2 Panchayati Raj

8/7/2019 2 Panchayati Raj

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Index

1. Introduction 12. Vision, Objectives and Functions 2

3. Assessment of the situation 3

4. SWOT analysis 6

5. Strategy to enhance strengths and opportunities 7

A. Devolving 3Fs upon the Panchayati Raj Institutions 7

B. Building capacity of the Panchayati Raj Institutions 9

C. Devising institutions, systems and processes for enhancing

efficiency, transparency and accountability 13

D. Empowering the Gram Sabhas 14

E. Institutionalising integrated decentralised participatory planning 16

F. Mitigating regional backwardness 18

G. Institutionalising panchayat level dispute resolution mechanism 19

6. Implementation Plan 20

A. Financial Assistance 20

B. Improving financial strength 21

C. Technical Assistance 22

D. Research and Education 22

E. Advocacy for changing Policy and Legal Framework 23

F. Synergise media campaign with other policy instruments 24

7. Linkages between Strategic Plan and RFD 25

8. Cross departmental and cross functional issues 25

9. Monitoring and Reviewing arrangements 25

10. References 27


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Strategic Options for Improving Results of the Ministry of Panchayati

Raj

D. S. Misra & R.M. Srivastava

Introduction

Indias economy is striving to touch double digit annual growth rate but

it also continues to be the homeland of around one third of the world's poor.

Therefore, Indian Government attaches highest priority to the agenda of broad

based inclusive growth, which is vital to achieve the over all progress of the

country. This can be brought about only if governance is inclusive by ensuring

active and effective participation of all sections of society at every level of

government Union, State and local as well as through responsible organs

of civil society working to enhance social capital for public good. The Eleventh

Five-year plan, which has identified inclusive growth as an overarching

objective, seeks to substantially empower and use Panchayati Raj

Institutions (PRIs) as the primary means of delivery of essential services

that are critical to inclusive growth. This is essential for deepening of

democracy, ensuring efficient implementation of development programmes

and delivery of basic services at the local level.

It is a matter of deep concern that even after seventeen years since the

enactment of the Constitution 73rd amendment, the progress towards its

implementation is very slow and uneven among the States. Similarly, central

Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act 1996 (PESA), which has

extended Panchayati Raj to the Fifth Schedule Areas has not been yet

implemented fully in letter and spirit. The 73rd Amendment was passed on the

basis of general consensus and was also ratified by more than half of the

State Legislatures. However, it is clear that the political intent and consensus

that led to the major step of giving constitutional status and rights to local self

government, has been dismally lacking in implementation at the Union and

State Government levels. There is a prevalent attitude that since these

matters are largely within the State List, the implementation of the provisions


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can be regarded as discretionary. The Union Government has also given the

impression that the substance and pace of implementation of the

Constitutional provisions are to be determined by considerations of political

equations and sensitivities. These views are constitutionally untenable.

Expectations of a significantly extended role for elected Local Governments

(LGs) in planning and implementing local level development schemes have

been belied. Continued failure to empower local governments will have

serious consequences of not only flouting the Constitution but also breeding

popular resentment.

Purpose of the Strategy Document

This paper provides a limited overview of the MoPR's activities and the

problems and challenges the Ministry has had to tackle in the past few years.

Its purpose is to provide an analysis of the current status and trends and

suggest strategic options for achieving the long term goals of the Ministry.

I. Vision, Objectives and Functions

1. Vision

Enabling the PRIs to function as the institutions of self government and

thereby achieve the goals of inclusive governance and growth. Gram Swaraj

was the dream of Mahatma Gandhi through Power to the People.

2. Objectives

A. Devolving Functions, Funds and Functionaries (3Fs) upon the

Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).

B. Building capacity of the PRIs so that they can perform their

mandated roles effectively.


efficiency, transparency and accountability of the PRIs.


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D. Empowering the Gram Sabhas in general and in PESA areas in

particular.

E. Institutionalizing integrated decentralised participatory planning.

F. Mitigating regional backwardness through people-centric

governance and people-centric planning & implementation.

G. Institutionalizing Panchayat level dispute resolution mechanism.

3. Functions

The Ministry is mandated to look after the work relating to monitoring

the implementation of Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1993, the

Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA), and Article

243 ZD in part IXA of Constitution relating to District Planning Committees

(DPCs).

The Ministry has identified 10 key objectives for the assigned mandate

and proposed a set of actions for achievement of each objective in the Result

Framework Document 2010-11. These objectives mostly cover the Longterm

outcome goals and results that are required to realise the vision. The RFD

document along with the Annual report (2009-10) of the Ministry also provides

a good understanding of the problems and challenges the Ministry has had to

tackle in the past few years and also the basis for analysis of the current

status.

