Panchayati Raj

This book presents an in-depth analysis of key recommendations of the consecutive state finance commissions (SFCs) across states of India in the local and national perspective. It reviews the working of SFCs and their critical role in strengthening local governments, both Panchayats and municipalities in the various states. The volume attempts to identify some of the emerging issues related to the efficacy of SFC in fiscal decentralization. It appraises nearly eighty SFC reports and actions taken thereon by the respective State Governments with contextual analysis. Please see the link https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9789811622021#

Panchayati Raj is a system of governance in which gram (village) panchayats are the basic units of administration. It has three levels: village, block and district. Mahatma Gandhi advocated Panchayati Raj, a decentralized form of Government, where each village is responsible for its own affairs, as the foundation of India’s political system.
India's oldest available Granth “Rigveda" also refers to such local committees and gatherings as autonomous, democratic institutions. Historically, despite periodic political upheaval and changes in power centres on various occasions, these autonomous democratic institutions (Panchayats) continued to work in various forms.
In 1994, All gram panchayats of the country were considered as constitutional unit and to establish them as independent institution, to make them similar, to conduct the elections on a fixed time, to empower them financially, 72nd constitutional amendment was presented in Lok Sabha and the same was implemented as the 73rd constitutional amendment in the entire country.
In the case of Uttar Pradesh, the Panchayat Raj Act was signed into law by the Governor General on 7th December 1947, and with this 35000 panchayats representing a population of 5.40 crore came into existence. In addition to this, about 8 thousand panchayat courts were also established. Later on, a provision of the establishment of a comprehensive system of Panchayats was also made in the constitution of India. In 1951-52, the number of panchayats increased to 35943 and the panchayat courts also reached to 8492. In 1952, the Panchayats in rural life planned to start the nation-building work and the first five-year plan also started this year. In 1952-53, the tradition of Zamindari was abolished and the powers of panchayats were further extended. Since then the general election for the panchayats has continued to be held every five years. During the second phase of development of panchayats (1953-54, 1959-60), the name of the panchayat courts changed to Nyay Panchayat. In the continuation of development steps regarding panchayats, the panchayat act was amended in 1961 in the provisions related to the election of Gram panchayats & Nyay panchayats. In addition to this, the District Council Act, 1961 was adopted based on the Shri Balwant Rai Mehta Committee’s recommendations for the decentralization of power.
In 1988, the sixth general election of gram panchayats was held and in the same year, the Panchayati Raj Act 1988 was amended to ensure 30 per cent representation for women. In addition, provision was also introduced to ensure that each gram panchayat provided representation to at least one female SC member. 
In keeping with the Seventy-third Constitutional Amendment 1992, Uttar Pradesh Kshetra Panchayat and Zila Panchayat Adhiniyam, 1961 was amended in 1994 to establish a three-tier Panchayati Raj Institution system of elected bodies. The amended act envisaged decentralization of power to rural self-governing bodies, viz. Gram Panchayat (GP) at the village level, Kshetra Panchayat (KP) at intermediate level and Zila panchayat (ZP) at the district level. The system of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) aimed at increasing the participation of people in local governance and effective implementation of rural development programmes. The overall supervision, coordination, planning and implementation of developmental schemes were vested with the ZP.
The total rural population as per Census 2011 (Provisional) was 15.51 Crore (13.71 Crore as per Census 2001). At the end of March 2011, there were 72 ZPs, 821 KPs and 51, 914 GPs in the state.
The last election to the elected bodies of the aforesaid PRIs was held during October-November 2010, in which 51,914 Gram Pradhans for GPs, 821 Pramukhs for KPs and 72 Adhyakshas for ZPs were elected.
On 28th September 2011, three new districts namely Prabuddha Nagar, Panchsheel Nagar and Bhim Nagar were created. With these new districts, the total number of districts has gone up to 75 in the state. All these 75 districts have District/Zila Panchayats. At subsequent levels, there are 821 Block/Kshetra Panchayats and 51,914-gram panchayats.

While women have made many advances, their inferior status to men continues to be a global phenomenon. At a time of unprecedented economic growth, India is experiencing a dramatic intensification of violence against women and the majority of girls are still not getting equal educational opportunity. In one of the most important steps for the empowerment of women, the Indian government gave constitutional status to village-level councils or Panchayati Raj institutions and reserved 33% of the seats in Panchayats for women. In addition, women were organized into Self-help Groups to mark the beginning of a major process of empowering women, although not much attention was paid to women's formal education. Our aim was to explore the impact of these measures on women's empowerment in the states of West Bengal and Mizoram. In general, we found that affirmative action does ensure that larger numbers of women enter politics but it does not ensure that the women participate in politics and function as elected representatives, because of lack of education. Empowerment needs to be seen as a holistic outcome of processes of critical education that enables women to lead autonomous lives and the freedom to act. Both affirmative action and education are necessary to empower women who have suffered discrimination and lack of power always.

Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was announced as a National Mission on Financial Inclusion encompassing an integrated approach to bring about comprehensive financial inclusion of all the households in the country. This was viewed with some skepticism due to unresolved technological issues like poor connectivity in the rural areas.  This paper analyses the comprehensive financial Inclusion programme  besides evaluating the various strategies which can be both suitable in terms of making the local self government bodies to play stronger role in extending the benefits of financial inclusion to people and also usher in an era that is  more inclusive and social transformative.

