Implementation gaps: funds, functions, functionaries and parallel bodies

Detail

1. NCERT's balance sheet: what the 73rd Amendment achieved

• The gains.
• Conforming laws: every state passed a new panchayat law to match the 73rd Amendment, 1992 (Part IX, Articles 243 to 243O).
• Regular elections: most states had held two or three rounds of panchayat elections by 2004.
• Uniform structure: the same three-tier system now runs across states with more than 20 lakh people. The three tiers are the gram panchayat, the panchayat samiti and the zila parishad.

• New faces: reserved seats for women (at least one-third, Article 243D) and for SC/ST members (in proportion to their population) changed who sits on local bodies.

• The limits.

• Little autonomy (power to decide for themselves): most subjects have still not been handed over to panchayats.
• Little say: panchayats have little control over which programmes run in their area or how money is shared out.

• "Somewhat symbolic" elections: voters elect a body that has little real power.

• NCERT's verdict. Panchayats remain "agencies implementing the welfare and development schemes" of the Centre and the states. "The true test ... is in the practice."

• News collage in the chapter.
• In 2006, Union Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar found that Lakshadweep's panchayats were "mere appendages" (add-ons with no power of their own) of the bureaucracy.

• At a sarpanches' rally in Hyderabad, village heads demanded real powers and funds.

• Exercise 1 of the chapter tests self-government with five cases. Ask in each case whether the panchayat is really governing:

• a steel plant is planned, and the gram sabha demands to be consulted;
• 20% of state spending is routed through panchayats;
• a panchayat refuses tied funds (money that can be spent only on a fixed item) because it wants a school building instead;
• the village of Dungarpur is split up;
• young people revive the village ponds.

2. The three Fs of devolution

Devolution means the state hands real power over to local bodies, so they can decide and act on their own. It is more than delegation, where they only carry out orders. The three Fs of devolution are the three things a panchayat needs for real self-government: functions, funds and functionaries. If any one of them is missing, the elected body cannot work properly.

F	What the Constitution provides	What happens in practice
Functions	Article 243G: the state legislature may give panchayats powers over planning and over the 29 subjects in the Eleventh Schedule	It is only a "may", so the state can choose. Subjects are handed over on paper, but line departments (state departments such as education, health or irrigation) keep the real control.
Funds	Article 243H: the state may let panchayats levy taxes and give them grants. Article 243I: a State Finance Commission must be set up every 5 years. Article 280(3)(bb): the Union Finance Commission recommends extra money for panchayats.	Money is tied to schemes, bound by scheme rules and released late. Panchayats raise very little tax of their own.
Functionaries	No article requires the state to give panchayats their own staff	Staff report to their departments, not to the panchayat. One panchayat secretary often serves several gram panchayats (GPs).

3. Other limits on panchayat power

• Bureaucratic control.
• The Block Development Officer (BDO) controls the samiti level.
• The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the zila parishad is an officer chosen by the state, usually from the IAS.

• Elected leaders often need these officers' approval to act.

• State powers to suspend and supersede.

• State laws let the state suspend or remove sarpanchs and supersede (dissolve and replace) elected bodies.

• Article 243E gives panchayats a fixed five-year term. If a panchayat is dissolved early, a fresh election must be held within six months. This limits how long a superseded body can be run by officials.

• Capture and factions.

• Elite capture: local landowners or dominant castes control the panchayat.
• Caste capture: a reserved woman or Dalit sarpanch can still be controlled from behind the scenes.
• Factionalism: rival groups split the village. NCERT's cartoon asks whether factions are always bad. Rivalry can also mean competition and accountability.

4. Parallel bodies

Parallel bodies are agencies or committees that do panchayat-type work outside the elected panchayat. They either duplicate its work or bypass it, and they draw money and attention away from it.

• District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs).
• These were registered societies run by district officers.
• They handled centrally sponsored rural schemes separately from the zila parishad.

• Since 2022, DRDAs have been merged into zila parishads.

• User committees. These are single-purpose committees, often set up under scheme rules:

• village education committees (schools);
• water user associations (irrigation and drinking water);

• joint forest management committees (forests).

• SHG federations. These are networks of women's self-help groups (SHGs), small savings and credit groups. They are often funded directly under livelihood missions.

• MPLADS and MLALADS. These are local area development funds that MPs and MLAs use to choose works in their constituencies. The money goes around the elected panchayat.

Why parallel bodies matter:

• Money and decisions move away from the elected body → the gram sabha loses oversight → panchayats become weaker. This feeds the "mere appendages" problem.

5. Devolution Index, 2024 ranking (released 13 February 2025)

• What it is. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) published the report "Status of Devolution to Panchayats in States – An Indicative Evidence Based Ranking 2024". The Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi, prepared it [2][3][5].
• Release. Union Minister of State Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel released it in New Delhi on 13 February 2025 [2].
• Six dimensions scored: framework, functions, finances, functionaries, capacity building and accountability [2][5].