II. Assessment of the situation

1. Current Status

The political empowerment has been established through a system of

regular PRI elections with seat reservation for SCs, STs and women (OBCs in

many States) in all the States and Union Territories where Part IX of the

Constitution is applicable. However, the delay in conducting timely elections in


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some cases still remains an issue to be resolved. State Election Commission

and State Finance Commissions have been set up in all States.

Functions

It is a matter of deep concern that even after over seventeen years

since the enactment of the Constitution 73rd amendment, progress towards

devolution of 3Fs upon the Panchayats is very slow and uneven among the

States. Activity mapping continues to be work-in-progress even after 18 years

of 73rd CAA. Many States have transferred the functions. However most of

these transfers remain on paper without the support of adequate funding and

functionaries. Most of the States have designed the block Panchayats to be

weak. The activity mapping helps in clearly articulating the roles of different

levels of government in the provision of key public services. However, many

States have not even completed the activity mapping. As a result, there is no

clear demarcation of functions between the three tiers of the Panchayats.

Some States have withdrawn the devolved functions whereas devolution is

being re-examined by some States. Therefore, it is difficult to develop an

accountable system under such a confusing and uncertain situation.

Functionaries

Functionaries of even transferred functions have not been transferred

to PRIs. Transfer of functionaries is mostly at GP (Gram Panchayat) level.

Some personnel control functions have been devolved such as writing of

ACRs, attendance certification, etc. It is important to estimate the number and

type of human resources required by the PRIs to effectively perform the

functions assigned to them. It is important to consider option of outsourcing in

order to reduce permanent hiring. In many areas the Governments would

have to invest in creating local market of human resources with skill sets

required by the PRIs. Unfortunately, the focus of the Ministry has been on

persuading State Governments to transfer permanent functionaries which

should have been complemented with the technical and financial assistance


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for human resource planning and creation of market. The Ministry has recently

started promoting outsourcing and Public Private Partnership models for

supporting core functions of the PRIs such as Technical Support Institutions

have been engaged to assist PRIs in planning.

Funds

All States have not opened Panchayat sector window in the budget

document. The sources of PRIs finances include own source taxes,

borrowing, Centrally Sponsored Schemes; and devolution and grants from

National Finance Commission and State Finance Commission. The budget

transferred to the PRIs on recommendations of the Central and State Finance

Commissions are highly inadequate and not at all commensurate with their

proposed responsibilities. Contribution of own revenue in the total expenditure

of the PRI is also very low (6.8% in 2002-03).

The NIRD along with 28 SIRD and over 90 ETC are engaged across

the country in building capacity of the PRI and rural development

functionaries. These institutions are also being supported by a number of

other government and non government supported institutions. However, allthese institutions have been able to provide induction training to only small

percentage of the target group. The number of training to be conducted in the

future would increase considerably with the decreasing shelf life of

knowledge and accelerated rate at which new issues are emerging.

The SIRDs were identified as the lynchpin service providers in many

States and tasked to coordinate the supply of capacity development services.

A substantial amount of resources committed for the capacity development

under BRGF has not been utilised. This is a manifestation of the weak

capacity of SIRDs.


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2.SWOT Analysis

Strengths

a. Constitutional status and backing

b. Structure is ensured

c. Periodic elections are mandatory

d. Representation for weaker sections (SCs/ STs/ Women) ensured

through reservation. Some States have reservation for OBCs

Weaknesses

a. Lack of financial resources

b. Lack of trained manpower

c. Arbitrary exercise of powers and failure to observe the Rule of Law

d. Very little real powers in each subject area due to poor delegation

e. Over assumption of powers for political reasons

f. Lack of public awareness and vigilance

Opportunitiesa. To undertake integrated local development using local resources

b. Involvement and participation of people

c. Responsive administration and improvement in quality of service to

the people

d. Training of political workers in leadership

e. Self-help and community cooperation

Threats

a. Reluctance of politicians and bureaucrats to give up power


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b. Failure to accept the imperatives of a multi-party system manifested

in intolerance of Panchayats which do not toe the line of the ruling

party at State level

c. Resistance of govt. dept. functionaries to work under elected local

authorities

III. Strategy to enhance strengths and opportunities

A. Devolving Functions, Funds and Functionaries (3Fs) upon the

Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).

The Union Government has given the impression that the devolution is

the duty of State governments as the subject is in the State List. However, the

schematic designs of the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) are not in

congruence with the spirit of the 73 rd amendment of the Constitution. Around

11 CSS account for more than 70% of funds under CSS and all these

Flagship Programmes are in the domain of subjects devolved to Panchayati

Raj Institutions as per the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act.