The Panchayati Raj system was initially set up by three states in 1959. After 1959, a network of PRIs went on being built up by most of the state governments. By 1964-1965, the PRIs began to function in 12 out of the then 15 states in India. Among the 6 Union territories, only 1 set up Panchayati Raj. The structure, however, differed in these states. During 1965-85, the Panchayati raj began to stagnate and even declined in the efficacy of its role in the management of the development process. The failure of the community development programs involving people with the development of the rural communities led to the establishment of the Panchayati raj on the recommendation of Balwant Rai Mehta Committee. The objects of the Panchayati raj were democratization, decentralization and modernization.
The modern Panchayati Raj system was introduced in India by the 73rd constitutional amendment in 1993, although it is based upon the historical Panchayati raj system of the Indian subcontinent and is also present in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Following a proposal submitted in 1986 by the LM Singhvi Committee to make certain changes to the Panchayati raj institutions, which had already existed in early Indian history and which had been reintroduced, not very successfully, in the 20th century, the modern Panchayati raj system was formalized and introduced in India in April 1993 as the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution, following a study conducted by a number of Indian committees on various ways of implementing a more decentralized administration.
In India, the Panchayati Raj now functions as a system of governance in which gram panchayats are the basic units of local administration. The system has three levels: Gram Panchayat (village level), Mandal Parishad or Block Samiti or Panchayat Samiti (block level), and Zila Parishad (district level). Currently, the Panchayati Raj system exists in all states except Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Mizoram, and in all Union Territories except Delhi.

Panchayat Raj in Maharashtra has its own progression path. It was among the first few states to implement the Balwantrai Mehta Committee recommendation of establishing a three-tier Panchayat Raj structure. It constituted a committee on the subject in 1961 under the chairmanship of the then revenue minister Vasantrao Naik. Maharashtra already had the Mumbai Gram Panchayat Act, 1958 for governing Gram Panchayats. However, on the basis of recommendations of the Vasantrao Naik Committee report, the State enacted the Maharashtra Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad Act, 1961. Consequently, the three-tier Panchayat Raj system was established and became functional in the State on 1st May 1962.
The Maharashtra government constituted several committees in the following decades to improve the functioning of the Panchayat Raj and strengthen PRIs. In 1970, the LN Bongirwar Committee was formed to evaluate the functioning of PRIs. The committee stressed the need for strengthening PRIs financially and provide more autonomy to them in planning. One of the main recommendations of the committee was the constitution of District Planning and Development Boards. Such boards were established in 1972 and began formulating district level plans from 1974. Similarly, the P B Patil Committee was constituted for the evaluation of the Panchayat Raj system in 1984. The committee emphasised involving people and gave 184 recommendations for reforming the system and enabling greater participation. Despite all these efforts, PRIs in Maharashtra were weak and the 73rd Amendment was as much necessary as the rest of the country to infuse real life into them.

A Brief History Historically, the governing body in Assam was a fusion of tribal and non-tribal institutions. The system prevailing during the Ahom rule is the origin to the Panchayati Raj System in Assam. Ahom Rule The Ahoms, who had ruled Assam for nearly six hundred years (1228-1826 AD), had built up a social structure and a system of local administration wherein a rudimentary form of panchayat for handling local matters could be found. Constituted by elderly experienced representative of the people in the rural areas concerned, the panchayats were generally utilized for settling local disputes. The mel and the khel systems were prevalent in medieval Assam. The usual meaning of mel is a meeting of assembly, or a tribunal. Khel meant a clan or fraternity. People belonging to different castes were required to work in one khel. This led to the growth of a sense of fraternity among them. Assamese society of those days was a combination of several territorial and vocational khels. People belonging to different khels were settled in each village and within their limits they gave some evidence of a functioning democracy. The promulgation of the Assam Local Self-Government Act,1915, brought about a change of approach. The act provided for the establishment of the village panchayat, for the first time on a formal and legal basis. It also provided for an elective non-official majority in the panchayat and for the election of non-officials as chairpersons and vice-chairpersons. Subsequently, in 1926, another act was passed, this time as a panchayat act because of the failure of the panchayat scheme under the act 1915 act. The functions of the village authority under the act of 1926 were listed as water supply, medical relief and sanitation. The outcome of the act of 1926 was that some village authorities were found to exist only on paper, and out of those that functioned, a sizeable number turned out to be ineffective for want of suitable machinery and necessary resources. Thus, despite formal establishment, panchayat institutions under the British proved to be a dismal failure. Post Independent Period-The Assam Rural Panchayat Act, 1948 In 1948, the Assam Rural Panchayat Act was passed to aim at achieving an all round development of the village Governments. The Act provided for the division of rural Assam into several Rural Panchayat areas. Each Rural Panchayat consisted of a number of villages. Each village, again, had a Primary Panchayat. All adult persons in the Primary Panchayat area had the right to vote. The Act empowered the Primary Panchayat to set up an executive authority. Accordingly each Primary Panchayat had an Executive body comprising minimum of 9 and maximum of 15 members including the President and the Vice President of the Primary Panchayat. A Rural Development Officer under the Deputy Commissioner of the

This paper is an attempt to underscore the pattern of grassroots democracy and governance in India and the role of Panhayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in the development of rural areas. The paper is concerned with the evolutionary perspective of the Panchayati Raj as well as the role of Panchayati Raj in socio-economic growth, socio-political awareness of rural people and the role of local leadership for strengthening the roots of democracy in India. The 73rd amendment to the Indian Constitution (1992) unequivocally prescribes that the Panchayats should be institutions of self–government through which powers are devolved to the people as to the participation in the process of planning for economic development and social justice, and implementation of schemes and programmes for these purposes. To strengthen and enhance the efficiency of local governance, PRIs were structured and designed as three tier system. The bedrock of this pyramidal structure is the gram sabha (or village assembl...

