Strategic Plan Document for

Ministry of Panchayati Raj

by

D. S. Misra & R.M. Srivastava

Mid-Career Training Programme for IAS Officers, Phase V
LBSNAA, January, 2011
 Index

1. Introduction 1
2. 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

India’s 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

2
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.

C. Devising institutions, systems and processes for enhancing

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 Long–term
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

4
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

5
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, all
these 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

Opportunities
a. 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 73rd 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 Flagship All India
Programme (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 8000
6. Drinking Water 7500 8000
7. Rural Sanitation 1200 1200
7. RKVY 3166 6700
8. NRHM 9192 12070
9. BRGF 4670 4670
10 PMGSY 12000 12000
11. 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 and
Public 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 PRI General SC ST Total Women
No.
Village
Panchayats 232913 1851166 490986 314324 2656476 975116
Intermediate
Block level
Panchayats 6094 112371 32898 11340 156609 58094
District
Panchayat 537 11311 2734 1649 15694 5779
Grant 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 Officials
Centre/State Level 3,600
District Level 27,500
Block Level 2,70,000
GP Level 15,98,90
0
Total 1900000
Effective 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

11
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 need
to 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 organisations and 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

12
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 stakeholder’s engagement in capacity
development assessment and planning would be grounded in the specific
needs 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.

Suggested Strategic Interventions

 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 of
officials of PRIs
 Incentivise creative use of market for filling the critical gaps in human
resources.

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C. Devising institutions, systems and processes for enhancing
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 is
targeted 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 administratively
unviable units especially for introduction of e-governance purposes. The cost
of capacitating the GPs would put enormous burden on the State’s 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.

Suggested Strategic Interventions

 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 to
State. 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

15
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 Raj designated 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 society’s 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

16
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.

Suggested Strategic Interventions

 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 over
technical rationality.

Suggested Strategic Interventions

 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 & Evaluation
of 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

19
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.

Suggested Strategic Interventions

 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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Suggested Strategic Interventions

 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

21
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 Ministry’s 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 Ministry’s 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

23
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 MoPR’s 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

Degree of Degree of control

Policy Instrument
Effectiveness of 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 available
Policy/Legal space for issuing Government Orders and advisories. Advocacy
for Changing Policy and Legal Framework is effective but degree of
uncertainty is very high. Technical assistance should be widely used as it is a
low 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, improving
results will heavily depend on the MoPR’s 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

26
 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 the
Gram 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.

27
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

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