Table-1 Major flagship programmes under CSSs

S.N. Name of FlagshipProgramme All India(Rs. in crores)

2008-09 2009-10

1. MGNREGA 29940 39100

2. SGSY 2020 2350

3. IAY 5646 8800

4. SSA 13100 13100

5. MDMS 8000 80006. Drinking Water 7500 8000

7. Rural Sanitation 1200 1200

7. RKVY 3166 6700

8. NRHM 9192 12070

9. BRGF 4670 4670

10 PMGSY 12000 1200011. ICDS 6300 6705

Total 1,02,734 1,19,195

Source: Planning Commission and Ministries concerned


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The experience suggests that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural

Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and Backward Region Grant Fund

(BRGF) have strengthened decentralized planning and implementation by

making Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), the implementing agency for the

scheme. Besides providing funds, these schemes have also provided

functionaries to the PRIs. According to the First Independent Review Mission

for the BRGF (MoPR, 2009), it has contributed to improvements in the

governance performance and functioning of the entire system of PRI,

including emerging empowerment of the PRIs and communities.

At present, most of the CSSs are implemented through a set of

guidelines and by separate set of administrative and institutional mechanisms

overlooking PRI whereas the CSS could have been used to influence State

Governments and further facilitate the process of decentralisation. The MoPR

has been making concerted effort to persuade the Central Ministries for

amending the scheme guidelines to provide central role to the PRI in the

implementation of CSS. These efforts have not provided the desired result.

Suggested Strategic Interventions

Persuade other Ministries to revise CSS guidelines:

i. For providing central role of PRIs in planning and

implementation of CSS,

ii. Progressively increasing share of untied fund in CSS

and

iii. Making provision for administrative costs in all CSS

Scope & magnitude of taxes assigned to be widened

Share of expenditure of Local Governments in GDP andPublic Expenditure to be increased


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B. Building capacity of the PRIs so that they can perform their

mandated roles effectively.

The enormity of the recurring task of capacity building could be

understood from the fact that around 28 lakh elected representatives at Gram

Panchayat, block and district levels need to be trained. Of these elected

representatives, over 10 lakh are women, 5.2 lakh belong to the Scheduled

Castes and 3.3 lakh to the Scheduled Tribes. The number of elected women

representatives is likely to increase substantially in the near future after

implementation of the 50% reservation for the women in some of the States. A

large turnover of elected representatives following elections after every five

years also makes the task of capacity development very challenging.

Table 2: Number of Elected Representatives in the three tiers

Panchayats

Category PRINo.

General SC ST Total Women

VillagePanchayats 232913 1851166 490986 314324 2656476 975116IntermediateBlock levelPanchayats 6094 112371 32898 11340 156609 58094District

Panchayat 537 11311 2734 1649 15694 5779Grant Total

239544 1974848 526618 327313 2828779 1038989

Source: The State of the Panchayats, 2008, MOPR, GOI

The estimated number of PRI functionaries and rural development

officials associated with functions devolved to Panchayats would be around

16 lakhs.

Table-3: Estimated number of RD functionaries requiring training

Category OfficialsCentre/State Level 3,600District Level 27,500Block Level 2,70,000GP Level 15,98,90

0Total 1900000Effective number of functionaries for training 16,00,00

0


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Source: NIRD, 2006

According to the Guidelines issued by the Planning Commission for the

district plans in the Eleventh Five Year Plan, the sum total of the outlay on

District Plans in a State may be around 40 percent of the gross State plan

outlay. It is expected that in the coming years, the PRIs would be

implementing development schemes and programmes worth over Rs. 1.5 lakh

crore. To perform such large scale responsibilities, the PRIs need to have

adequate capacities, in terms of number as well quality of manpower. If the

number of representatives of the Civil Society Organisations are added, who

would be required for effective implementation of the schemes, then around 1

crore persons would be required to be trained. Many experts have

emphasized the need for capacity building of the PRIs so that they could

effectively perform the responsibilities entrusted to them (MoPR 2009 & World

Bank, 2000).

The quality of training has been another area of concern across the

country. Only improved quality of research will provide the institutes with the

ability to organize quality training program and respond to the emerging

problems of the rural development.

The mandate, size, efficiency and independence of SIRDs and ETCs

vary significantly from one State to the other. Given the magnitude of capacity

building of PRIs and the challenges facing rural development, most of them

can be said to be in need of strengthening. At the same time, there is a lot that

these institutions can share and learn from each other. There is also scope for

developing linkages with other public private and non governmental

institutions.