While women have made many advances, their inferior status to men continues to be a global phenomenon. At a time of unprecedented economic growth, India is experiencing a dramatic intensification of violence against women and the majority of girls are still not getting equal educational opportunity. In one of the most important steps for the empowerment of women, the Indian government gave constitutional status to village-level councils or Panchayati Raj institutions and reserved 33% of the seats in Panchayats for women. In addition, women were organized into Self-help Groups to mark the beginning of a major process of empowering women, although not much attention was paid to women's formal education. Our aim was to explore the impact of these measures on women's empowerment in the states of West Bengal and Mizoram. In general, we found that affirmative action does ensure that larger numbers of women enter politics but it does not ensure that the women participate in politics and function as elected representatives, because of lack of education. Empowerment needs to be seen as a holistic outcome of processes of critical education that enables women to lead autonomous lives and the freedom to act. Both affirmative action and education are necessary to empower women who have suffered discrimination and lack of power always.

The Government of India Act of 1935 provided Orissa with the status of a new province and also made provisions for the constitution of a Provincial Assembly. After Independence, the new Assembly passed the Orissa Gram Panchayat Act 1948. It was the first legislation prescribing constitutional power to Gram Panchayats in Orissa. The current version of the act is the Orissa Gram Panchayats Act, 1964.
The provisions of the Act were to be extended to different areas of the state from time to time and they could be withdrawn as and when necessary, depending upon circumstances. In the year 1950-51, 500 Gram Panchayats were set up in different areas of the State. It was assumed that successful functioning of Panchayats in selective villages would serve as examples to the surrounding villages, which in turn would be prompted to demand the establishment of Gram panchayats of their own. This experiment, however, did not succeed because in many villages as people were misled by the misconception that in the areas under the jurisdiction of the panchayats, people had to pay additional taxes and fees to the panchayats without receiving corresponding amenities in return. The State Government, therefore, adopted a scheme of establishing Panchayats covering an entire district or a sub-division from 1952-53. The provision of withdrawal of Panchayats from certain areas was deleted in the Orissa Gram Panchayats (2nd amendment) Act, 1957.
During 1958-1961, Community Development (CD) Blocks were set up in selected areas of the state. The first Orissa Zilla Parishad Act was enacted in 1959 and subsequently amended as the Orissa Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad Act, 1959 in the year 1961 (Orissa Act 24 of 1961). This act is now referred to as the Orissa Panchayat Samiti Act, 1960. In 1961, a 3-tier system of Panchayati Raj Institutions was established in the State. The intermediate tier or the Panchayat Samiti was made the implementing agency for all programmes. All funds for Community Development were given as grant-in-aid to the Samitis. Gram Panchayat was treated as the unit for the formulation of developmental programmes. Zilla Parishads were to function as the Supervisory body in charge of preparing the master plan of development programmes. Zilla Parishads, which were abolished in 1968, were established again after the implementation of the Orissa Zilla Parishad Act, 1991. Despite the Panchayat Samitis emerging as important institutions for the implementation of development programmes, poverty alleviation programmes and social security schemes, Panchayat Samitis and Gram Panchayats were not as effective as institutions of self-government.
In 1992, the 73rd amendment of the constitution mandated that the government shall endow Panchayati Raj Institutions with such powers authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government. After the 73rd amendment, the panchayat laws were amended according to the provisions of 73rd Constitutional amendment as given below: (i) Reservation of seats in favour of SC, ST, OBC and women. (ii) Constitution of Election Commission and Finance Commission. (iii) 5 years tenure for Panchayats. (iv)Redefinition of the Powers and Functions of the Gram Sabha and Palli Sabha. Pursuant to the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act 1992, Orissa has suitably amended the existing laws relating to Panchayats, which include the Orissa Zilla Parishad Act 1991, the Orissa Panchayat Samiti Act 1959 and the Orissa" Gram Panchayat Act 1964. Under the legislation, as it stands amended, Panchayats at all three levels have been entrusted with duties & functions with regard, to 21 matters listed in Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution.
In Orissa, either the Chairperson or the Vice-Chairperson of all three tiers of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) is a woman. Orissa Panchayat laws were amended to keep them in line with the provisions of the 73rd Amendment and Provisions of Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas Act, 1996 (PESA). Orissa was the first State to conduct PRI elections in accordance with the PESA act, in 2002. All the offices of elected heads of 3-tier PRIs in Scheduled Areas have been reserved for STs. Gram Sabhas and Palli Sabhas have been given more statutory power after the PESA Act came into force.

Empowerment of women is a major concern over the centuries in third world countries. Social,
economical and political are the foremost areas in which empowerment of women is focused in order to bring
gender equality. Political empowerment submits to the equal representation of women in the decision making
process, both formal and informal. Women participation in politics has enhanced the knowledge of women on her
rights in a democratic set up. In the process of women empowerment media is playing a crucial role. With the
advancement of technology, new media has changed the conceptuality of empowerment in the entire sphere. In this
background the present study tries to look in to the role of mobile and internet in the process of empowerment of
women through Panchayath Raj System.

