Kurukshetra Summary – April 2023

Chapter 1: Empowering Panchayati Raj Institutions

Introduction

• Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) are pillars of democracy.
• One of the major steps taken by the Government of India to strengthen PRI is Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, or  PESA Act 1996.
• In order to empower Gram Panchayats, it is important to empower Gram Sabhas and ensure the effective and active participation of people in Gram Sabhas.
• The 73rd Constitutional Amendment empowered the Gram Panchayats in the field of 29 subjects.
• With 6.50 lakh villages and 65% of the population living in villages, rural development is crucial for India’s growth.
• Panchayats are the primary responsibility of State governments because “Local Government’ is a state subject.
• The Ministry of Panchayati Raj(MoPR) was created in 2004 with the aim to make PRIs an effective, efficient, and transparent vehicle for local governance, social change, and public service delivery meeting the aspirations of the local population.

Capacity Building of Panchayati Raj Institutions

• MoPR is implementing the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA).
• Almost 1.42 crore participants including Elected Representatives, Panchayat Functionaries, and others have been trained since 2018-19.
• Approximately Rs 2150 crore have been spent under RGSA from 2018-19 to 2021-22.

Thematic Gram Panchayat Development Plan

• The MoPR is emphasizing preparing Panchayat Development Plan. In this direction, the ministry has adopted a novel approach to embracing the thematic approach for the localization of Sustainable Development Goals.
• The 17 SDGs have been mapped to 9 themes for the preparation of the targeted developmental plan.

Basic Service through the Finance Commission Funding

• To carry out the basic service, Panchayats receive funds from Central Finance Commission, State Finance Commission, and a number of other Centrally Sponsored Schemes.
• The Fifteenth Finance Commission has recommended Rs 236805 crores for the period of 2021 to 2026.

National Panchayat Awards

• The National Panchayat Award has been revamped with effect from 2022 aligning with nine local SDGs (themes).
• It will enable theme-wise ranking of all Gram Panchayats.
• The award will be conferred under the following categories:
  • Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat Vikas Purasakar for individual themes.
  • Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikas Puruskar for aggregate performance under all themes.
• Other categories of awards have also been instituted.

e-Governance and ICT Initiative

• On 24 April 2020, e-Gram SWARAJ was launched to strengthen e-Governance in PRIs.
• The Ministry integrated e-GramSwaraj with PFMS and created the e-GramSwaraj PFMS interface (eGSPI) to make real-time payments to vendors/service providers.
• Approximately 2.78 lakh Gram Panchayat onboarded eGSPI with 90% successfully adopting online transactions through it.
• e-Gram SWARAJ is also being integrated with Government e-Marketplace (GeM).
• Audit Online Application has also been developed to allow an online audit of Panchayat accounts and enhance transparency and accountability.

Citizen Charter Campaign

• Nearly 2.15 lakh gram panchayats have finalized their Citizen Charter, offering 952 services spanning different sectors like healthcare, education, public welfare, etc.

Common Service Centres

• Around 52,409 CSCs have been co-located with Panchayat Bhawans for delivery of all digital services in Gram Panchayats.

SWAMITVA Scheme

• SVAMITVA (Survey of villages and mapping with improvised technology in village areas)  scheme is implemented by MoPR to provide a ‘Record of Rights’ to village household owners possessing houses in inhabited areas and rural areas and issuance of property cards.
• The drone survey of 2.32 lakh villages (as on 1 March 2023) has been completed and 1.20 crore property cards have been prepared for the nearly 70,000 villages.

Social Media Activities

• MoPR operates various social media accounts to facilitate two-way communication with the major target segments.

Conclusion

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has made remarkable progress to empower and ensure the self-sustainability of Panchayati Raj Institutions by converging the plans of other Ministries and with the active participation of local communities.

Chapter 2: e-GramSwaraj

Details

• In order to ensure smart and good governance at the community level, e-governance is imperative.
• e-GramSwaraj is a potent example of the motto of ‘Minimum Government and Maximum Governance’.
• It serves the multiple objectives of effective decentralization, enhanced accountability, optimum utilization of scarce resources, and spreading awareness about local governance.
• According to United Nations, there are eight characteristics of good governance:

e-GramSwaraj

• e-GramSwaraj is a work-based comprehensive application for Panchayati Raj Institutions.
• It was launched on National Panchayati Raj Day (24th April) in 2020.
• Objectives of e-GramSwaraj are:
  • Strengthening digitalisation in panchayats
  • Improving grass-root governance
  • Empowering rural citizens
  • Ensuring transparency and accountability
• Benefits of e-GramSwaraj:
  • It enables Gram Panchayats to upload Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDP) and financial and physical work reports.
  • It facilitates online payments to material vendors and service providers.
  • It covers all aspects of the Panchayat’s functioning like planning, budgeting, asset management, etc.
• Progress of e-GramSwaraj:
  • Around 2.56 lakh Gram Panchayats have uploaded their GPDP in the financial year 2021-22.

