Special Gram Sabhas across India to Mark 2nd October with Discussions on Transformative Governance Reforms ; Launch People’s Plan Campaign 2026-27 ‘Sabki Yojana, Sabka Vikas’

1. At a Glance

• Special Gram Sabhas meet across India on 2 October 2026 (Gandhi Jayanti). They review flagship schemes and launch the People's Plan Campaign (PPC) 2026-27, under which Gram Panchayats prepare GPDPs for FY 2027-28 [1].
• The Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) runs the exercise with other Union Ministries and Departments, calling it a "Whole-of-Government approach" to grassroots development [1].
• It puts into practice Article 243G (Panchayats plan for economic development and social justice) and the 29 subjects of the Eleventh Schedule [2]. This links GS-II (local governance) with GS-III (inclusive growth).
• It is the first PPC cycle in which the new VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 (125-day guarantee, which replaces MGNREGA) is presented to Gram Sabhas, together with the Viksit Gram Panchayat Plan [1][3].

2. Why in the News

• 1 Oct 2026: MoPR announced Special Gram Sabhas on 2 Oct 2026 to discuss "transformative governance reforms" and launch PPC 2026-27 [1].
• Agenda items from several Ministries: Finance Commission grants, RGSA, eGramSwaraj, AuditOnline, OSR, SVAMITVA, PAI, VB-G RAM G, JJM, SBM(G), Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari, ONORC, PMGKAY, National Consumer Helpline, e-Jagriti, DILRMP and PMKSY-watershed [1].
• Awareness topics: the new criminal laws (BNS, BNSS, BSA), cooperatives, Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat, Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, and the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, discussed as Swachhata Hi Seva 2026 concludes [1].

3. Background & Evolution

• 1992: The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act created the three-tier Panchayati Raj system [2].
• Article 243G treats Panchayats as institutions of self-government and gives them the job of planning for economic development and social justice [2].
• 2 Oct 2018: PPC launched under the theme "Sabki Yojana, Sabka Vikas". It has run every year since in mission mode [2].
• Since 2018: SHGs prepare Village Prosperity and Resilience Plans (VPRPs), which feed into GPDPs [2].
• 2021: Union Minister Giriraj Singh launched PPC 2021 together with the Vibrant Gram Sabha Dashboard [7].
• 2024: The PM urged rural citizens to take part in the "Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas" Abhiyan [8].
• FY 2022-23 baseline: The first-ever Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) report was released [5]. PAI 2.0 (FY 2023-24) followed [6].
• 2 Oct 2025: PPC 2025-26 was launched for PDPs of FY 2026-27, with 20 line Ministries/Departments involved [2].
• 2025: The VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 received Presidential assent [4]. It took effect on 1 Jul 2026, and MGNREGA was repealed from the same date [3].
• 2 Oct 2026: PPC 2026-27 launched for GPDPs of FY 2027-28 [1].

4. Core Static Facts

Item	Fact
Campaign name	People's Plan Campaign: "Sabki Yojana, Sabka Vikas" [1][2]
Nodal ministry	Ministry of Panchayati Raj [1]
Constitutional base	Art. 243G plus the Eleventh Schedule (29 subjects), under the 73rd CAA, 1992 [2]
Plans prepared	GPDP (Gram Panchayat), BPDP (Block/Intermediate), DPDP (District) [2]
SDG localisation	The 17 SDGs are grouped into 9 LSDG themes [2]
Gram Panchayats uploading plans	More than 2.55 lakh GPs, on eGramSwaraj [1]
Cumulative plans uploaded (2019-20 to 2025-26, as on 29 Jul 2025)	>18.13 lakh PDPs: >17.73 lakh GPDPs, 35,755 BPDPs, 3,469 DPDPs [2]
Digital tools in PPC	eGramSwaraj, Meri Panchayat App, Panchayat NIRNAY, SabhaSaar, AuditOnline [1][2]
PAI framework	435 local indicators across 9 themes, aligned with MoSPI's National Indicator Framework [5]
PAI baseline (FY 22-23)	2,16,285 of 2,55,699 GPs submitted validated data. 699 Front Runners (0.3%), 77,298 Performers, 1,32,392 Aspirants, 5,896 Beginners [5]
PAI top States (baseline)	Gujarat (346 Front Runners), then Telangana (270) [5]
PAI 2.0	3,635 Panchayats were Front Runners [6]
VB-G RAM G guarantee	125 days of wage employment per rural household per FY (up from 100 days) [1][3]
VB-G RAM G commencement	1 Jul 2026. MGNREGA repealed from the same date [3]
VB-G RAM G fund sharing	90:10 for NE and Himalayan States; 60:40 for other States and UTs with a legislature; 100% Central for UTs without a legislature [3]
Agricultural pause	States may notify a pause of up to 60 days a year in peak sowing/harvest seasons. The 125-day guarantee still applies [4]
Viksit Gram Panchayat Plan (VGPP)	All works under the Act must come from VGPPs prepared by the GP and approved by the Gram Sabha [3]
Vision slogan	Sashakt, Atmanirbhar, Viksit Panchayats for Viksit Bharat [1]