The BRGF has adopted the National Capability Building Framework

(NCBF) which envisages strengthening of institutional arrangements,

including the infrastructure as well as software support for capacity building of

elected representatives, the functionaries and other stakeholders of PRIs and


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thereby improving the vigour of grassroots level democracy. The NCBF

provided for the first time a comprehensive guide to planning and

implementing capacity development investments for local governments. While

the NCBF is being supported by the BRGF, it also provides a potential

framework for capacity building components of other programs of the

Panchayati raj and rural development. Unlike other programs where the

budgets for capacity development are exclusively for training, the NCBF

supported some of the critical gaps other than training that are necessary for

the capacity development of local governments. It made provision to access

technical support and also for availing services to cover the functional gaps at

the PRI level. Most of the States have started using a combination of e-based

learning approaches including establishing satellite training centres, video

conferencing facilities and telephone help lines and provision training using

the cascading model (MoPR 2009). The NCBF is still far too focused on

individual training and may not entirely address organisational or institutional

capacity gaps.

The underutilisation of resources available under the flagship programs

of rural development suggests that investing in capacities of local

governments is prerequisite to investing in rural development. There is a needto provide appropriate attention to the institution building that is sine qua non

to the process of nurturing and making SIRDs self sufficient and self

sustaining.Civil society organisationsand private sector actors also have an

important role to play in developing capacities for local governance. These

actors might play their roles independently but they should also actively seek

to complement, reinforce or give constructive feedback to one another. Only

then harmonisation and alignment with other actors will truly materialise

(Akrimi and Nibbering, 2008). Some States availed the services of not-for-

profit and profit organisations to meet the capacity development demands.

The supply side problems such as inadequate number of quality service

providers, quality of services and coordination related issues need to be

addressed by creating opportunities to empower national and local actors.

There is need for national level lynchpin service provider with the mandate to


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coordinate national level activities and facilitate collaboration among capacity

development service providers dispersed across the country. This

arrangement would help in facilitating cross learning, minimising the costs of

services, improving the quality of Capacity Development (CD) services and

developing a common monitoring and evaluation approach. The NIRD may be

recognised as a lynchpin service provider and secretariat for the national

consortium for the capacity service providers for local governments.

The NCBF does not require the States to conduct a capacity needs

assessment for each district, which is a major flaw (MoPR 2009). A

Framework that emphasizes stakeholders engagement in capacity

development assessment and planning would be grounded in the specificneeds of the local government and also improve ownership of the plan. The

report of the first independent review mission for BRGF recommends

developing format/template and guidelines for Capacity Needs Assessment

for capacity development planning while allowing flexibility and innovation at

State level (MoPR 2009). Therefore, there is need to revisit and revise the

NCBF and address some of the concerns discussed above.


Capacity needs assessment for each State and district could be made

mandatory under the BRGF for adoption of the demand driven

approach to capacity development.

Set up national consortium for the capacity service providers for PRIs

for improving coordination among service providers.

Pursue other Ministries to provide at least 1% of CSS for capacity

development

Provide technical assistance to States for Cadre Management ofofficials of PRIs

Incentivise creative use of market for filling the critical gaps in human

resources.


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efficiency, transparency and accountability of the PRIs.

Most States do not have a clear and detailed Panchayat window giving

details of the budgetary transfers earmarked for each PRI. The intervention istargeted to improve the financial discipline of the PRIs, which has remained

an area of concern. The e-readiness of the Panchayats needed for the

adoption of the proposed system varies extensively in the country. Some of

the challenges that are difficult to resolve in the near future include reliable

power supply and broadband connectivity; and availability of skilled manpower

needed for the system at the Gram Panchayat level. It is important to note that

quite a few States like MP and Chhattisgarh have tiny Gram Panchayats

(GPs) with average population of less than 2000. They are administrativelyunviable units especially for introduction of e-governance purposes. The cost

of capacitating the GPs would put enormous burden on the States exchequer.

The Ministry has not specified actions to deal with these uncertainties. Many

Gram Panchayats do not possess computers and some of the GPs do not

have building. The budgetary allocation made for the e-Panchayat in 2010-11

is only Rs 21.60 crores, which appears to be highly insufficient for

implementation in 10 States (target for the year) in view of the challenges

discussed above.

Many schemes recognize the central role of Gram Sabha in planning

and social audit however all schemes do not lay equal emphasis despite of

the fact that it has helped in improving the performance of the schemes.

Social audit should be made mandatory in all schemes. The follow up action

on Social Audit reports is also an area of concern in most of the States.


Provide Technical Assistance for resizing and staff sharing among GPs

Create disincentive for not opening PRI window

Convergence with other schemes for e-readiness of Panchayats

Pursue amendment in CSS for mandatory provision for social audit


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D. Empowering the Gram Sabhas in general and in PESA areas in

particular.

The PESA have not been fully adopted by the State governments,

which could have substantially strengthened Gram Sabhas. Contribution of

own revenue in the total expenditure of PRIs is very low; therefore the GPs

depend on others to implement the decisions of Gram Sabha. Thus, people in

general are not inclined to attend the meetings of the Gram Sabha.