Dimension	Leading state
Framework (the mandatory legal set-up)	Kerala [4]
Functions	Tamil Nadu [4]
Finances	Karnataka [2]
Functionaries	Gujarat [4]
Capacity building	Gujarat
Accountability	Karnataka [2]

• Telangana leads on institutional strengthening.
• Overall rank. Karnataka is first, with a score of 72.23 [2].
• Top 10 states (score above 55). Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tripura, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh [2].
• National trend. Devolution to rural local bodies rose only from 39.9% to 43.9% between 2013-14 and 2021-22. That is 4 points in 8 years [4].
• This shows the three-Fs gap is still large three decades after 1993.

6. Reform agenda

• Second Administrative Reforms Commission (Second ARC), 6th Report "Local Governance" (2007). Its main proposals:
• Activity mapping: list exactly which tier does which task for each of the 29 subjects, so departments cannot hold on to them.
• Own staff: local bodies should have their own cadre of staff, answerable to them.
• District councils: one elected body for district-level planning.
• Audit: proper, timely audit of local bodies' accounts (Article 243J lets the state make rules on audit).

• Local-body ombudsman: an independent officer who hears complaints against local bodies and their officials.

• Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA).

• What it is: a centrally sponsored scheme (the Centre and the states share the cost) launched in 2018. It builds the governance capacity of panchayats.
• Revamp: the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a revamped RGSA for 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2026. This period matches the 15th Finance Commission period [6].
• Outlay: ₹5,911 crore, of which the Centre pays ₹3,700 crore and the states ₹2,211 crore [6].
• Reach: about 60 lakh elected representatives, functionaries and others benefit, in more than 2.78 lakh rural local bodies, including traditional bodies [6].
• Aim: to help panchayats deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that fall within their work [6].
• What it funds: training for elected representatives, panchayat bhawans (panchayat office buildings) and e-enablement (computers and online systems).

• After March 2026: the approved period ended on 31 March 2026. Whether the scheme continues in the 16th Finance Commission period (2026-31) is a point to track.

• Social audit.

• What it is: villagers check, in a public meeting, how scheme money was spent.
• Under MGNREGA, 2005 (Section 17), the gram sabha must hold regular social audits of works.

• This makes the panchayat answer downward to its voters, not only upward to officials.

• Benchmarks. Kerala and Karnataka are the high-devolution models. Kerala's People's Plan Campaign (1996) is covered in §11.

Prelims Hooks

• Article 243G + Eleventh Schedule = 29 subjects. Handing them over is optional for states ("may"), and this is the legal root of the "functions" gap.
• Article 243I: a State Finance Commission every 5 years. Article 280(3)(bb): the Union Finance Commission recommends money to support panchayats.
• Article 243E: a dissolved panchayat must be re-elected within six months. This limits supersession.
• Devolution Index (2024 ranking): prepared by IIPA and released 13 February 2025. It has six dimensions (framework, functions, finances, functionaries, capacity building and accountability). Karnataka is first (72.23) [2].
• Dimension leaders: Kerala for framework, Tamil Nadu for functions, Gujarat for functionaries, and Karnataka for finances and accountability [2][4].
• National devolution rose from 39.9% (2013-14) to 43.9% (2021-22) [4].
• Revamped RGSA: 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2026, ₹5,911 crore (Centre ₹3,700 crore). It is a centrally sponsored scheme, not a central sector scheme [6].
• Second ARC 6th Report (2007) = "Local Governance": activity mapping and a local-body ombudsman.
• Trap: DRDAs, user committees, SHG federations and MPLADS are parallel bodies. They are not tiers of PRIs under Part IX.
• Social audit by the gram sabha is required under Section 17 of MGNREGA, 2005.

Mains Points

• The "symbolic democracy" problem.
• The 73rd Amendment made panchayats mandatory but made devolution discretionary (Articles 243G and 243H).
• Thirty years on, the index has moved only from 39.9% to 43.9% [4]. Panchayats remain "agencies implementing" schemes, not self-governments.

• A good answer argues for activity mapping and untied funds, linked by law to State Finance Commission awards.

• Parallel bodies: trade-off.

• User committees and SHGs give user participation and expert focus.
• But they split accountability and starve elected bodies of money.

• Middle path: bring them under the panchayat as standing or sub-committees that report to the gram sabha.

• Functionaries as the binding limit.

• Without their own cadre, panchayats depend on BDOs, CEOs and line staff.
• The Second ARC's call for local-body staff, and Gujarat's lead on this dimension [4], show the way.

• Capacity schemes like RGSA [6] help, but training cannot replace control over staff.

• Accountability both ways.

• Upward controls (suspension, supersession) are often misused politically.
• Downward accountability (social audit, gram sabha, a local ombudsman) suits self-government better and also checks elite capture.
• Karnataka's lead on accountability [2] shows this works in practice.