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Background
Village communities have been in existence in India for over centuries and Panchayats have been part of these communities since then. During the time of the Rig Veda (1200 BC), evidence suggests that self-governing village bodies called sabhas existed. The passage of time saw these bodies evolve into Panchayats (council of five persons). Panchayats were functional institutions of grassroots governance in almost every village. The village panchayat or elected council had large powers, both executive and judicial.
It was during British rule that the autonomy of Panchayats disappeared gradually with the establishment of local civil and criminal courts, revenue and police organisations, the increase in communications, the growth of individualism and the operation of the Ryotwari (landholder wise) system as against the Mahalwari (village tenure system).
During the clamour for Swaraj or self rule, leaders of the freedom movement could not agree on the status and role to be assigned to the institution of rural local self government. Gandhi was in favour of village swaraj and strengthening of the village Panchayat to the fullest extent. But Dr B R Ambedkar believed that the village represented regressive India, a source of oppression. The model state had to build safeguards against such social oppression and the only way it could be done was through the adoption of the parliamentary model of politics. The drafting of the Constitution for independent India saw Panchayati Raj Institutions(PRIs) placed in the non-justiciable part of the Constitution, the Directive Principles of State Policy, as Article 40. The Article read 'the State shall take steps to organise village Panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self government'. However, no worthwhile legislation was immediately enacted either at the national or state level to implement it.
In the 40 years since the adoption of the Constitution, PRIs have travelled from the non-justiciable part of the Constitution to one where, through a separate amendment, a whole new status has been added to their history. This was the 73rd Amendment and its coming into existence was the result of an increasing recognition that the institutional initiatives of the preceding decade had not delivered, that the extent of rural poverty was still much too large, and thus the existing structure of government needed to be reformed.
It was during British rule that the autonomy of Panchayats disappeared gradually with the establishment of local civil and criminal courts, revenue and police organisations, the increase in communications, the growth of individualism and the operation of the Ryotwari (landholder wise) system as against the Mahalwari (village tenure system).
During the clamour for Swaraj or self rule, leaders of the freedom movement could not agree on the status and role to be assigned to the institution of rural local self government. Gandhi was in favour of village swaraj and strengthening of the village Panchayat to the fullest extent. But Dr B R Ambedkar believed that the village represented regressive India, a source of oppression. The model state had to build safeguards against such social oppression and the only way it could be done was through the adoption of the parliamentary model of politics. The drafting of the Constitution for independent India saw Panchayati Raj Institutions(PRIs) placed in the non-justiciable part of the Constitution, the Directive Principles of State Policy, as Article 40. The Article read 'the State shall take steps to organise village Panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self government'. However, no worthwhile legislation was immediately enacted either at the national or state level to implement it.
In the 40 years since the adoption of the Constitution, PRIs have travelled from the non-justiciable part of the Constitution to one where, through a separate amendment, a whole new status has been added to their history. This was the 73rd Amendment and its coming into existence was the result of an increasing recognition that the institutional initiatives of the preceding decade had not delivered, that the extent of rural poverty was still much too large, and thus the existing structure of government needed to be reformed.