This paper presents the empirical findings of implementation of the Provisions of Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) and its implications for making decentralised governance effective in scheduled areas of Odisha. It highlights how the Panchayats , the Palli Sabhas and the Gram Sabhas as unit of decentralised governance are functioning under the provision of the PESA Act based on field level evidences. In this context, a main objective of this paper was to understand how the Panchayats are institutionalised and made functional in these areas based on the field data collected from two tribal (scheduled area) districts (Sundargarh and Koraput). The main research questions of this paper are (i) what are the evidences of the implementation of this Act in Odisha and how it is implemented?, and (ii) how the Panchayats are functioning in these areas under the PESA Act? Based on the quantitative data collected from 300 households (244 ST Households and 56 others) from the two districts and qualitative data through the process of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and in-depth discussions, this paper tries to address the above key research questions. The key findings of the paper shows that in the scheduled areas, the enactment of the PESA Act has been emerged as an important landmark for making Panchayats effective and inclusive. In the case of two districts (Sundargarh and Koraput) the Panchayats under the legal framework of the PESA Act have become instrumental in strengthening the local polity and economy through promoting peoples' participation, formulating local development plans and implementing socioeconomic development programmes. The Palli Sabhas (Village Assembly) and the Gram Sabhas (Panchayat Assembly) have emerged as two grassroots institutions. The nature and extent of

The participatory research facilitated a critical analysis of the multiple vulnerabilities tribal women face in Dumka and Jamtara districts. Using participatory research methods, the barriers in accessing education and health services, in particular the effect of the conflict, were analysed. Suggestions for ensuring more effective and equitable access to quality health and education services were made.

Abstract
The functioning of Panchayats in the tribal areas has received fresh impetus due to increasing role played by these institutions in the matters of local decision making, planning and implementation of the development programmes. It is observed that in the case of tribal areas, the Panchayats under the framework of PESA Act has become instrumental in promoting local development plans and implementing socio-economic development programmes. The Palli Sabhas and the Gram Sabhas are emerged as the key institution for fostering peoples’ participation in the matters of structural arrangements and functioning of these institutions. Further, in the context of the enactment of the PESA Act, these institutions have been enjoying powers of managing natural resources, controlling land alienation, controlling the selling of intoxicants, controlling money lending and above all planning and implementation of the development programmes.
Considering the above stated issues, this paper tries to examine the institutional arrangement and functioning of panchayats in two GPs in the districts of Sundargarh and Koraput of Odisha. It further tries to unravel institutional arrangements and functioning in the context of enactment of the PESA Act. In order to understand the above issues, data were collected from the villages through the process of Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and in-depth interview through interacting with various stakeholders. The result of data analysis shows that the institutional arrangements and functioning of the Palli Sabhas and Gram Sabhas have largely influenced by the active participation of people particularly the tribals. Such process has been contributed to a great extent towards the effective functioning of Panchayats under the provision of PESA Act, though there are area related variances. However, the process of institutionalisation and outcome of the functioning of the Panchayats under the framework of the PESA Act has diluted the many provisions of the Act.

Key Words: PESA Act, Panchayats, Institutionalisation,Tribal Areas,  Odisha

Art. 243 O imposes bar on Court to interfere in the matters related to the Panchayat Elections. Independence of Judiciary is the part of the basic structure of the Constitution and Legislature can not take away the power of judicial review even by an amendment of Constitution. The efforts have been to analyse whether this provision also hit by the principle of basic structure or not.

It has been two decades since the Panchayati Raj system got the constitutional mandate of being the third-tier of democratic governance in India. Still, the lack of devolution of functional and financial powers being supported by the lack of will power of legislative and executive authorities has made it a toothless tiger and a mere puppet to the state governments. This article looks into different perspectives of it in the last two decades and tries to bring forth the hurdles in its functioning and the vulnerable actors involved in it. Lastly, the article presents possible solutions such as the application of principle of subsidiarity and redesigning of the 11th schedule to make gram swaraj a functional reality in India.