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Constitutional / Legal

• Gives practical effect to Art. 243G and the Eleventh Schedule by making the Gram Sabha the place where plans are approved [2].
• Under VB-G RAM G, works are legally tied to Gram Sabha-approved VGPPs. This gives participatory planning a statutory basis, not just guidelines [3].
• Gram Sabhas also build awareness of the BNS, BNSS and BSA, so local bodies help spread legal literacy [1].

Governance / Federalism

• In the Whole-of-Government convergence model, Union Ministries direct their State counterparts to take part through Special Gram Sabhas. In 2025, 20 line Ministries/Departments were involved [1][2].
• Transparency tools: Public Information Boards, AuditOnline and eGramSwaraj. Gram Sabhas also review unspent Central Finance Commission grants [1][2].
• Evidence-based planning: PAI scores give the Gram Sabha a basis for choosing priorities and taking a "Sankalp" for the year [1].

Economic / Fiscal

• Own Source Revenue (OSR) is pushed as a way to reduce GPs' dependence on transfers [1][2].
• VB-G RAM G moves to 60:40 Centre-State cost-sharing for most States [3]. This has implications for State finances and fiscal federalism.
• DILRMP and SVAMITVA records support secure property rights and access to credit [1].

Social / Gender / Tribal

• PPC promotes gender-responsive governance through Women Elected Representatives, SHGs and VPRPs [2].
• PPC 2025-26 placed tribal empowerment under the Adi Karmayogi Abhiyaan [2].
• Child and women protection: Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat and Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan [1].

Environmental

• Water and sanitation agenda: JJM, SBM(G)/ODF Plus, Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari: Catch the Rain, revised watershed norms, and the SWM Rules, 2026 [1].

Administrative bottlenecks (analytical)

• Gram Sabha attendance and the quality of deliberation are uneven.
• PAI coverage is incomplete: 2,16,285 of 2,55,699 GPs submitted validated data at baseline [5]. Most GPs were in the Aspirant category (61.2%) [5], which points to capacity gaps that RGSA is meant to address [1].

6. Recent Developments (last 12-18 months)

• 2 Oct 2025: PPC 2025-26 launched through Special Gram Sabhas, for PDPs of FY 2026-27 [2].
• 2025: Presidential assent to the VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025 [4].
• 2026: PAI 2.0 report released, with 3,635 Front Runner Panchayats [6].
• 1 Jul 2026: VB-G RAM G Act in force across rural India, and MGNREGA repealed [3].
• 2 Oct 2026: Special Gram Sabhas launched PPC 2026-27 for GPDPs of FY 2027-28, with the SWM Rules, 2026 also discussed [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• PPC "Sabki Yojana, Sabka Vikas" was first launched on 2 October 2018 [2].
• PPC 2026-27 prepares GPDPs for FY 2027-28, one year ahead [1].
• Nodal ministry for PPC: Ministry of Panchayati Raj, not the Ministry of Rural Development [1].
• Panchayat planning comes from Article 243G and covers the 29 subjects of the Eleventh Schedule [2].
• More than 2.55 lakh GPs prepare and upload plans on eGramSwaraj [1].
• Over 17.73 lakh GPDPs were uploaded between 2019-20 and 2025-26 [2].
• MoPR groups the 17 SDGs into 9 LSDG themes [2].
• VPRPs are prepared by SHG federations and built into GPDPs [2].
• PAI uses 435 indicators across 9 themes, aligned with MoSPI's National Indicator Framework [5].
• In the PAI baseline (FY 2022-23), Gujarat had the most Front Runner GPs [5].
• VB-G RAM G guarantees 125 days of employment and came into force on 1 July 2026 [3].
• VB-G RAM G funding is 90:10 for NE and Himalayan States and 60:40 for other States [3].
• VB-G RAM G works must come from the Viksit Gram Panchayat Plan approved by the Gram Sabha [3].
• e-Jagriti and the National Consumer Helpline fall under the Department of Consumer Affairs [1].
• DILRMP falls under the Department of Land Resources [1].

