Twenty Years of Panchayati Raj Institutions: Gains and Losses

Key findings from the discussions:

• The Constitutional Amendment Act in 1993 was introduced with the aim of deepening democracy, institutionalizing elected local governments across the country, broadening its representation through inclusion of marginalized sections (women, SCs, STs and OBCs), and ensuring economic development and social justice. The first panchayat elections in Bihar were held only in 2001, nearly a decade after the Act had been passed. Since then, panchayat elections have been conducted on time and without violence.

• PRI elections assume the shape of a festival in Bihar; every house has witnessed the growth of leadership and it has ensured better participation in the villages.

• Female ‘puppet’ candidacy under the guidance and dictates of male members still exists, but is much less when compared to other states across India.

• The issue of corruption has also been addressed and many welfare schemes have been introduced. Power and influence of landlords has reduced. The landless and socially powerless have entered politics, reflecting a huge change in power dynamics and deepening of democracy.

• Overall, leadership qualities, participation in village development and level of awareness have increased.

• The establishment of gram katchcharies is resulting in easy negotiation and settlement of local disputes.

• Empowerment of gram sabhas is the most important factor for the creation of an empowered PRI system, although lack of awareness of elected representatives has been an ensuing challenge. To address this, several training programmes have conducted in many panchayats; following these trainings, better and more meaningful participation in gram sabha meetings has be recorded. As against 2001, before the 2011-12 elections, it is seen that imposing agendas from the top for gram sabha meetings is no longer easy.

• Many participants felt that gram sabha meetings are organized only on paper and not in reality. Even the quorum is often not fulfilled and signatures are later collected fraudulently. The regular schedule for gram sabha meetings is not followed.

• Irrespective of the improvements, many gram sabhas fix agendas for meetings based on suggestions that come from the upper tiers of government. These meetings are becoming seats for discussing government schemes. It is important to question whether gram sabhas are just ‘agents’ of the state/central government or should they attempt to overcome these barriers and come forward to design their own plans and programmes. It is important to prioritize and incorporate people’s suggestions and recommendations through gram sabha meetings where planning for local development is concerned. On the whole, it is important to ensure increasing people’s participation in gram sabha meetings.

• Another challenge here is to create a favourable environment where the poor and the powerless can talk and participate freely in the meetings. This hardly happens, as common villagers are hesitant to speak up in front of influential villagers. The gram sabha can only be empowered if sensitization is done as per the local culture and culture varies from district to district in Bihar.

• For the purpose of deepening democracy, further decentralization is required. Better use of mechanisms like social audit, etc., is very important.

• Improper utilization of funds is one of the biggest challenges for PRIs. In Bihar, on an average, only 30 per cent of the allotted funds are actually utilized annually by the PRIs. Hence, emphasis should be given on monitoring utilization of funds by the mukhiyas (village heads) as well as the panchayat samities.

• Provision for the creation of standing committees exists in the constitution, yet these are hardly formed. Only education committees and related Shiksha Mitra Schemes are popular. There is an urgent need to create and strengthen the other standing committees, especially the ones for social justice, in order to ensure socio-economic justice and development among all villagers.

• Gram katchcharies have been formed but regulations for its functioning have not been properly framed. The government should come forward and facilitate the creation of the required rules, which in turn will help in empowering gram katchcharies.

• The functioning of the vigilance committee was also questioned.

• Mukhiyas are seen to act more as contractors of the government. Most of the decisions are made at the block offices; the mukhiyas play a minimal role in this. Absence of gram sevaks from the villages, who mostly reside in nearby cities, is yet another dichotomy.

• Politicization of the panchayats hampers the overall development of the village as parochial and vested interests of different political parties get reflected through the panchayats.

• The method of utilization of funds allotted for various government schemes should be left to the discretion of the PRI as it would help in developing a ‘bottom-up’ approach as far as local planning is concerned.

• It was suggested that special gram sabha meetings should be organized before preparation of the budget. Some of the important resolutions/plans of the gram sabhas could be included in the state plan and budget. This will strengthen the importance of gram sabhas.

• It is also important to reassess the quality of the training programmes conducted for elected representatives. At present, most of the training programmes reflect either the government or World Bank perspectives; there is a need to change this perspective and emphasize trainings based on the village language/culture and needs/requirements of the village. It is important to develop the capacities of elected representatives such that they are empowered to properly utilize the allotted funds as well as execute the responsibilities assigned to them.

• IT-enabled panchayats will probably remain a dream if strong electricity back-up is not provided and villagers are not adequately trained. Involvement and training of educated unemployed youth from the villages can help in the creation of IT-enabled panchayats.

• For integrated inclusive development, there is need to train local people who have holistic understanding of village realities. The government can involve local civil society organizations in this process. Since elected representatives have different socio-economic and educational status, there is a need to develop different models for training them.

• There is also need to focus on the ’monitoring’ role of panchayats. With the help of proper follow-up, panchayats can get rid themselves of the ‘contractor-ship’ image.

• There is lack of political will in strengthening and empowering the PRI system.

• The minister informed the audience that the state government has plans to build a panchayat bhavan in every panchayat by 2017 in order to house all the panchayat level functionaries together, which in turn will facilitate integrated planning and functioning.

• On the whole, the workshop participants agreed that Bihar has taken a step forward and made some limited progress in deepening democracy through the PRI system. However, it cannot be denied that there is much room for further development.