LSG Study Notes I- History

Panchayati Raj has always been the part of Indian History, ethos and culture. Local Governments came first. Rigveda also mentions about Panchayati Raj. For all purposes village was a composite peasant unit which was administered by a village head called Gramini.

As the time passed, Village Grama Sabha came into existence. They chose five persons called as Panchs. These five persons were responsible for the total administration of the village. They also acted as their representatives.

In order to have stability and composite identity, the concept of Devta came into existence. People had a lot of faith in that.

During Mughal Period, a lot of change took place. When they came, they did not have any idea about Panchayats. They introduced the medieval Feudalistic Order. It was during this period that case identity became very sharp.

Feudalistic System says that Land belongs to the king. There are Zamindars appointed by the king. Those persons who were tilling the land did so as the tenant of the king. The rent for that was collected by the Jagirdars etc. Due to this, Panchayati Raj lost its importance.

Now, during British Period also Panchayati Raj declined. Hastings introduced Ryotwari Systems.

1688- East India Company established the first Municipal Corporation in Calcutta and Madras.

After independence, Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave started talking about Grama Swaraj meaning Local Self-Government. Chacha Nehru did not like this idea.

Constituent Assembly was not interested in this.

1.      Landlords came to represent the village interest so they vehemently opposed the idea of Panchayati Raj.

2.      Dr. Ambedkar was against as well. He said if elections happen at village level, again the same landlord will come and exploit the destitute ones. He also said that the individual must be the unit and not the elected persons.

When the constitution was passed, there was no mention of Panchayati Raj. Santhanam was a member of this committee. He suggested that at least Panchayati Raj must be made a Directive Principle.

Entry 5- List II- Local Government

Congress was in the power at that time. Congress previously said that they would work for the upliftment of rural masses. States suo motu passed laws related to village administration. Rajasthan was the first one to pass in 1959.

Centre prepared 2 schemes-

1.      Centrally sponsored schemes- Schemes for Social Justice, Health, Child Welfare, and Community Development.

a.       In some cases centre directly enforced such schemes.

b.      In other cases, it was executed by the state government.

i.      It was executed in some states where there were panchayats but under supervision of DM.

ii.      Where there were no panchayats, District Administration was responsible to execute such schemes.

Problems of Panchayati Systems-

1.      Absence of Regular Elections.

2.      Prolonged super cession.

3.      No representation of the weaker sections.

4.      Inadequate devolution of power.

5.      Lack of financial resources.

First Committee on Panchayati System- Balwant Rai Mehta Commission- 1957- Why social welfare schemes were not performing well and what could be done?

This Commission said that the solution is not by making procedural changes in the scheme. One has to make some fundamental changes so that persons for whose benefit these schemes are made are involved in the decision-making as well as execution of the process. The commission suggested that there must be three-tier Panchayati Raj system in the villages. This government should be responsible of not only execution but also development of the schemes.

Three Tier System-

1.      Village Panchayat at the village level- It must be an elected body and they must have the power to co-opt one woman and one SC-ST. They called it Gram Samiti. Its function should be all public welfare functions. They must be given finance by way of grants and in some areas they must also have the power to tax. There functioning must be subject to scrutiny to the higher body.

2.      Block Level Panchayat- On the basis of congruity, villages should be clubbed together into a block. There should not be more than 4000 persons in that block. There must be 20 persons in the Block Samiti and they must be elected. Two women may be opted. Where there is a population of SC and ST, each one SC and one ST may be co-opted. They were free to co-opt any two persons who had some kind of experience in administration. The tenure of this samiti should be five years. Under certain circumstances, the government should have power to super cede the samiti. BDO should be the CEO. He should also have power to recruit teachers etc. For the finances, grant must be given to them and some power to tax must also be given to them. They also had the power to accept voluntary contributions.

3.      Zila Parishads- President of all the Panchayat Samitis shall be members of the Zila Parishad. MLA, MP, BDO, DM, SP shall also be members of this parishad. DM will act as chairman. This was supposed to be supervisory and co-ordinating authority for all village panchayats. It had the power to approve the budget of the samitis. It also had the power to distribute funds. They also had the power to supervise the activities of other two tiers.