Right from the Vedic Ages to modern times there have been the references to Panchayats and they have played a vital role in the local Self-Governing institutions. Mahatma Gandhi's dream that every village should be a republic having powers of self-governance has been adopted in Article 40 of the Constitution of India as a Directive Principle of State Policy. It provides 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."
For this purpose, the programme of Community Development through people's participation and state aid was introduced on 2nd October 1952. Further on the basis of Shri Balwant Rai Mehta committee in 1959, the concept of democratic decentralization was adopted and a three-tier system of Panchayats was introduced. In course of time, the Panchayati Raj Institution and also the urban local bodies started failing in the responsibilities devolved on them, owing to the paucity of funds and delay in the conduct of timely election to such bodies. Different Committees recommended that constitutional status should be accorded to Panchayati Raj and Local Bodies institutions and the election to these institutions be conducted by separate Election Commission. Consequently, 73rd and 74th amendments come in effect in the year 1993.
By these two amendments, the Constitution of India conferred constitutional status to these institutions of local self-government both in the rural and urban areas. Now, regular elections to these Institutions after five years were ensured under State Election Commission through the provisions of Articles 243E and 243U of the Constitution.
On 9 November 2000, the 27th state of the Republic of India was carved out of the Himalayan and adjoining northwestern districts of Uttar Pradesh. Since the Government of Uttarakhand had not made its own acts and rules for the functioning of Rural and Urban local bodies yet, it had adopted all the acts and rules prevalent in the State of U.P.
On 16th June 2002, the Uttaranchal Legislative Assembly passed the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act 1947 as Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act 1947 (Uttaranchal Amendment) Act 2002 (Act No. 07 of 2002)  and deemed to be enacted from April 29, 2002.
After the formation of State of Uttarakhand on 9th November 2000, the State Election Commission, Uttarakhand was constituted on 30th July 2001 under the provision of Article 243 K of the Constitution of India.
Under the provision of Article 243-K and 243 ZA of the constitution of India and other relevant acts and rules, the election of Panchayats and local bodies in Uttarakhand were conducted in the superintendence, direction and control of State Election Commission, Uttarakhand.
The functioning of the Panchayat Raj Bodies was governed by the two separate Acts, one for Gram Panchayat and the other for the Kshetra Panchayats and Zila Panchayats. According to section 12BB of the U.P. Panchayat Raj Act 1947 (As adopted & Amended in Uttarakhand), the superintendence, direction and control of the conduct of the election to the office of Pradhan, Up-Pradhan and a Member of a Gram Panchayat were vested in the State Election Commission. Under Section 12 BC, subject to the supervision and control of the State Election Commission, the District Magistrate supervises the conduct of all elections of the Pradhan, Up-Pradhan and a Member of a Gram Panchayats in the district. Similarly, according to section 246-B(2) of the U.P. Kshetra Panchayats and Zila Panchayats Adhiniyam, 1961(As adopted & Amended in Uttarakhand), the superintendence, direction and control to conduct the election to the office of a Adhyaksh, Upadhyaksh and a Member of Zila Panchayat and of a Pramukh, Up-Pramukh and a Member of Kshetra Panchayats vests in the State Election Commission.
The electoral rolls were prepared according to the rules prepared under the provisions of related Acts and the guidelines & instructions given by the State Election Commission. There were specific provisions to this effect under section 9 of the Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 whereas section 11-B and 12-C of the Panchayat Raj Act, deal with the provision for the election of Pradhan and Up-Pradhan and Members of the Gram Panchayat.
The section 6B and 6C of the U.P. Kshetra Panchayats and Zila Panchayats Adhiniyam, 1961(As adopted & Amended in Uttarakhand) deal with preparations of the electoral roll for kshetra Panchayat and section 18B & 18C of the aforesaid Act pertain to the preparation of electoral rolls for Zila Panchayats.
Likewise section 12 & 13 of the Municipalities Act, 1916 (As adopted & Amended in Uttarakhand) deal with the preparation of Election rolls & elections of the members of Municipalities respectively. The section 43 of the Act deal with the election of Chairperson of the Municipalities respectively while section 35 & 40 of the U.P. Municipal Corporation Adhiniyam 1959(As adopted & Amended in Uttarakhand) deals with the preparation of electoral rolls of the Municipal Corporation and section 11A, 12 & 27 of the aforesaid Act provide for the elections of Nagar Pramukh, Up-Nagar Pramukh and Sabhasad of the Municipal Corporation.
In the new state of Uttarakhand the first General Elections of Local Bodies were successfully conducted by State Election Commission, Uttarakhand in the month of January to February 2003 in all 13 Districts of the state. While the General Elections of Three Tier Panchayat were held in the month of February to April 2003 in 12 Districts in the state (Excluding District-Haridwar). General Election to the Three-Tier Panchayat in the District of Haridwar was conducted by State Election Commission in the month of September to October 2005. In the year 2008, in all 13 districts of the state, the elections of Local bodies i.e. Mayor and 60 ward members of 1 (one) Municipal Corporation and 32 chairpersons and 402 members of 32 Nagar Palika Parishads, 27 Chairpersons and 172 members, 27 Nagar Panchayats in which 1417341 voters used their franchise were successfully conducted by State Election Commission, Uttarakhand.
In the year 2008, in three-tier panchayat elections of the 12 district of the state, 46559 members of Gram Panchayat, 3075 members of Kshetra Panchayat, 371 members of Zila Panchayat and 7239 Pradhan Gram Panchayats in which 4344573 voters exercised their franchise were successfully conducted by State Election Commission, Uttarakhand. Apart from this, the election of 89 Pramukh, 89 Jestha Up Pramukh, 89 Kanistha Up Pramukh, 12 Adhyakshs and 12 Upadhayaks of 12 Zila Panchayats and 7211 Up Pradhan were also successfully conducted by State Election Commission, Uttarakhand. In the year 2008 for the first time the State Election Commission, Uttarakhand introduced EVMs in Dehradun Nagar Nigam (Municipal Corporation) Elections and succeeded in conducting a free, fair and peaceful poll. For the first time in the elections of local bodies and three-tier panchayats in the state, the election result was successfully displayed on the internet directly from vote-counting centres.
Efforts are still being made to make provisions in the Panchayati Raj Acts and Rules for the use of EVMs in three-tier panchayat elections and the proposals are under consideration of State Government.

