill aimed at conferring the constitutional status and protection to the Panchayati Raj institutions.
(Laxmikanth, 2020)

Constitutionalizing
Narasimha Rao Government
The Congress Government under the prime minister ship of P.V.Narasimha Rao once again
considered the matter of the constitutionalizing of Panchayati raj bodies. It drastically modified
the proposals in this regard to delete the controversial aspects and introduced a constitutional
amendment bill in the Lok Sabha in September 1991. This bill finally emerged as the 73rd
Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 and came into force on 24 April 1993 (Laxmikanth, 2020).

Significance of 73rd Amendment Act

This amendment implements the article 40 of the DPSP which says that “State shall take steps to
organize village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary
to enable them to function as units of self-government” and have upgraded them from non-
justifiable to justifiable part of the constitution and has put constitutional obligation upon states to

8
enact the Panchayati Raj Acts as per provisions of the Part IX. However, states have been given
enough freedom to take their geographical, politico-administrative and others conditions into
account while adopting the Panchayati Raj System (gk today , 2016).
Some of the salient features of panchayat system are:
1. Three-Tier System
The act lay out for a three-tier system of Panchayati raj in every state at three levels i.e.
Panchayats at the village, intermediate and district level. The act brings the consistency in
the structure throughout the country. But a state having population more than 20 lakh
cannot have panchayat at intermediate level.
2. Disqualification
The things which can restrict an individual from being the member of Panchayati raj
system are, a) under any law for the time being in force for the purpose of elections to the
legislature of the state concerned, or (b) under any law made by the state legislature.
However, no person shall be disqualified on the ground that he is less than 25 years of age
if he has attained the age of 21 year. Further, all questions of disqualifications shall be
referred to such authority as the state legislature determine.
3. Powers and functions
The state legislature provides the panchayat with such powers and authority which may be
necessary for them to run or function them as an institution of self-government. The scheme
may contain provisions for distribution of powers and authority upon Panchayats at
different levels, (a) the preparation of plans for economic development and social justice;
(b) the implementation of schemes for economic development and social justice as may be
entrusted to them, including those in relation to the 29 matters listed in the Eleventh
Schedule (Laxmikanth, 2020).
4. Eleventh Schedule
It contains 29 functional items placed within the ambit of Panchayats.

9
 (Semantic scholar, 2003)

MAHATMA GANDHI POINT OF VIEW

Mahatma Gandhi advocated Panchayat Raj, a decentralized form of Government where each
village is responsible for its own affairs, as the foundation of India's political system. The term for
such a vision was Gram Swaraj ("village self-governance"). Recommendations of Balwant Rai
Mehta Committee. Gandhi's concept of democratic decentralization bears the stamp of his
passionate belief in non-violence, truth and individual freedom and calls it village Swaraj. He
wanted each village a little republic, self-sufficient in its vital wants, organically and non-
hierarchically linked with the larger spatial bodies and enjoying the maximum freedom of deciding
the affairs of the locality. Gandhi wanted political power to be distributed among the villages in
India. Gandhi preferred the term ‘Swaraj’ to describe what he called true democracy. This
democracy is based upon freedom. Individual freedom in Gandhi’s view, could be maintained only
in autonomous, self-reliant communities that offer opportunities to the people for fullest
participation (Rathi).

10
PESA ACT OF 1996 (EXTENSION ACT)
The provisions of Part IX of the constitution relating to the Panchayats are not applicable to the
Fifth Schedule areas. However, the Parliament may extend these provisions to such areas, subject
to such exceptions and modifications as it may specify. Under this provision, the Parliament has
enacted the “Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act”, 1996,
popularly known as the PESA Act or the Extension Act.
The objectives of PESA act are:

• To extend the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the panchayats to the
scheduled areas with certain modifications.
• To provide self-rule for the bulk of the tribal population.
• To have village governance with participatory democracy and to make the Gram Sabha a
nucleus of all activities.
• To evolve a suitable administrative framework consistent with traditional practices.
• To safeguard and preserve the traditions and customs of tribal communities.
• To empower panchayats at the appropriate levels with specific powers conducive to tribal
requirements.
• To prevent panchayats at the higher level from assuming the powers and authority of
panchayats at the lower level of the Gram Sabha. (byjus, n.d.)