Problems-

1.      The disadvantaged people did not have any meaningful representation.

2.      There was no uniformity in establishment since it was a state subject.

3.      It was only statutory in nature.

National Development Council approved this committee in 1959.

1.      Three Tier Rural establishments should be established.

2.      Power must be transferred to them.

3.      The resources must be available to them.

Bombay and Gujrat did not accept this recommendation. They did not want DM to be the in-charge. They also did not want the block level but only direct panchayats. Tamil Nadu said that the development part must be under the control of the state. This system got mixed responses. In 1990, there were 5.75 lacs village panchayats. There were 4526 Panchayat Samitis and 330 Zila parishads.

In 1978, Ashok Mehta Committee was appointed to evaluate the effectiveness of this system especially at the District Level. This was appointed by the Janta Party.

1.      There should be uniformity throughout India.

2.      They must be given the power to tax and create their own finances.

3.      Administrative control must be relaxed.

4.      They must have the power to draw their own plan of development.

In 1985, Planning Commission appointed G.V.K. Rao Commission. There is a need for local administration of the three-tier system to be strengthened. In 1986, L.M. Singhvi Commission was appointed. This commission made a recommendation that Panchayats must be given constitutional status. In 1988, Parliamentary Consultative Committee was appointed and headed by Mr. Thungan. It recommended that Panchayats must be strengthened and all the centre schemes must be directly given to the Panchayats directly.

Many states started passing laws and establishing the Panchayati Raj institutions on their own. This was because many states were Congress states and they had Gandhian influence. But, ultimately the basic purpose of Panchayati Raj was not fulfilled.

1.      Democratic Decentralization

2.      Making people accountable

3.      Empowerment of the weaker sections of the society

These objectives were not fulfilled because:

1.      States made Panchayati Raj but each state had a different purpose in mind. This was because of absence of regular elections.

2.      Prolonged Super cessions.

3.      The structure that was envisaged in the state legislations did not have any special representation for weaker sections. On their own, they were not able to contest elections and win.

4.      Inadequate devolution of powers.

5.      Lack of financial resources.

6.      Complete lack of local planning.

Why Rajiv Gandhi was interested in Panchayati System?

1.      To have a strong rural Congress Base.

2.      He had realized that for the proper implementation of Rural Development Scheme, a self-governance of the people is very necessary.

3.      UN was also emphasizing on local self-governance.

4.      In 1970’s and 1980’s, Militant Movements had started in the rural areas.

5.      By that time, the non-Congress governments had come into power in states. They had started demanding for more power. They said the type of federalism which is centric in nature should be changed and more financial power must be given to the states. Panchayati Raj was move to check the growing demands of the state.

6.      He thought rural development cannot take place unless the planning takes place at the grass root level.

7.      UNO was also insisting that the democracy must be deepened.

8.      People were criticizing the Congress government to be anti-Gandhian. This was a move to clear this blame by adopting the Gandhian Concept of Gram Swaraja.

9.      Janta Party started Antodaya Program- The last will raise.

10.  Initially, he though procedural changes are very important for improving the situation. But, later on he realized there was a need to change this system.

In 1986, Rajiv Gandhi called the meeting for All India Panchayat Parishad.

If we continue to devise schemes from top, a large section will remain deprived and benefits of developments will pass over their heads like water on ducks back. He travelled throughout India and organized five workshops on “Responsive Administration” in which he invited District Magistrates, Collectors, Police people and all the district administration and he wanted to know how things can improve.

The last of the workshops were held in Coimbatore in 1988. Everybody said that tinkering with the system will not help. Therefore, systemic change is necessary. The motto was making the people representative and responsive.

He introduced Bill in the Parliament. It could not be passed in Rajya Sabha. V.P. Singh’s government also failed in this initiative. Narsimha Rao’s government took the lead. He introduced the bill as the 73^rd and 74^th Constitutional Amendment Bills in 1991. The bills were passed in 1992 which came into operation in 1993. Because of this, 2 chapters were added Chapter IX and IXA.