PESA bars the Panchayats at the higher level from assuming the powers and authority of any Panchayat at the lower level or of the Gram Sabha. The offices of the Chairpersons in the Panchayats at all levels are to be reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs). Reservations of seats at every Panchayat for the STs are not to be less than one-half of the total number of seats. It has been two decades since the Panchayat Raj (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) was enacted in 1996 to extend Part IX of the Constitution to the Fifth Schedule Areas of Andhra Pradesh (undivided), Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan. A unique and remarkable flagship legislation, this brings together the simple system of tribal communities governed by their respective customs and traditions, and the formal system of the State. PESA recognizes the hamlet or group of hamlets level assembly of people (Gram Sabha) as against the elected members (Gram Panchayat) to be preeminent. The Gram Sabhas are deemed to be competent to act on a range of powers namely- Safeguard and preserve their traditions and customs, cultural identity, community resources and the customary mode of dispute resolution  Prevention of alienation of land and restoration of any unlawfully alienated land of Scheduled Tribes  Control over institutions and functionaries in all social sectors  The ownership of minor forest produce  Management of village markets  Control over money lending to the Scheduled Tribes  Enforcement of prohibition, or regulation or restriction of the sale and consumption of any intoxicant  Control local plans, and resources for such plans, including tribal sub-plans  Approval of social and economic development programmes  Selection of beneficiaries under poverty alleviation and other programmes  Issue utilisation certificates for government works undertaken in their village  Recommendation in granting prospecting license or mining leases for minor minerals, and concessions for the exploitation of minor minerals by auction  Consultation on matters of land acquisition PESA bars the Panchayats at the higher level from assuming the powers and authority of any Panchayat at the lower level or of the Gram Sabha. The office of the Chairpersons in the Panchayats at all levels are to be reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs). Reservations of seats at every Panchayat for the STs are not to be less than one-half of the total number of seats. The States are to follow the Sixth Schedule pattern of Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) with legislative and executive powers on certain specific subjects, as available in parts of the northeastern States, for the Panchayats at district levels in the Scheduled Area.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Constitution Amendments that led to the three-tier Panchayati Raj structures.
The 73rd Amendment further led to legislation for its extension into tribal areas (Scheduled Areas) and the Forest Rights Act.
Tracing the history of 30 years, the saga of decentralization without democratization is the story of hope to despair

Chapter-III in the Book "Decentralization, Governance and Development: An Indian Perspective" edtd. by Dr. Pranab Kr. Das

(Orient Black Swan)

India believed it could take development closer to its people, make the government more accountable, and empower women and oppressed communities through decentralisation—the provision of political and financial autonomy at the local level through the three-tier Panchayati Raj structure.

Fifteen years after the 73rd and 74th Amendments that brought in this innovation, what is the performance of the local government in India? Decentralisation, Governance and Development provides a comprehensive assessment that answers this question.

Drawing from the examples of the two states where decentralisation has been most successful—Kerala and West Bengal—this volume explores the causes and effects of failures in implementation and issues of governance. These essays by scholars from diverse disciplines, as well as policymakers and practitioners, will equip readers with both a theoretical understanding of the issues concerning local government, and the practical problems of designing and implementing policy framework in the field.

Women's participation in publiclifeis often constrained due to various socio-economic conditions. The 73 rd Constitutional Amendment Act of India provides 33 per cent reservationfor women to give them wider representation in the local bodies. In spite of such and other provisions, empowerment of women is not satisfactory because of certain factors like political failure, lack of education and awareness among women. Against this background, a study was conducted in a backward and tribal district of Odisha, which examined the political processes. The study attempted to find out how women perceive their political empowerment as people's representatives. Italso examined the perception of elected representatives on political empowerment. Thefindings of the study are expected to give a better understanding of the relationship between socio-economic backwardness of the region and women's participation and empowerment. In turn, this will help in meeting the challenges of women's empowerment as envisioned in the 73 rd amendment.This empirical study found that the participation of women is adversely influenced by the socioeconomic structure of the region. The socio-economic backwardness of the region affectedthe capabilities of women intheir participation as people's representatives. The performance of the women members appears to be more adversely affected than the male members. Thus, capabilities in the public domain are not only gendered, but also socio-economically structured.

Darphal is a middle sized village in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra which belongs to the Aurangabad division. It is inhabited by a striving population of 1595 people who are either indigenous to the land or are migrants from nearby villages owing to variegated reasons including marriage. The purpose and intention of this paper is to generate a clarified kernel which gives importance to the cardinal institutions that function in rural areas of India, namely the social, economic, political and healthcare institutions. Shedding light on the structural hierarchy and functioning capacity of these institutions, the same also creates a need for specifying the drawbacks and shortcomings of the same and suggest ameliorative methodologies that can be adopted to nullify the backlogs.

On the basis of experiences of past two decades, a
need to critically review and to conclude as to in what direction the third decade of grassroots
democracy should head so that the grassroots democracy can become more effective in
ensuring inclusive development aroused. Hence, under the leadership of Dr.Chandrakant
Puri, Chair Professor, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Contemporary Studies, Mumbai University, a
two day National Conference on, “Democratic Decentralisation Inclusive Development:
Issues And Challenges For The Third Decade Of Panchayati Raj Institutions” was organised
on 20th and 21st March, 2014, at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Contemporary Studies main
conference hall. More than 60 elected representatives, activists, academicians, research
scholars and NGOs, from all over India, attend this conference.