8. Why a Village Plan Often Ends Up as a List of Works

• Uploading a plan does not prove the village made it
• The note counts more than 17.73 lakh GPDPs uploaded between 2019-20 and 2025-26 [2]. That number shows how many plans were uploaded. It says nothing about who actually decided what went into them.
• The CAG audited rural employment works in Haryana for 2019-24, test-checking 40 Gram Panchayats in 5 districts. It found that GPs "were only submitting lists of works" to the Block Development and Panchayat Officer. No real development plan was made [10].

• Works were then added or removed at the Block level "without any participation of the GPs" [10].

• Nobody could show that the people named in the rules were consulted

• MGNREGA guidelines said plans should come from talks with workers, SHGs, small farmers and agricultural labourers [10].
• The CAG found no record at GP level that any of these groups took part. It could not confirm they were ever consulted [10].

• The 2 Oct Gram Sabha can approve a plan, but approval is the last step. If the drafting happens elsewhere, the Gram Sabha only signs what officials have already chosen.

• "Convergence" was decided by officials, not by the Gram Sabha

• Convergence means joining funds from several schemes on one work. The rules required these works to be discussed in the Gram Sabha [10].
• In every district and block the CAG checked, the district and block programme officers chose these works with "no discussion" in the Gram Sabha [10].

• This matters because PPC 2026-27 is built on exactly this Whole-of-Government convergence idea [1].

• The higher-level plan was also missing

• District Perspective Plans (multi-year district plans that GP plans are meant to draw from) were not prepared in the districts the CAG checked [10].

9. Who Really Decides: the Gram Sabha or the National Master Plan?

• The law gives the Gram Sabha the final approval but limits its choices
• Under VB-G RAM G, all works must come from the Gram Sabha-approved VGPP [3].
• But the law limits works to four themes: water security, rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure, and protection against extreme weather [9].

• A village that wants something outside these four themes cannot pay for it under this Act.

• The plan is linked to a national map and a national total

• VGPPs will be integrated with the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (a central digital map of infrastructure) and also added up at the national level [9].
• A State Steering Committee merges district plans into State plans. A National Level Steering Committee recommends how much money each State gets [9].

• So the village plans the work, but the money for it is decided at the top.

• The government's case for central control, and what it gets right

• Supporters argue that a central map stops two schemes from building the same road or pond twice. They also argue that planning on a fixed budget is more predictable than a budget that moves with demand.
• This has some basis. Under the old system, the CAG found that District Perspective Plans were not made and that works were added or removed at the Block level [10]. Local planning on its own was not producing coordinated plans.
• But the answer to weak local planning was supposed to be stronger GPs, which is the purpose of RGSA [1]. Moving decisions up to the Centre gives up on that. Article 243G's idea of Panchayats as "institutions of self-government" [2] grows weaker when the list of allowed works and the size of the budget are both fixed from Delhi.

10. Why the 125-Day Promise Now Depends on State Budgets

• The Centre no longer pays all the wages
• Under MGNREGA, the Centre paid the full cost of unskilled wages and up to three-fourths of material cost [9].
• Under VB-G RAM G, wages, materials and admin costs are all shared 60:40 by Centre and State, except in NE and Himalayan States (90:10) [9][3].

• So the State now pays 40% of every wage rupee in most States. Before, it paid nothing towards wages.

• Any spending beyond the fixed allocation falls fully on the State

• The Centre sets a normative allocation (a fixed amount of money for each State, decided in advance by a formula) every year. The formula's parameters are left to Rules, not written into the Act [9].
• The State must pay for any spending above this amount [9]. The State also still pays the unemployment allowance and the compensation for late wages [9].

• If many people ask for work in a drought year, the extra cost falls on the State. This tempts a poor State to record less demand than there really is.

• States were already slow to pay, even when wages were Central money

• The CAG found that in Haryana, ₹2.69 crore in wages for 794 muster rolls was paid late, with delays of 1 to 552 days [10].
• Only 1 to 3% of households completed 100 days or more of work in the checked districts [10].
• Raising the promise to 125 days [3] means little if most households do not reach even 100 days, and States now have to pay a bigger share.

11. Social Audit: A Check That Rarely Leads to Action

• Many villages are not audited at all
• Social audit means villagers themselves check the records and the work done. The rules required one in every GP at least once in six months [10].

• In Haryana, between 15% and 36% of GPs were not audited in each year from 2019-20 to 2023-24 [10].

• When problems are found, almost nothing happens

• Haryana's Social Audit Unit raised 14,468 observations in 2019-24. Action was taken on only 117 of them. That leaves about 99% pending [10].

• The 2 Oct agenda asks Gram Sabhas to review schemes and unspent grants [1]. Without follow-up, such a review only produces a list of complaints that nobody acts on.

• The unit doing the audits has no staff and no money

• Only 3 of 11 sanctioned posts at headquarters were filled. All 165 district and block posts were vacant [10].

