In India, Panchayati Raj is a sad story of missed opportunities. At the dawn of Independence, there was an ideological debate between the Gandhian and Ambedkar schools of thought on the subject, with Gandhi reposing faith in the virtues of local democracy and Ambedkar expressing his reservations about the feudal and casteist nature of Indian villages. Actually, both were right. Still, the freedom fighters, most of whom went back to their villages after 1947, could have ensured local democracy overcoming narrow feudal and caste considerations. Sadly, that was not to be.
In 1952, when the first Five Year Plan was rolled out, local governments were completely ignored. Although, seven years later, the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee report drew the nation’s attention to the critical role that village panchayats could play in local development, the two wars and the acute food crisis of the 1960s diverted the nation’s attention from it. Again, hopes were raised when the Janata Party government came to power in 1977 and the Ashok Mehta Committee recommended Panchayati Raj. But that government was short-lived. In the mid-80s, Rajiv Gandhi rekindled the idea of power to the people but, before he could realise the Panchayati Raj, the government came under a cloud.
The real big opportunity to breathe life into the idea of Panchayati Raj came in 1993, when the Constitution amendments were passed mandating elected panchayats and municipalities. That was undoubtedly a landmark event in Indian political history and that event generated great expectations. But, despite the best intentions behind that historic legislative effort, decentralisation was not pushed and a great opportunity was lost. In 1996, an attempt was made through the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act to extend Panchayati Raj to tribal areas. The radical provisions of this Act were not operationalised. Had that been done and participatory democracy made a reality, in all probability, the story of India’s Left wing extremism would have been different.
In 2004, when the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government came to power, the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) endorsed by the ruling and supporting parties included Panchayati Raj as a key item on its governance agenda and it was pushed with great vigour by Mani Shankar Aiyar, who was Minister for Panchayati Raj. The enactment of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in 2005 boosted the Panchayati Raj through provision of resources and administrative support. But the initial steam was soon lost and Panchayati Raj was almost forgotten.
Current status
Achievements of a State like Kerala stand out against this dismal scenario. Kerala was one State that went in for big bang decentralisation following passage of the Panchayati Raj-Nagar Palika Acts. Although Madhya Pradesh started off very well, its efforts plateaued after the initial enthusiasm. Sikkim has performed very well followed by Himachal Pradesh. In the traditional Panchayati Raj States like Karnataka, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Gujarat, there has been neither any improvement nor any serious deterioration post the Constitution amendment. Still, the legislation has ensured that the country has the largest number of democratically elected representatives in the world with gender and social justice as key ingredients. Local governance in the country is now carried out by nearly three million elected representatives elected every five years.
Almost 1.2 million of them are women and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have representation in the local governments in proportion to their population.
State Election Commissions have functioned quite well ensuring orderly elections in most parts of the country, but other constitutionally mandated institutions such as State Finance Commissions and District Planning Committees have not fared well.
Also, barring a few exceptions like Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Haryana, States have by and large failed in fiscally endowing panchayats. In the fiscal devolution index published by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj for 2015-16, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka top the aggregate index. Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Jharkhand are the poor performers. In the operational core of decentralisation ranking also, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka are the toppers, whereas Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand are among the low performers. In the creation of support systems for devolution, Kerala retains the top position with Maharashtra in the second position followed by Karnataka and Haryana.
Silver lining
Panchayati Raj system has, however, led to the development of good models in almost all the States through local efforts. For the future, if the Grama Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) using the unprecedented devolution of more than ₹2 lakh crore devolved by the 14th Finance Commission for a period of five years (2015-20) to the grama panchayats is pushed more seriously and institutionalised in convergence with MGNREGS with sufficient capacity building, local democracy would get strengthened through participatory planning and development.
This has the potential to set off a virtuous cycle with the panchayats developing capacity by doing, earning the trust of voters, and gaining the attention of State governments as potential service delivery mechanisms, resulting in greater entrustment of functions.
Participatory planning, which is the hallmark of Kerala’s decentralisation, can be an effective entry point for decentralisation. Devolution of untied resources in a fair and transparent manner can result in positive development outcomes, especially in the provision of basic minimum needs like housing, sanitation, drinking water and roads. The functional and political space given to elected representatives of local self-governments can motivate them to perform several functions. This can be called soft devolution. The partnership between the self-help groups of Kudumbasree and the panchayats is a national best practice.
The self-help groups which are normally articulate can defend the interests of women and the poor through engagement with the panchayats. They can make Grama Sabhas meaningful. They can partner with the elected women representatives and strengthen their hands. Self-help groups can also benefit panchayats by acting as outreach mechanisms.
The capacity building of elected representatives through the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) is an international best practice. Non-partisan and inclusive local government associations is again a national model. So, there is still hope, but it needs political will to give the initial push, as it happened in Kerala.
The author is former Chief Secretary of Kerala