Attendance and meeting quorum requirements for Gram Sabha continues to

be the major challenge in most of the States. Political and social forces in

villages are not conducive for participation of women, youth and marginalized

sections of the society in most of the States although it varies from State toState. Several studies have reported elite capture of PRI and other village

level organizations which restrict participation of the marginalized sections of

the society in Gram Sabha. Dissent voices especially from the weaker

sections are not welcomed by the elites therefore women, youth and other

marginalized sections of the society refrain from speaking in public meeting.

Experience has shown that elected women representatives face

significant hurdles in exercising their authority as Panchayat representatives.

The studies have shown that elected women representatives (EWRs),

particularly from SC and ST communities, face enormous discriminations in

performing their public roles effectively. An emerging process of supporting

the EWRs has been the formation of "federations", at block, district and even

the State level. This has come about from various sources-some through the

initiative of the State governments while others through civil society initiatives.

The Union Government has also sought to give impetus to federations of

EWRs through the Panchayat Mahila Shakti Abhiyan (PMSA).

A number of federations have been created - some of them are

effectively functioning while majority are either dormant or ineffective. They

have operated at different scales, some at block level, others at district and a


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few have been able to grow up to the State level. However, there are now

multiple attempts towards creating EWR federations across the country and it

seems to be an accepted method to build the capacity of the women to voice

their concerns.

Federations of elected women leaders have served a purpose in

political empowerment of women and in strengthening of local self

governments. But the investment made by the MoPR for this purpose is too

meagre to make any significant impact. Some donor agencies and NGOs

have also made efforts in organising EWRs. However, such efforts have been

made in only a few States.

The Ministry of Panchayati Rajdesignated 2010 as the year of Gram

Sabhas to spread awareness about role and responsibilities of the Gram

Sabha. Awareness campaigns with the help of TV, Radio, Kala Jatha, etc.

were organised across the country to enhance participation of people in the

Gram Sabhas. Providing new knowledge and information to the community

could facilitate levelling the power asymmetric situation of the rural India

leading to alteration of the societys decision-making framework or belief

systems. Social audit by the Gram Sabha and Right to Information has

helped in changing power relations and the dynamics of decision-making

equation in many areas.

The level of participation the Gram Sabha varies greatly from place to

place. There is only anecdotal evidence to suggest that the level of

participation in the Gram Sabhas meetings has gradually improved in all

States due to emphasis on Gram Sabha meetings given in the BRGF scheme

for planning process.

There is also lack of coordination between different levels of

government in information dissemination. There is need to develop integrated


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information dissemination system for rural development which would allow

developing synergy in multi level, multi sectoral, multi modal dissemination of

information and knowledge strategically targeting the marginalised sections of

the society.


Pursue States to adopt model rules for PESA

Develop synergy in multi level, multi sectoral, multi modal

dissemination of information and knowledge

Strategically target the marginalised sections of the society

Increase budgetary allocation for promoting networking of women

E. Institutionalizing integrated decentralised participatory planning.

Various parallel Societies, Agencies, Committees and Missions have

been created by central and State ministries and departments to implement

specific schemes that fall in the Panchayat domain. The emergence and

proliferation of these parallel bodies is widely being recognised as one of the

major constraints for convergence as they nurture the culture of working in

silos. There is limited substantive or structural interaction between parallel

bodies and PRIs which limits the scope of convergence.

Pre requisite for convergence would require moving from sectoral

planning to preparation of one plan for the area. The BRGF supports

decentralised district planning, but experience shows that it has, to a large

extent, failed to facilitate convergence in planning. According to the First

independent review of the BRGF, the lack of convergence is prone to the

following problems:

a. inefficiencies in coverage of the critical gaps in service delivery;

b. overlapping investments; and,

c. increased fiduciary risks as some projects may be accounted for

twice.


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Despite the fact that in some districts DPCs meet sporadically, the

requirement by the BRGF to have the DPC formed and plans approved before

funds are released has supported the implementation of the Constitutional

Mandate for DPCs (Report of the 1st Independent Review Mission).

Competition among the following to capture planning process has been

observed in the field.

a. Between elected representatives & bureaucracy

b. Between different layers of governance

c. Within bureaucracy

d. Within Elected Representatives

The planning process to a large extent is driven by the political

rationality in the absence of limited reliability of information and limited

capacity to draw valid interpretation partly due to ineffective communication

which leads to lack of shared interpretation and isolated analysis of problems.

It is difficult to get a decision supported by facts and figures in such an

environment. Weak capacity of the planning secretariats with inadequate staff

in both numbers and skills coupled with sub-optimal support from Technical

Support Institutions (TSIs) allows political rationality to dominate overtechnical rationality.