• The unit owed ₹509.26 lakh in unpaid honorarium. The Union Ministry had released only ₹296.41 lakh in grants [10].

• New technology does not replace people on the ground

• VB-G RAM G adds biometric checks, geospatial tracking, app dashboards and weekly public disclosure [9].
• These tools record data. Someone still has to act on it. The CAG found that no vigilance cell and no quality monitors were set up at any level in 2019-24 [10].

12. What Each Actor Should Do Next

• MoPR should measure whether the Gram Sabha decided, not just whether a plan was uploaded
• eGramSwaraj counts plans uploaded [1]. It should also record which works came from a Gram Sabha resolution and which were added later at Block or district level.

• The CAG found exactly this problem in Haryana: Block-level additions and deletions made without the GP [10].

• The Department of Rural Development should publish how normative allocations are calculated

• The Act leaves the formula to Rules [9]. If States can see the formula in advance, they can budget their 40% share and argue for changes before money is fixed.

• State governments should give Social Audit Units their own money and fill their posts

• Haryana's unit had 3 of 11 headquarters posts filled and a ₹509.26 lakh unpaid liability [10]. The State told the CAG it would clear this from its own Rural Development Fund [10]. This should be a fixed yearly budget line, not a one-time fix.

• Every social audit observation should come back to the next Gram Sabha with an action taken report.

• Use PAI to target capacity building, not just to rank villages

• 61.2% of GPs were "Aspirants" in the PAI baseline [5]. RGSA training should go first to these GPs, so they can draft their own VGPPs instead of sending lists to the Block.

13. Anchors for Answers

• Data: 14,468 social audit observations raised in Haryana in 2019-24, but action taken on only 117 (about 99% pending) [10]
• Data: In Haryana, 15–36% of GPs had no social audit in each year from 2019-20 to 2023-24 [10]
• Data: Only 1–3% of households completed 100+ days of work in the CAG's sample districts [10]
• Report/Committee: CAG Report No. 4 of 2026 (Haryana, Composite Audit – Civil), Performance Audit of MGNREGS: GPs "only submitting lists of works"; convergence works chosen by officials with no Gram Sabha discussion [10]
• Law/Case: Article 243G and the Eleventh Schedule [2]; VB-G RAM G Act, 2025: works only from Gram Sabha-approved VGPPs [3], States pay any spending beyond the normative allocation [9]
• Comparison: MGNREGA, 2005: Centre paid 100% of unskilled wages and up to 75% of material cost. VB-G RAM G: 60:40 sharing for everything, including wages [9]
• Scheme: Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan: capacity building for elected representatives, which Panchayats need to draft their own plans [1]

14. Mains Relevance

• GS-II: Devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and the challenges involved; government policies and interventions; Ministries and Departments.
• GS-III: Inclusive growth; rural employment; land reforms (DILRMP, SVAMITVA); water conservation.
• GS-IV (secondary): Citizen participation, transparency and accountability in governance.
• Possible questions: 1. "The Gram Sabha is the cornerstone of participatory democracy, yet it remains largely ceremonial." Assess this in light of the People's Plan Campaign. (15 marks) 2. How do evidence-based tools such as the Panchayat Advancement Index and eGramSwaraj change decentralised planning? Discuss their limits. (10 marks) 3. Examine whether linking statutory employment works to Gram Sabha-approved Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans strengthens or dilutes Panchayat autonomy. (15 marks)

15. Related Topics to Study Next

• 73rd CAA and the Eleventh Schedule: the constitutional basis for GPDPs.
• VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 vs MGNREGA, 2005: compare the guarantee, funding pattern and planning link.
• Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI 1.0 and 2.0): the evidence base for Gram Sabha priorities.
• Localisation of SDGs (9 themes): the thematic framework used in GPDPs.
• SVAMITVA and DILRMP: rural property records and access to credit.
• Finance Commission grants to local bodies and OSR: fiscal decentralisation of PRIs.
• Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan: capacity building for elected representatives.
• Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026 and SBM(G) ODF Plus: the environmental agenda in Gram Sabhas.

16. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Wrong ministry: PPC belongs to MoPR. VB-G RAM G belongs to the Department of Rural Development [1].
• Wrong year: PPC began in 2018, not 2021 [2]. PPC 2026-27 plans are for FY 2027-28, not 2026-27 [1].
• Outdated scheme: MGNREGA's 100 days was replaced by 125 days under VB-G RAM G, effective 1 Jul 2026 [3].
• Name mix-up: The Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) is not the same as the older name "Panchayat Development Index" [5].
• Different plans: GPDP, BPDP and DPDP are prepared by different tiers. VPRP is prepared by SHGs. VGPP is the VB-G RAM G works plan [2][3].