In the year 1950, when the governor of Assam, Shri Prakasa and his adviser met Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, the first Home Minister of independent India, they explained the difficulties regarding the merger of Manipur. Patel in return asked if there was no Brigadier of the Indian Army there. In other words, the Indian Union was to use the same methods as the British to 'annex' Manipur The manner in which the state of Manipur was included in the Indian Union, whereby it was given only a peripheral status added to the feeling of alienation of these people from the country of which they were apart. Even after the merger with free India, the people of the state were not free to choose their own rulers. With the coming into force of the Constitution of India, Manipur became a 'Part C' state.
The special feature of Part C states was that they were administered by the President of India through a Chief Commissioner or a Lieutenant Governor, acting as his agent. Parliament had legislative power relating the Part C states, but the Constitution empowered Parliament to create a Legislature as well as a Council of Advisors or Ministers for Part C states. In exercising this power, Parliament enacted the government of part C states Act, 1951 by which a council of Advisors or Ministers was set in each part C State to advise the Chief Commissioner, under the overall control of the President and also a Legislative Assembly to function as the Legislature of the State, without derogation to the plenary powers of Parliament. Manipur was thus virtually governed by the non-elected Chief Commissioner, the Council of Ministers being merely advisors to him. Similar administrative set-ups continued even after the States Reorganization Act, 1956 when Manipur became a Union Territory. It was only after the North Eastern Areas (Reorganization) Act, 1971 that Manipur was granted statehood with a responsible government. It was only thereafter that the people of this state were able to directly choose their government.

Before the introduction of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, Manipur experienced Panchayati system of governance since 1964 under the adopted U.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1947. The second general elections to the Panchayats were held in 1971 under the aforesaid UP Act. Subsequent thereto, in the year 1975 Manipur enacted its own Panchayat Act providing a 3 tier system of Gram Panchayats and Panchayats families were held. Zilla Parishads were never constituted under the aforesaid Act of 1975. The functioning of these institutions ensured their involvement of the people in the governance at the grass root level. Because of lack of infrastructure, lack of adequate funds and non-cooperation from the existing government departments in sharing power with them, these Panchayat institutions remained merely as advisory bodies rather than a vibrant democratic institution. Perhaps the most important stumbling block was the resistance from the local MLAs and Ministers to allow them to function as autonomous bodies as this would directly dilute the enormous influence and power wielded by the MLAs and Ministers. Lack of infrastructure and lack of funds came as convenient excuses for the non-performances and stagnation of the Panchayat bodies.

73rd constitutional Amendment led to the enactment of Manipur Panchayat Raj Act 1994. Even though the Constitution envisages a three-tier system in Manipur Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, only the Gram Panchayats and the Zilla Parishads are provided and there was no provision for Panchayat Samiti. The two-tier Panchayat system envisaged in the Manipur Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 came into force with effect from 24 June 1994. The authorities here had explained this lack of the middle-level body as due to the inadequate population ratio in the state. This argument, however, did not carry much weight in view of the fact that in the earlier Act of 1975, a three-tier system of Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samities and Zilla Parishads were incorporated and the State of Arunachal Pradesh which has much less population than Manipur had already incorporated Panchayat Samiti under the Act. In any event, the Panchayat Samiti was already a functional body under the earlier Act of 1994, which could have been continued under the New Act of 1994.

The Manipur Panchayati Raj Act of 1994 as in the past extended only to the valley area as the hill areas come under the jurisdiction of the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council Act, 1971 and the Manipur (Village Authorities in Hill Areas) Act, 1956. The municipality areas in the valley districts had been also excluded from its operation. Thus this Act was applicable only in the valley districts of Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal and Bishnupur.

The Imphal Zilla Parishad was subsequently divided into Imphal East and Imphal West Zilla Parishads after the bifurcation of the erstwhile Imphal District into Imphal East District and Imphal West District. Though elections to the Zilla Parishads and the Gram Panchayats were not on party lines, nevertheless, only those persons with strong local party affiliations could get elected. Elections, however, were not completely free and fair. There were allegations of rigging of elections.

1 In India, the 73 rd constitutional amendment of 1992 decentralises agriculture, irrigation, health, education along with 23 other items to the Panchayats, the village level selfgovernment body. It is envisaged that the three-tier Panchayat system at the District, Block and the Village level would coordinate with different 'line departments' of the government for planning various schemes and their implementation. In West Bengal, a state in eastern India, where the Panchayats were revitalised before the constitutional amendment, the initial years were marked by strong coordination between the Panchayats and other departments, [1] [2] [3] CHAKRABARTI, CHATTOPADHYAY & NATH: Local Governments in West Bengal CJLG May-November 2011 34 especially land and agriculture, making West Bengal a 'model' case for the Panchayats. However, where service delivery through the Panchayats has been criticised in recent years, the disjuncture between Panchayats and the line departments is a cause for alarm. In this paper, we search for the causes behind the low level of coordination between government departments and the Panchayat at each tier. We analyse the complex process of organisational coordination that characterises decentralisation, and show how decision making in local governments is nested within various levels of hierarchy. The study focuses on the formal structures of coordination and control with regard to decision-making between the Panchayats and the line departments. We show how these processes work out in practice.