Plan change management in partnership with the Planning

Commission

All CSS plan to be integrated with the BRGF planning

Progressively move towards one plan & one uniform MIS for each unit

of PRI

Enhanced thrust on capacity development for planning

Technical assistance to the States for developing decision support

system


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F. Mitigating regional backwardness through people-centric

governance and people-centric planning & implementation.

The approach of the scheme of putting the Panchayats at the centre

stage of tackling chronic regional backwardness by making available untied

fund has helped in strengthening PRI although the financial allocation to the

scheme is too small to make any significant impact. It has positively

influenced the decentralised planning process and management of finance in

PRIs. The scheme should continue focussing on these critical areas for

strengthening PRIs. The first independent review of the scheme has provided

suggestion for improving Program Management and Monitoring & Evaluationof the scheme which could be implemented to improve the performance of the

scheme.

There is a growing realization that the local governments are best

placed to address the basic causes of backwardness and promote poverty

alleviation and rural prosperity. The BRGF tries to address backwardness

through PRIs/ULBs therefore the indicators identified for defining

backwardness should be related to the functions devolved to the local

governments. This would also help in assessing the performance of the

program and capacity of the local governments in future. The indicators of

backwardness should also be a subset of Millennium Development Goals

(MDG) indicators as it defines the globally accepted minimum level of

development. The ideal approach would be to have agreements with the

States on the district/block wise development targets and provide untied funds

and establish a robust system of scrutiny for monitoring the achievements like

local area agreements of UK.

If the Ministry adopts development block as the unit for addressing

backwardness then the State governments may be encouraged to establish a

separate fund for addressing intra block disparity by making provision for the

matching grant like RGSY. The DPC may be authorized to identify criteria of


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backwardness and take initiatives for removing intra block disparity. This

would not only allow vernacular understanding of the development, disparity

and backwardness but also develop the capacity of the local governments for

measuring backwardness. The revision of backwardness index and

incentivising States to set up untied fund for tackling intra block disparity could

be included in the action plan of the Ministry to improve the realisation of the

scheme objective.


Improve program management of BRGF and pursue budgetary

enhancement

Evolve consensus on measurement of backwardness & unit

Create incentives for States to setup similar funds for addressing intra

block disparity

G. Institutionalizing Panchayat level dispute resolution mechanism.

Certain States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh

and Himachal Pradesh have already made provisions for establishing Nyaya

Panchayats (again in many States). It is important to note that the powers of

hearing and disposing off the cases under sections 248 and 250 of the

Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Code, 1959 from village courts (Gram

Nyayalayas) were withdrawn in the year 2005 and placed again under the

exclusive jurisdiction of Tehsildar. This bill was introduced under the pretext

that the Gram Nyayalayas do not posses enough capacity for dealing with

these provisions. The NCBF do not provide resources for building capacity of

the gram Nyayalayas. The Ministry could have used above mentioned States

for learning, which could have provided understanding of challenges in

capacitating the upcoming Nyaya Panchayats. It is evident from the

experiences that enactment is easier than execution for realising the intended

objectives in the absence of requisite capacity with the executing apparatus.


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Provision for capacity development of existing NP under BRGF

Technical Assistance to States for preparatory work

Plan media campaign to be launched after enactment

IV. Implementation Plan

The Ministry has adopted a range of policy tools to strengthen PRIs

that includes financial assistance, technical assistance, research & education;

and advocacy for changing in policy and legal framework.

A. Financial Assistance

Financial Assistance is one of the most powerful policy instruments that

can significantly influence the decisions of the stakeholders although it also

depends on the size and type of assistance. According to the first independent

review mission the BRGF has positively influenced the decentralized planning,

participation in the Gram Sabha and capacity of the elected representatives

and PRIs. The Ministry has wisely used the BRGF for quasi regulatory

purposes for constitution of the DPC and adoption of the Plan Plus. The

Ministry also rewards devolution but the amount is too meagre to make any

significant impact. The total outlay of the Ministry for the year 2010-11 is Rs.

5170 crores, which includes Rs. 5050.00 crores of the BRGF. The Ministry will

continue to have limited powers to influence the decisions of stakeholders with

weak power of the purse. Strategic partnership or merger with the MoRD

seems to be the two options that could provide financial teeth to the Ministry.