Challenges for e-GramSwaraj

• A basic prerequisite is seamless internet connectivity, which is a major challenge in rural areas.
• Acceptance of digital means by the local people is another area of concern.
• Other issues are information security, data privacy, content availability, etc.
• The devolution of powers to panchayats across states is not uniform.
• Many panchayats lack the timely availability of funds and smooth resource flow.

Future Course of Action

• Though Common Service Centres (CSC) have been started in the country to propel e-governance, more needs to be done.
• It is important to generate awareness and train all stakeholders.
• e-GramSawarj should be integrated with GeM.
• Continuous feedback from all the stakeholders will help in making the system more robust and dynamic.
• Moreover, accurate identification of activities, community participation, and effective implementation is of utmost importance.

Chapter 3: Good Governance at Grassroots Level

Introduction

• The village-level governance model or Panchayati Raj governance system is structured in three layers.
• In States or Union Territories with more than two million inhabitants there are three levels of PRIs:
  • Gram Panchayat at the village level
  • Mandal Parishad or Block Samiti or Panchayat Samiti at the block level
  • Zila parishad at the district level
• As per 2019 records, there are around 6614 Block Panchayats, 630 Zila Parishad, and approximately 253163 Gram Panchayats.

Government Initiatives

• Gram Panchayat Development Plans
  • It is a special campaign that was launched to prepare Panchayat Development Plan for economic development and social justice utilizing the available resources.
  • The guidelines of 2015 were revised in 2018 to further ease the process.
• Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA)
  • RGSA, the ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ was launched to bring people-propelled development at ground level.
  • It enables the Panchayats to function effectively to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and development objectives.
• e-Panchayat 
  • It provides a platform for online reporting, monitoring, and management of panchayat activities.
  • It aims to bring transparency and accountability using technology.
• SWAMITVA
  • It aims to revolutionize property record management in the country.
• Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Yojana (DDUPSY)
  • It was launched in 2014 to strengthen PRIs by providing them with the required resources and capabilities to undertake constitutional duties.
  • It aims to empower PRIs to undertake planning, implementation, and development.
• Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

• • It was launched in 2014 to make India clean and defecation free.
  • It focused on creating a culture of cleanliness and promoting the use of toilets in rural areas.

Chapter 4: SVAMITVA Scheme for Providing Property Validation

Introduction

• The economy is not able to harness the full potential of land due to inaccurate land records and ambiguous land ownership details.
• The absence of land records also hampers the ability of marginal farmers to gain access to credit from formal institutions. It impacts the further economic prospects of poor farmers and consequently the agrarian sector.
• It hinders infrastructural development and ease of doing business.

SVAMITVA Scheme

• The aim of the scheme is to provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India for demarcating inhabitant (Abadi) land in rural areas.
• It will engage the latest drone surveying technology.
• Clear ownership of rural land will be concluded by the SVAMITVA Scheme.

Need for SVAMITVA Scheme

• According to the Census of 2011, there are approximately 6.4 lakh villages in India.
• Most villages were surveyed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Thus, there is a need to update the cadastral maps and link them to the Record of Rights (RoRs).
• India loses around 1.3% of its economic growth every year due to disputed land titles.
• Due to pending litigations, various infrastructure projects are delayed. For instance, an investment of Rs 19.7 trillion was affected (as per Land Conflict Watch 2020).
• Land disputes also create a heavy burden on Judiciary.
• The disputes impact capital availability and reduce productivity.
• The Panchayats in India lack revenue resources. If the ownership of the land is clear, then the Panchayats will be able to levy property taxes.

Objectives of the Scheme

Achievements/Progress of the Scheme

Challenges and Recommendations

• Providing legal validity to the property card is the biggest challenge of the scheme.
  • To give them legal validity, it is important to list the documents requiring stamp duty payment under State Revenue Act.
• The participation of the local population in the implementation of the scheme is crucial.
  • Government can take appropriate measures to ensure this aspect.
• The implementation of the scheme requires amendment in various other state government acts.
  • States should form proper committees to review and amend laws.
• The scheme is able to identify the disputed land. However, it does not have a specific mechanism to resolve property-related issues.
  • Measures like the Model Conclusive Land Titling Act and Rules can provide desired solutions.
• Many states have not rendered enough power to the Panchayats.
  • All states should empower Panchayats with convenience and cost-effectiveness.
• Several communities are historically excluded from land ownership.
  • The rights of weak and marginalized communities should be preserved while undertaking mapping exercises.

