History of Panchayati Raj

India is a country with a decentralized form of government. The government in the country is present in the centre as well the states. Post-independence the formation of states took place since the year 1956 and with the formation of the states came the formation of various states governments to look up to the welfare of the state. This decentralized form of government was proving to be efficient as the country was witnessing development at a rapid rate.

But, India is a country of villages. The country would not develop until the development takes place at the grassroots level of the country. Thus, evolved the idea of local self-government. The local self-government works on the framework of the decentralized form of governing. This ensures the participation of the people at the grass-root level in the running of the administration.

Development of the Panchayati Raj System in India.

Even though the local forms of governments existed in India after independence, the makers of the constitution were not satisfied with the running and the efficiency of these governments. Thus, to form a local government with a proper structure the framers of the constitution included the provisions in Article 40 of the Constitution in the Directive Principles that stated the forming of the village panchayats and distributing powers and authorities as per the necessity to ensure the smooth and efficient working of the government even at the grass-root level of the country.

Later, the formation of the local self-government took place between 1957 and 1986 through the formation of four committees during the period. The details of the committees and their findings are mentioned as follows,

Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957) –The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee was appointed by the GOI in the year 1957 to study two of its programs. The committee gave the report in November of 1957. The report included the term, ‘democratic decentralization’ at the first.

The following are the guidelines in the report submitted by the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee,

• According to the report, the District Collector is to be the Chair holder of the Zilla Parishad.
• There needs to be ensured that the transfer of resources and power to all three tiers is done.
• A 3-tiered Panchayati Raj System needs to be established with components of Gram Panchayat, Panchayati Samiti and Parishad 

The existing National Development Council accepted the findings and suggestions of the report. But, it didn’t insist the states follow a rigid set of universal patterns. Instead, it permitted all the states to include their patterns with the broader fundamentals remaining the same. Based on these proceedings, Rajasthan followed by Andra Pradesh were the first two states of the country to adapt the Panchayati Raj System.

Ashok Mehta Committee (1978) –

This committee was formed by the Janata Government, the then ruling government of India to study the Panchayati Raj Institutions. The committee submitted over 130 points in its report and some of the prominent ones are being mentioned below,

• The committee suggested replacing the existing 3 tier system with the two-tier system.
• The committee recommended giving compulsory taxation powers to the Panchayati Raj Institutions.
• The Ashok Mehta Committee also recommended providing constitutional recognition to the Panchayati Raj Institutions.
• The committee recommended making Zilla Parishad to be in charge of planning at the level of state.
• The council of ministers of state appointed a minister for Panchayati Raj as per the recommendation of the Ashok Mehta Committee.

GVK Rao Committee (1985) –

The commitment being set by the planning commission stated that the development procedures were taken away from these institutions and mentioned the system as, ‘grass without roots.’ The following recommendations were provided by the GVK Rao Committee of 1985 based on their study,

• Zilla Parishad will be given the utmost priority and the developmental programs at the level to be handled by the Parishad.
• Regular elections are to be held at this level regularly.
• The committee recommended the formation of the post of DDC and the Commissioner would act as the CEO of the Zilla Parishad.

LM Singhvi Committee (1986) –

The committee was constituted with the aim of ‘Revitalization of Panchayati Raj Institutions for Democracy and Development by the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. The LM Singhvi Committee recommended the following points,

• To provide the Constitutional recognitions for PRI institutions.
• To establish Nyay Panchayat for the cluster of villages.

Panchayati Raj System under 73rd Amendment. 

Two new sections were added to the Constitution during the year 1992, IX and IX-A. The amendments also led to the inclusion of two schedules that contain the details about the functions of Panchayats and Municipalities. The schedules are schedule 11 and schedule 12. The schedules provide a three-tier system of Panchayati working for every state. At the village, intermediate and district levels.

Conclusion:

The Panchayati Raj System has brought the wave of development at the grassroot level of the country. The local-self government has been working effectively at the three tier segments in all the states of the country.