The role of Panchayat in National Policies related to 29 subjects should be

clearly articulated in the spirit of 73rd CAA. The strength of PRIs will be

contingent upon provision for adequate fiscal transfers to match functional

responsibilities, which will depend on the size of its own resources and

transfer of untied fund from the Central and the State Governments. The

scope and magnitude of taxes assigned to PRIs should be widened to match

the responsibilities. The share of Local Governments expenditure in GDP and


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Public Expenditure in India has been 1.6 % and 5.5% respectively (year

2002). Similarly, the contribution of own revenue in the total expenditure of the

PRI in 2002-03 has been 6.8%, which is fairly low in comparison to other

countries (Shah and Shah, 2006). However, actions for these changes have

not been included in the list of proposed actions in the Ministrys RFD 2010-

11. The time required for changes in some policies that require resolution of

conflicts with powerful groups could be more than a year.

Financial assistance has been the most effective tool although its

effectiveness depends on size. The reward for devolution is small therefore it

has not been effective whereas withholding release of the BRGF grant has

helped in setting up DPC in many States. The provision of untied grant has

positively influenced participatory planning. The budgetary allocation to the

MoPR is very small. Therefore, there is need to pursue partnership with other

Ministries to increase financial power.

B. Improving Financial Strength

Setting up an independent Ministry of Panchayati Raj has certainly

helped in gaining importance of the PRI related issues in political agenda of

the country. Nonetheless, the financial powers of the Ministry are weak, as

major budgetary provisions for the rural areas are controlled by the MoRD.

The Ministry would have to make efforts to progressively expand the range of

functional partnership needed to increase financial power. This could be done

in a phased manner.

Stage 1: Partnership with MoRD

It is important for long-term partnership to have a shared vision and

strategy; appropriate structural linkages and interdependent system.

Stage 2: Partnership with Health, Women & Child, Education, &

Agriculture Ministries

Stage 3: Partnership with other Ministries dealing with rest of the

subjects


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C. Technical Assistance

The Ministry has provided technical assistance to the State

Governments by providing model guidelines (Activity Mapping, Accounting

system), model rules (PESA), software and hardware for managing core

functions of the PRI (Plan plus, Priya Soft & E-PRI). Provisions were also

made to provide handholding support to the States. The Ministry also

reviewed the adaptation by the States and in the process persuaded them to

adopt these products. The budget allocation was also linked to uploading

BRGF plan on plan plus software. Thus technical assistance along with the

pressure tactics has worked well although with varying degree of success in

different States. This should be the Ministrys most preferred policy tool for

strengthening of PRIs.

The allocation and range of technical assistance should be increased.

It is also important to make special provision for the weaker States.

D. Research & Education

The Ministry has adopted the strategy of educating the stakeholders by

organising conferences and focussed discussion on important themes; and

then negotiating with the State governments and other ministries of the central

government for revising policy and legal framework. It has also issued

advisories to persuade the governments to act. Negotiation has been widely

used by the Ministry however the success in negotiation, to a great extent,

depends on presenting clear arguments based on well researched standards

and providing information in a suitable manner and format to the stakeholders.

It also requires skills of managing discussions such as those about

alternatives, handling disagreements and conflicting views. The Ministry has

commissioned some studies but the average amount utilized for research

from 2005 to 2010 is just over Rs. 2 crore per year. It is important to mention

that the educational institutions of national importance that could have

provided quality research output have not taken interest in conducting

research on PRIs. The quality of training program has also suffered in the


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absence of the quality research, which could have provided the training

institutes ability to organize and respond to the emerging problems of the

PRIs.

The NCBF for the first time provided a framework and adequate

resources to support capacity development initiatives, but there are serious

capacity gaps such as absence of well managed cadre for PRIs, weak

capacity of the service providers, weak infrastructure, etc that need to be

attended to.

E. Advocacy for Changing Policy and Legal Framework

The Ministry has taken several initiatives for changing policy and

legal Framework such as drafting of Nyaya Panchayat Bill and PESA model

rules, advisory for amending CSS guidelines, etc. This seems to be the most

effective option for improving the results of the Ministry.

It is evident from the fact that the centrality of the PRIs in the

implementation of MGNREGA has substantially strengthened the PRIs.

Nevertheless, risks associated with the attempts of changing policies and laws

are also very high. Use of media, therefore, could help in creating pressure

groups and national mood for the proposed change. Pressure groups could be

strengthened by forming federations and networks and they could be targeted

for capacity development. Action for advocacy at the top should be

convergent with mobilization from below. Advocacy efforts must be

strategically synergised with other policy tools being used by the Ministry for

improving the results of the Ministry.

It is evident from the experience that the degree of effectiveness of

policy tools and degree of MoPRs control on the outcome of policy tools have

varied substantially as shown in the table below.