Conclusion

SVAMITVA Scheme is a solution-based approach to deal with land-related woes of rural India. It helps the poor to mobilize funds through the mobilization of residential assets.

Chapter 5: Women Empowerment

Introduction

• The constitution has provided reservations for women at all levels of the Panchayati Raj System.
• The 73rd Amendment provides reservation of not less than one-third of the total number of seats.

Status of Women’s Participation

• At the national level, women as members and presidents of Panchayats are approximately around 46% of the total elected representatives. In some states like Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Assam, Uttarakhand, etc their share is more than 50%.
• The majority of elected representatives did not have a long-standing political linkage.
• Reservation provided the first entry into politics for 83% of women elected representatives.
• However, 43% of the elected representatives did not get the opportunity to attend training.
• The important determinants of good performance are:
  • Duration of being elected as a representative
  • Training
  • Education
  • Involvement in the functioning of Panchayats
• It is found that states with good performance of women representatives are Kerala, Karnataka, Tripura, Maharashtra, Sikkim, and West Bengal. The states with poor performance are Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, and Gujarat.
• Women’s participation in PRI has a positive impact on other women. For instance,
  • 79% of women realized enhancement in their self-esteem.
  • 74% felt empowered in decision-making.

Way Ahead

A number of recommendations were made by a roadmap of MoPR (2011-17) which can be implemented for the empowerment of women:

• Provisions of women component plan in PRI budgets.
• PRI of all levels should be linked with Self Help Groups (SHGs) at all levels.
• Adequate training and capacity building for elected women representatives.
• Horizontal and peer-to-peer learning of best practices.
• Exposure visits and meetings.
• Political parties should support women candidates.
• Women candidates should be given the opportunity to serve the full term.
• Mahila Sabhas should be encouraged to raise women’s concerns.
• Women should be mobilized in their own collectives for better results. For example, the Kudumbashree network of Kerala.
• The Panchayats should be devolved with appropriate powers and authorities for smooth functioning.

Conclusion

The Constitution of India has enabled women to be instrumental in strengthening decentralized governance through PRIs. They could play a more effective role if the suggestions are adequately followed.

Chapter 6: 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Introduction

• The Ministry of Panchayati Raj Constituted an expert group to implement Sustainable Development Goals in rural India.
• The committee provided recommendations for the localization of SDGs through PRIs.

Details

• Sustainable development refers to development that meets the needs of the present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Beginning on January 2016, countries are expected to frame their agendas and policies to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity for all by 2030.
• In India, almost 65% of the population lives in rural areas and thus PRI has a pivotal role in the localization of SDGs.
• MoPR and UNDP signed a joint statement of understanding on the localization of SDGs.
• The twin objectives of Panchayati Raj Systems are to ensure local economic development and social justice.
• The functions of Panchayati Raj Systems are enlisted in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution as 29 subjects. Many SDG targets fall within the purview of these subjects.
• Panchayats were advised to integrate Village Poverty Reduction Plan(VPRP) into Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) with a view to synchronize them with SDGs.

Role of Panchayats in Attainment of SDGs

The role of Panchayats in the attainment of SDGs can be summed up as follows:

• Convergent implementation of flagship schemes like NRLM, MGNREGS, Swachh Bharat Mission, etc.
• Participatory outcome-based planning for local development plans on social, economic, and environmental aspects.
• Specific Governance Interventions in Panchayats through the effective functioning of Standing Committees and Functional Committees of Panchayats.
• Effective convergent planning between three tiers of Panchayati Raj.
• The smooth functioning of District Planning Committees which link rural and urban planning.

Conclusion

Accelerated efforts are required to boost sustainable solutions. Inspiration and creativity at global, national, local, and individual levels are required for transformative economic, social, and infrastructural solutions.

Chapter 7: Water Management through Panchayats

Introduction

• Water is increasingly becoming a scarce commodity due to the over-exploitation of the resource.
• The expanding population and fast growth of the water-consuming sector necessitate sustainable management of water.
• Since water is a state subject, water resource projects are planned, funded, maintained, and executed by the State Governments as per their priorities and resources.
• The Union Government provides technical support and partial financial assistance.

