Panchayati Raj Institutions :potential and challenge

Meenakshi Datta Ghosh

Chairman

Public Grievances Commission

National Capital Territory of Delhi

Local governments are Local governments are Local governments are Local governments are

specific institutions / entities specific institutions / entities specific institutions / entities specific institutions / entities

created …

� by national constitutions (India, Japan, Brazil, France, Sweden, Italy, Denmark)

� by legislation of a higher level of central government (the UK, New Zealand)

� by provincial / state legislation (Pakistan, Canada)

� by executive order of the central government (China)

The strengths / infirmities of local

governments;

Their dialogue with higher levels of government, I believe,

Lies in the modality adopted ab initio, in creating them

IndiaIndiaIndiaIndia

Customary and community panchayats have

traditionally been custodians of social

harmony and nodal points for administrative

dialogue with higher levels of government

Self governing village communities have been

traced in the Rig Veda to 1200 BC

Mahatma Gandhi’s repeated call for

Poorna Swaraj through Gram Swaraj met with

an opposing voice in BR Ambedkar, Chairman

of the Drafting Committee of Constitution

BR Ambedkar defined the village community as ….

“a sink of localism, a den of ignorance,

narrow-mindedness and

communalism”

Not surprising then, that `Panchayats’ did not

find a place in the First Draft of India’s

Constitution.

At the insistence of Gandhiji, a compromise was

agreed upon. The non-justiciable Directive

Principles of State Policy included the following :

“the state shall take steps to organise Village

Panchayats and endow them with such

powers and authority as may be necessary to

enable them to function as units of self

government”.

� It became clear that local self government can be politically expedient, administratively convenient, democratic and participatory.

� However none of the primary instruments had acquired the status and dignity of viable and responsive people’s bodies

� The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments provided the formal, legal institutional reform

Main features of the 73rd

CAA 1992

� recognition of the Grama Sabha as a general body of electors at village level

� three tier PRIs for all States with a population exceeding 2 million, and two tier PRIs for States with population less than 2 million

� conduct of regular elections at 5 year intervals

� reservation of seats for SCs and STs in proportion to their popn, in the jurisdiction

� reservation of on- third seats for women, including in Offices of Panchayat Chairpersons of all tiers

� constitution of State Finance Commissions for examining local body financial requirements, and recommending to SGs, the rational devolution of finances to local bodies

� establishment of State Election Commissions for conduct of local body elections

� setting up a District Planning Committee (DPC) to consolidate plans of panchayats & municipalities into the Draft Development Plan of the district (74th

CAA)

The CAAs of 1992 for the first time :

� assured permanence for local governments

� created fully representative local government

structures at three levels for rural areas and

three types for urban areas

� set up a combined representative expert body for integrated district planning

Local government In India, in terms of

� the size of the electorate,

� the number of grass-roots institutions

(a quarter million ),

� the number of persons elected (3.4 m. in Panchayats and NagarPalikas), and

� the empowerment of women at the grass-roots

is the greatest experiment in democracy ever

undertaken anywhere in the world, or at any

time in HISTORY

Representation of Women in Representation of Women in Representation of Women in Representation of Women in

Local GovernmentLocal GovernmentLocal GovernmentLocal Government

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment not only expanded and extended

democracy, but also engendered democracy

As a matter of national policy, in 1992, women were mandated to occupy 33

percent every level of local government, inclusive of leadership

positions

Today 1.08 m. women stand elected to

institutions of local governance in rural

India, which translates into 36.88 % , as

against a reservation of one - third

Bihar, MP, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, HP and

Rajasthan have announced a 50 % reservation

for women in their States.

SIKKIM will have a 40 % reservation for

women.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2007 on 128

countries ranks India as :

114 : on economic participation and opportunity for women

116 : on educational attainment for women

126 : on health and survival for women

BUT as

21/128 : on political empowerment of women, ahead of Australia, Canada

and the United States

The reservation for women is an enabling

measure. The ground reality is that this is hedged

by several formal, institutional constraints on their

effective participation. These include :

� the rotation of seats

� no requirement for a quorum for women in Grama Sabha meeetings

� no confidence motions

� two child norm

Despite institutional and social constraints, the

participation of EWRs has promoted

developmental and empowerment outcomes.

Small gains are visible.

� Homes with EWRs gain enhanced social respect.

� Rigid patriarchal attitudes are getting slowly

eroded

� Women are more conscious of their rights;more

confident of their ability to withstand bullying; and

to perform more effectively than the EMRs.

In lieu of focusing on contracts for more brick and

mortar construction, typically EWRs focus on :

� bringing piped water into the village

� bringing a middle school / high school into the village so that the girl child is able to complete a school education

� promote the smokeless chullah, creches, community halls, playgrounds, seek counseling for alcoholic husbands

� sponsor the auction of village ponds, community forests and village markets for the larger welfare of the community, leading to a dramatic increase in revenues.

ICT Enabled Panchayati Raj

Panchayats in the 21st Century

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was instrumental in

accelerating the pace of IT use at district levels.

By 1990, the National Informatics Centre (NIC)

implemented NICNET, connecting district

computers to state / central level computers,

through a satellite communication network

15 standardised software applications (district-

wise), were developed centrally. Thereafter,

districts were to create databases in these

applications, from which data could be retrieved

for central planning

The administrative culture responded poorly.