REASONS FOR INEFFECTIVE CONDUCT

Even after conferring the constitutional status and protection through the 73rd Amendment Act
(1992), the performance of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) has not been satisfactory and not
up to the expected level. The various reasons for this sub-optimal performance are as follows
(Laxmikanth, 2020).
1. Excessive control by bureaucracy: In some states, Panchayats have been placed at at
lower level due to which Gram Panchayat Sarpanches have to spend extra time visting
Block offices for the approval of various things like Funds, and these leads distort the role
of Sarpanches as elected representatives.
2. . Tied nature of funds: This has two implications. The activities stated under a certain
scheme are not always appropriate for all parts of the district. This results in unsuitable
activities being promoted or an under-spend of the funds (Laxmikanth, 2020).
3. Status of the Gram Sabha: Empowering the Gram Sabha could have been a powerful
weapon for transparency, accountability and for involvement of the marginalized sections.
However, several State Acts have not spelt the powers of Gram Sabha nor have any
procedures been laid down for the functioning of these bodies or penalties for the officials.
4. Poor Infrastructure: Many Gram Panchayats in the country do not have even full time
Secretary. Around 25 percent of the Gram Panchayats do not have basic office buildings.
The database for planning, monitoring etc., are lacking in most of the cases. Many elected
representatives of PRIs are semiliterate or literate and know little about their roles &
responsibilities, programmers, procedures, systems. Often for want of good, relevant, and
periodic training, they are not able to perform their functions properly. Although all the
District and Intermediate Panchayats relate to computers, only around 20% Gram

11
 Panchayats reported to be having computing facility. In some States, Village Panchayats
do not have any computing facility.
5. Lack of adequate devolution: Many States have not taken adequate steps to devolve 3Fs
(i.e., functions, funds, and functionaries) to the PRIs to enable them to discharge their
constitutionally stipulated function. Further, it is imperative that the PRIs have resources
to match the responsibilities entrusted to them. While SFCs (state finance commissions)
have submitted their recommendations, not many few States have implemented these or
taken steps to ensure the fiscal viability of the PRIs.

CONCLUSION

Panchayati raj system is from the ancient times where kings were at central power and smaller
kings were under them. And the same system was suggested to be implemented and
constitutionalize in 1949 but it was not. Several committees were formed to analyse and work for
the betterment of the system, but one way or the other way it was unable to make a position till
1993 when it actually came into force. But till date center and state government has all the
powers and there is no major role of Panchayati raj and no major decisions are taken by them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
(n.d.). Retrieved december 16 , 2021 , from byjus: https://byjus.com/ias-questions/what-are-the-main-
objectives-of-the-pesa-
act/#:~:text=To%20safeguard%20and%20preserve%20the,level%20of%20the%20Gram%20Sabh
a.

(n.d.). Retrieved december 17 , 2021 , from Ignited minds : http://ignited.in/I/a/242185

(2003). Retrieved december 16 , 2021 , from Semantic scholar:

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/What-difference-does-a-constitutional-amendment-
The-Chaudhuri/9e14c650d2587a9b3673ca744cbf4ffdd7141f64/figure/0

(2016, FEBRUARY 24). Retrieved DECEMBER 16 , 2021 , from gk today :

https://www.gktoday.in/topic/constitution-73rd-amendment-and-panchayati-raj-in-india/

(2021 , august 4 ). Retrieved december 17 , 2021 , from dhrishti ias : https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-

updates/daily-news-analysis/panchayat-extension-to-scheduled-areas-pesa-act-1996

Laxmikanth, M. (2020). Indian polity (6th ed.). McGraw Hill Education Private Limited . Retrieved
december 16 , 2021

12
Rathi, D. S. (n.d.). Retrieved december 16 , 2021 , from mkgandhi.org:
https://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/village_development.html

Wikipedia contributors. (2021, november 10). Retrieved december 17, 2021 , from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Panchayati_raj&oldid=1054519618

13