Details

• The National Water Policy of 2012 emphasized the involvement of local bodies in the planning of water management for better impact and efficiency.
• In the first All India Annual State Minister’s Conference on Water, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi emphasized the importance of Gram Panchayat in water management in villages.
• Panchayats are vehicles of program implementation and localized planning.
• Similarly, Water Users Association or ‘Pani Panchayat’ or ‘Pani Samiti’ have been created for local and participatory management of surface irrigation systems.
• Gram Panchayats own and manage water supply schemes and approve investment plans, annual budget, and user fee charges after discussions with Gram Sabha.
  • The Gram Sabha is a larger community that takes key decisions like the source of water, type, and nature of the water supply scheme, etc.
  • The Gram Sabha approves village plans after discussion and deliberation.
  • It also undertakes social audits as per mandate.
• Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC) is the standing committee of the Gram Panchayat. It is responsible for the planning, operation, implementation, maintenance, and management of village drinking water security.
  • VWSC comprises 6 to 12 members of which 50% are women and the rest of the members are elected from Gram Panchayat.
  • It is the responsibility of VWSC to keep track of bacterial contamination in the regular water supply.

Water Management at Ground

• According to Central Groundwater Board, 17% of the groundwater blocks are over-exploited, 5% are at a critical, and 14% are at a semi-critical stage.

Atal Bhujal Yojana

• • The aim of the scheme is to improve groundwater management in critical areas.
  • It was launched in April 2020.
  • The scheme is operational in almost 8500 Gram Panchayats in seven states (Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh)
  • It also tries to bring behavioural change at the community level.
  • The World Bank has been collaborating with the Government of India to improve groundwater management in stressed areas.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana (PMKSY)

• • It was launched in 2015-16 with the aim to accelerate supply-side and demand-side management.
  • It takes specific measures like increasing on-farm water use efficiency, watershed development, and Repair, Renovation, and Restoration of water bodies, etc.
  • It is an umbrella scheme with two major compliments
    • Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP)
    • Har Khet ko Pani: It further contains four sub-components:
      • Command Area Development and Water Management
      • Surface Minor Irrigation
      • Repair, Renovation, and Restoration(RRR) of water bodies
      • Per Drop More Crop

Jal Jeevan Mission- Har Ghar Jal

• • Government of India in partnership with State Governments is implementing this programme.
  • The vision is to provide a tap water supply to every rural household in the country by 2024.
  • Mission is based on the community approach and also includes Information, Education, and Communication.

Conclusion

The Gram Panchayats should not only act as a service provider but also observe and monitor the water resources. Appropriate planning with people’s participation is imperative to maintain the quality and availability of water resources.

Chapter 8: Human Development through Panchayati Raj Institutions

Introduction

• Decentralization refers to the transfer of authority and responsibility for public functions from the Central Government to sub-ordinate or quasi-independent organizations.
• There are three basic types of decentralization:
  • Political decentralization
  • Administrative decentralization
  • Financial decentralization
• In India, the legal framework for decentralization was laid through the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts.

Role of Panchayat in Human Development

• There are 29 subjects under the 11th Schedule of the Indian Constitution. Some of these subjects are Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Management, Animal husbandry, Rural Housing, Public Distribution Systems, Fuel and Fodder, Women and Child Development, etc.
• According to the United Nations Development Programme, Human development is defined as the “process of enlarging people’s choices”, allowing them to “lead a long and healthy life, to be educated, to enjoy a decent standard of living”, as well as “political freedom, other guaranteed human rights and various ingredients of self-respect”.
• At the rural level, the PRI system is expected to work as an institute of self-governance and play an important role in education, health, and service delivery aspects.
• The efficient delivery of targeted public services has the potential to reduce economic inequalities.
• Rural development schemes like MGNREGS and National Rural Livelihood Mission have the potential to enhance livelihood opportunities and remove poverty.
• PRI not only engages in the implementation of schemes but also ensures public participation in the development process.
• The Gram Sabha meeting can be used by some of the most disadvantaged groups of the village to raise their voice.
• Panchayat helps in improving the targeting of resources towards the needy.
• PRI creates a conducive environment for collective action and makes people aware of the ongoing and proposed work.
• Panchayats have also played a crucial role in the field of education. For instance, enrolment of children in the age group of 6-14 has shown phenomenal growth.
• Despite registering great progress in the participation of local communities in school management, a good number of children remain out of school.

Role of Panchayats in Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction

• Human activities have been the main driver of climate change. Additionally, rural people are highly dependent on natural resources and ecosystem services, thus making them highly vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters.
• The active commitment and leadership of Panchayati Raj Institutions are important for local disaster risk reduction.
• PRIs have a significant role as they are the immediate providers of public services and are situated amongst rural citizens.
• They can help in public awareness, community training, and disaster preparedness.

Conclusion

The introduction of PRIs has brought the scope to influence service delivery as per the need of the people. Rural development strategies are experiencing transformation across the country due to the digitalization of various services at PRIs.