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Table 4: Policy Instruments: degree of effectiveness & control of MoPR

Policy InstrumentDegree ofEffectiveness

Degree of controlof MoPR

1. Financial Assistance

Incentive Low High

Disincentive High Medium

Provisioning for desired activity Medium High

2. Technical Assistance Low to Medium High

3. Changes in Policy & Law

MoPR High Medium

Other Ministries of GoI High Low

State Governments High Low

4. Media campaign Low High

Experiences suggest that there is considerable uncertainty in getting

policies changed. Therefore, it is important to creatively use the availablePolicy/Legal space for issuing Government Orders and advisories. Advocacyfor Changing Policy and Legal Framework is effective but degree ofuncertainty is very high. Technical assistance should be widely used as it is alow cost option.

F. Synergise media campaign with other policy instruments

Entrenched socio-political forces are not conducive for grounding PRIs

as institutions of self government. These forces could be positively influenced

by coordinated efforts of MoPR, State government and PRIs for increasing

public awareness and increasing access to information by interested

individuals using tools such as printed materials, telephones, radio, television,

video, audio, and computers.

There is also need to synergise media campaign with other policy

imports. Overall, the dependence of MoPR on the other Ministries of GoI &

State Governments is very high for achieving results. Therefore, improvingresults will heavily depend on the MoPRs ability to increase the bandwidth of

relationships with the other key Ministries.


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V. Linkages between Strategic Plan and RFD

An attempt has been made to devise the aforementioned Strategic Plan

on the basis of long-term outcome goals mentioned by the MoPR in the RFD

document. In proposing it, experiences in implementing the objectives at the

State level have been drawn upon in a very large measure. Suggested

strategic plan may run into various roadblocks, foreseen and unforeseen, but

suggested possible solutions will be effective in overcoming them. Needless

to say, it shall require political will and commitment, both at the Central and

State Government level, as it is primarily the State Governments which have

to ensure the achievement of objectives.

Challenges are numerous and have been briefly outlined under the

heading of "Current Status".

VI. Cross Departmental and Cross Ministerial Coordination

As mentioned elsewhere, the objectives of the MoPR can be achieved

successfully only if there is a strategic partnership in a phased manner with

concerned line Ministries handling 29 subjects. Basically, the process has to

commence with the convergence of programmes with the MoRD. The process

should be gradually but eventually extended to encompass other concerned

Ministries.

Since most of the State Governments have shown little enthusiasm in

empowering the PRIs, it would require launching of innovative schemes on

the part of a MoPR for motivating the States for expediting the devolution.

There should also be schemes so as to encourage the PRIs to voice a

demand to the respective States Governments for devolution.

VII. Monitoring and Reviewing arrangements

A. There is an urgent need for strengthening the MIS, on the lines of

MNREGA model, for online monitoring of physical and financial


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progress of the scheme, in order to ensure successful implementation.

Failing this, there would always be a threat that the opponents of

devolution would use tardy and poor implementation as an excuse to

delay devolution.

B. In order to ensure convergence, a joint review mechanism with MoRD

for a comprehensive assessment of empowerment of PRIs needs to be

established. It should also identify specific actionable measures

required to achieve the desired outcome goals. It should be replicated

in case of other Ministries as and when strategic partnership

established with them.

C. State Governments should introduce the system of citizens report

cards for a transparent and effective performance evaluation of theGram Panchayats.

D. For inculcating a spirit of competitiveness and for providing incentives,

PRIs should be encouraged to themselves establish an independent

mechanism for evaluating their performance on a matrix. PRIs should

be provided incentives or be made subject to disincentives on its basis.

E. Besides, social audit, similar to MNREGA model should be extended to

all CSSs and State Plan schemes. Action Taken Reports should be

mandated to be time-bound and once finalised, it should be placed in

the public domain.

F. As most of the above-mentioned measures need tremendous effort on

the part of the State Governments, a high-level committee under the

chairmanship of the Chief Minister should be constituted for periodically

monitoring the progress regarding decentralisation, empowerment of

PRIs, decentralised planning and, in case of notified States,

implementation of PESA.


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References

Akrimi, Neila and Jan Willem Nibbering, 2008. Capacity development for local

governance: A clear case for harmonisation and alignment with examples

from Benin (This paper is based on a presentation given at a side event of the

Development Partners Working Group Local Governance and

Decentralisation during the European Development Days, Strasbourg, 16

November 2008)

MoPR, 2010. State of Panchayats 2008-09, Ministry of Panchayati Raj,

Government of India, New Delhi

MoPR, 2009. First Independent Review Mission for Backward Region Grant

Fund, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India, New Delhi

MOPR, 2006. The State of the Panchayats: A Mid-Term Review and

Appraisal, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India, New Delhi

NIRD, 2006. Presentation made in the workshop held on---in the context of

projection of estimated fund requirement for imparting training to all RD & PR

functionaries in the country.

Shah, Anwar and Sana Shah, 2006. Local Governance in developing

countries, World Bank

World Bank, 2000. Overview of Rural Decentralization in India, Vol. I

Documents

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