With over three decades of existence, the Panchayats or the rural local bodies in the state of West Bengal (in eastern India) is the torch-bearer of the decentralization initiatives of the state government and its experiment towards governance from government conferring the real power to the grassroots with as little supervisory control as possible (also being exemplary in the country). This practice however takes place in a situation when the overall health and other quality of life indicators in the state has progressed at a snail’s pace (some of the indicators almost plateaued). Beyond the philosophy of decentralization, the state government also visions the tackling of the manageable problems on spot (where they originate) before they become too critical and prove to be impossible to address by the already over-burdened city based health system. The over-burdened financial capacity of the state government is also proving to be inadequate to reach every one of the teaming millions. These also led to the conscious effort of devolution of activities and finances to the local government so that they can do their part and present a better quality of life to the rural population which is also home to the poverty-stricken India. Beyond devolution of funds, the state government has also passed Acts and made laws to raise the fiscal health of the Panchayats and provide them with a chance to act on their own, attaching priority wherever the need is emergent. Results show that wherever the Panchayats closest to the mass (Gram Panchayat) have acted, the overall health situation has improved. Their performance has really changed the quality of life and has direct bearing on them being accountable. But although they have much to do, and quite a scope, are they ready to deliver? Are the Gram Panchayats taking seriously their own general fiscal health to make the necessary investments? Are they striving for better capacity to take decisions locally and act as per the demand of the situation? Are they ready to make a paradigm shift from tangible physical assets (infrastructures, buildings) to human capital (healthy and skillful populace)?
Their own fiscal health in general, their motivation to generate revenue on their own, and their capacity to act on their own according to the local situation (without directives from upper tiers of government), and last but not the least their priority towards tangible assets that would at the end of the day earn them the vote-bank seem to speak otherwise.

, Foreword by Shri M.V. Rajasekharan, Hon'ble Union Minister for Planning and Ex-Officio Member, Planning Commission, Govt. of India, New Delhi. The 73 rd and 74 th Constitutional Amendments aimed at the empowerment of Panchayati Raj Institutions were a progressive step towards democratic decentralisation, generating considerable hopes that these would result in the realisation of Gandhiji's dream of Gram Swaraj. The Sixteen Chapters in this Volume by a distinguished group of scholars and experts provide an overview of the changing role of the Panchayati Raj Institutions in India at the grassroots level, in the process of decentralization and devolution of powers. Examining the administrative and political lacunae in the functioning of the Institutions of Self-government, this Volume explores a real insight into the issue of major haunting dilemmas of the grassroots democratic institutions in contemporary India.

Village communities function most successfully when they are situated in a nested series of institutions. Academics often state that villages are self-governing and should have complete control over their natural reources, especially forests, and that the colonial policy of forest reservation was a cause of the alienation of communities, and that JFM (joint forest managment) is likewise against the tenets of panchayati raj. However, the reality is that many communities are successful in protecting their forest resources precisely in collaboration with the state, and do not see any contradiction between the different institutions.

* This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Constitution Amendments that led to the three-tier Panchayati Raj structures.
* The 73rd Amendment further led to legislation for its extension into tribal areas (Scheduled Areas) and the Forest Rights Act.
* Tracing the history of 30 years, the saga of decentralisation without democratisation is the story of hope to despair,

Although community development by elected local bodies is considered to promote pro-poor development, there is little systematic evidence on what forces shape elected leaders' distributional decisions and how communities influence their leaders' choices. This paper presents findings from a mixed-method study examining elected leaders' decision making on development in one community, investigating whether wealth or kinship-based representation to the elected body exerted a stronger effect on leaders. Findings suggest that electoral institutions based on kinship exercised a significant effect on leaders while wealth did not, suggesting that electoral politics may mitigate elite capture because it institutionalizes representational decision making.

It is quite exciting and pleasing to bring forth the first issue of the Journal of People’s Studies (JPS). The journal has evolved over a course of time due to several reasons. Most of the individuals associated with the journal, along with their academic and scholarly commitments, have been part of various socio-cultural, economic and political processes. This is the uniqueness of JPS collective, which one cannot find in most mainstream journals. While scanning on several journals it was observed that most of the journals are discipline-centric, and what was missing in those were ‘the people’.  For us communities and their inter-connection with various aspects in and around constitute the most important part. All of us are connected with various communities in different ways and means. The evolution of research disciplines has a critical historiography, which over a period of time has tended to ignore ‘human beings’ off and move to a more advanced level of the discipline.  It is based on these disciplinary focus such journals evolve. We, therefore, felt it necessary to give a different name in order to bring the core concern to the centre. Through several discussions and deliberations what emerged was people’s studies and therefore named it as the ‘Journal of People’s Studies’

This article examines the transformation of the diverse imperial landscape of the Gorkha Kingdom into the more uniform and integrated space of the Nepali nation. It argues that nationalised schooling, as it was introduced under Panchayat rule (1960–90), was central to the production of national space. However, it also highlights how this schooling concomitantly extended a language of ‘anthropological’ and ‘ecological’ difference with which to organise and negotiate this space. Below the textbook surface of unity-in-diversity, remnants of imperial caste and racial hierarchies remained. And, along with novel notions of national development, new hierarchies were introduced that separated developed centres from remote and backward peripheries. Through its engagement with Nepali history, the article thus contributes to our understanding of the continued interaction between the production of national space and historical developments in governmental differentiation. Approaching ‘spatial history’ as a combined emphasis on the history of spatial production and the spatial productivity of historical representation, it highlights the contingencies of national connections between time and space. In conclusion, the article suggests how the languages of difference built up across Panchayat and present-day schooling continue to shape contemporary re-imaginings of national space, in the midst of political uncertainties.