The initial impact of this computerisation was

modest.

Slowly, the GIS and spatial mapping of

agri-climactic zones began making planning

more need - based. Technology began to be

viewed as one enabler in the overall process of

reform.

In 2005, GOI launched the NeGP (@ Rs. 300 bn

over 5-6 years)

� The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) is co-ordinating a country-wide effort to bring G to C services to the doorsteps of those with the highest unmet needs.

Within the NeGP, the Mission mode project on e

Panchayat (at an outlay of Rs. 35 bn), will bring

services for PRIs including accounting software,

and computer - ised BPL lists. This will bring in

accountability and transparency in the

Functioning of PRIs. These back end services will

create a state wide data base on service delivery.

� The rural linkage front end services are the

100,000 Common Services Centres envisaged

across rural India, being set up with private

entrepreneurship and aiming to create access

points for one out of six villages for the delivery of

e services.

� Some 36,000 CSCs are already in position as on 31st March 2009.

� Government will build the networking structure

which the CSCs will connect to locally.

Additionally, the NeGP includes a Mission mode

project on eDistricts, which envisages providing

seamless services to citizens. An eDistrict is one

where 75 % of services from the Collectorate are

ICT enabled

Front end services will include facilitation

counters at district, tehsil, sub-division, and block

levels

Government is attempting to harness the full

potential of the ICTs for development

Gujerat has been implementing e Gram through a

SPV in a PPP model . E Gram services are

provided at a fee, which is shared by the Village

Computer Entrepreneurs and the Village

Panchayat

Gujerat is integrating the CSC with its own e

Gram Scheme (3000 + 3000) to cover its rural

population of 31 m.

One CSC will cover three villages. Training and

accounting manuals are ready

Other States like Tamilnadu, Karnataka,

Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have

progressed significantly in applying ICT

technologies in different ways, at PRI levels

The Gordian Knots

Concluding Comments

The PRIs originally promoted in the 1950s

continued to be vibrant bodies for close to twenty

Years, but commenced declining after the 1970s,

because they

� encountered hostility and insecurity from entrenched vested interests (state level MLAs, MPs and Ministers) about Panchayatsas alternate power centres

� at that time, Panchayats had no constitutional sanction

New lease of life for PRIs with the stand alone

1983 Panchayat Raj Act of Karnataka which

transferred significant powers from the state level

to district and sub-district levels. Some of this generosity

was subsequently rescinded (under different political

dispensations), nevertheless this remained a landmark.

The CAA 1992 was an initiative from the federal

government without any loss in power and

authority to itself, but required the federating units (state

governments) to pass on substantial powers to local

governments. The central government was drawing from

the 1983 Panchayati Raj Karnataka Act

First Gordian Knot

Very few state governments have genuinely

devolved and decentralised functions,

finances, and functionaries to the three /

two tiers of PRIs

Second Gordian Knot

Central government on its part, continues to create

(and not wind up) parallel bodies to handle CSSs.

It therefore bypasses both the state governments and the PRIs (especially in programmes involving

bilateral and multi-lateral aid).

The logic is that when PRIs and state governments

lack both the competence and capacity, the central

government may find it essential to implement

national objectives laid down in the Five Year

Plans, through alternate arrangements

wherever necessary.

On their part, state governments may not be

always giving adequate attention to critical

priorities like education, health, management

of forests etc.

Gram Sabhas have become ineffective in

exercising vigilance over the functioning of

Panchayats

Parallel bodies ( JFMs and WUGs) work

independently of the Panchayats even though

the Eleventh Schedule specifies minor irrigation,

water management, minor forest produce as

within the purview of Panchayats. These bodies

begin to usurp the functions of the subject matter

Standing Committees in the Panchayat.

The JFMs often have more financial resources

than the Village Panchayats who then fail to

exercise any control over the minor forest

produce.

Technical / Expert Committees created to

supplement the capabilities of Panchayats are

constantly undermining the Gram Sabhas and

Panchayats.

Third Gordian Knot

The basic problem encountered by Panchayatsin the delivery of rural development programmes, is that they continue to performan agency role.

The CSS becomes the vehicle to empower local bodies, and this is not prudent

This has stymied the emergence of

Panchayats as institutions capable of performing a more autonomous developmental role

This is leading to the “Tragedy of Commons”. The PRIs will remain inert and stifled if they are not involved in the planning and implementation of socio-economic development.

The local bodies continue to function essentially with transferred funds from a common pool, and not with funds raised locally

PRIs need assignment of revenue raising powers towards meeting their total expenditure responsibilities. Chicken and egg situation

Public action campaigns such as ArunaRoy’s

“Hamaara Paisa Hamaara Hisaab” draw

attention to, and sustain interest &

participation in the potential role and

responsibilities of

Gram Panchayats and Gram Sabhas

The 73rdconstitutional mandate places us on

a strong wicket.

Our basket of interventions is pushing us to

ensure social, financial and digital inclusion

for every household on the population

register of the Gram Panchayat, through the

Gram Sabhas

This social churning will have setbacks and

shortcomings. An endeavour on this scale

will take over a generation to fully unfold