Evolution of Panchayati Raj

The Panchayati Raj system evolved in several different stages in India. These are the Vedic era, Epic era, Ancient Period, Medieval Period, British Period, and Post- Independence Period. Let us have a quick look into the evolution of the Panchayati Raj beginning from the Vedic culture

• The Rigveda mentions the three local self-units as Sabha, Samiti, and Vidhata. The epic era was divided into two parts- The Ramayana and Mahabharat. 
• The Caste Panchayat state elected one person as a member of the King’s Council of Ministers. Gramik was known to be the chief official of the village whose duty was to collect taxes and protect their villages. 
• The ancient Period also mentions the concept of the village panchayat in Kautilya’s Arthashastra. 
• In the medieval period, Sultans of Delhi divided the kingdom into provinces and various officials such as Choudhry for settling disputes, and Patwari for collecting revenues were appointed with the help of the Sarpanch. unfortunately, during the British period, village panchayats became weak.

The Royal Commission in 1907 highlighted the significance of panchayats at the village level. During the post-independence period, Article 40 made the inclusion of panchayats. various committees such as Balwant Rai Mehta Committee, Ashok Mehta Committee, G V K Rao Committee were appointed to study the implementation of self-government. Let us look into these committees in brief:

• Balwant Rai Mehta Committee: Setup in 1957, the establishment of a local self government was a major suggestion of this committee. This local self government was known as Panchayati Raj. The other recommendations of the Balwant Rai committee were as follows:
  • Establishment of Panchayati raj in 3 tiers which will include: Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad.
  • Gram Panchayat should comprise of the members who are directly elected while the members who are indirectly elected should form the Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad.
  • Executive work shall be carried out by panchayat samiti whereas the advisory and supervisory tasks should be handled by Zila Parishad.
  • The chairman of the Zila Parishad should be the Deputy Collector of that particular district.
  • Appropriate resources should be provided to the Panchayati Raj system so that they can perform their duties properly and ensure the welfare of the people.
• Ashok Mehta Committee: Set up in 1977, the committee aimed to uplift the declining Panchayati Raj system. This committee gave the following suggestions:
  • A 2 tier system should be setup instead of the 3 tier system as proposed by Balwant Rai committee and this 2 tier system would consist of Zila Parishad and the Mandal Panchayat.
  • Planning at the district level should be the responsibility of the Zila Parishad.
  • Taxation powers should be given to both the tiers i.e. Zila Parishad and mandal Panchayat.
• G V K Rao Committee: Appointed in 1985, this committee made the following recommendations:
  • All the development programmes at the district level should be managed by the Zila Parishad which should also be democratically decentralised.
  • The task of implementation, planning and monitoring the rural development projects should be handled by the lower levels of Panchayat.
  • There should be a provision for the District Development Commissioner who would act as the CEO of Zila Parishad.
  • It must be ensured that the Panchayati Raj elections should be regularly held. 
• L M Singhvi Committee: Appointed in 1986, this committee made the following recommendations:
  • Constitutional recognition should be provided to the Panchayati raj system in India and a mechanism to conduct elections for the Panchayati Raj be provided in the constitution.
  • Village panchayats should be provided with more resources to ensure their smooth functioning.
  • All the matters and disputes related to the Panchayati raj and their elections should be handled by Judicial Tribunals in each state.