Panchayati Raj Institutions in India

Panchayati Raj means self-rule by villages. A Panchayat is a village council. It is the level of government nearest to the people.

Exams ask who set it up, when, and what the Constitution says. This part gives the short history.

The first big step came in the 1950s. A committee led by Balwant Rai Mehta studied rural development in 1957. It said development cannot go far without local bodies that hold real responsibility.

Pandit Nehru inaugurated Panchayati Raj in India at Nagaur, Rajasthan, on 2 October 1959.

1.1 What happened after that?

The Ashok Mehta Committee came in 1977. After it, most States let political parties take part in Panchayat elections.

Even so, the first Panchayats did not do well. Their laws were vague about roles. They lacked staff and money.

Think of a school with a principal but no teachers and no budget. It exists on paper but cannot work. That was the problem.

In the mid-1980s, a committee led by L. M. Singhvi said Panchayats should be local governments. It also wanted a constitutional duty on States to keep them going. A duty written into the Constitution is one States cannot skip.

1.2 What did the 73rd Amendment do?

An amendment is a change made to the Constitution. The 73rd Amendment was passed in 1992. It came into force on 24 April 1993.

That date is now observed as National Panchayati Raj Day. The Amendment made Panchayats units of self-government.

It also added the Eleventh Schedule. A Schedule is a list placed at the end of the Constitution. This one lists 29 subjects that States may hand over to Panchayats.

Common mistake: the 29 subjects are a list of what States may hand over. They do not pass to Panchayats on their own.

Memory hook: Mehta (1957) studied it. Ashok Mehta (1977) revived it. Singhvi asked for constitutional status. The 73rd Amendment gave it.

The Constitution is divided into Parts, like chapters. The 73rd Amendment added Part IX, called “The Panchayats”. It runs from Article 243 to Article 243-O.

This part is the rulebook for village self-government. Exam questions often come straight from its Articles.

2.1 How many tiers are there?

A tier is a level. Article 243B says every State must have Panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels.

There is one exception. A State with a population of 20 lakh or less need not set up the intermediate tier. So the middle tier does not exist in every State.

Example: a State with 15 lakh people can have just two tiers. They are village and district.

Common mistake: many students think all three tiers must exist everywhere. Small States can skip the middle one.

2.2 Who gets reserved seats?

Reservation means some seats are set aside for certain groups. Article 243D reserves seats in every Panchayat for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. These are groups named in lists under the Constitution.

The number is in proportion to their population in that area.

At least one-third of those seats go to women from these groups. At least one-third of all seats go to women.

Chairperson posts are also reserved for SCs, STs and women. The State decides how, by law.

Example (our own sum): if a Panchayat has 30 seats, at least 10 go to women.

Common mistake: the one-third for women includes the women in SC and ST seats. It is not an extra one-third.

2.3 How long does a Panchayat last?

Article 243E fixes a term of five years from the date of its first meeting.

If a Panchayat is dissolved, it is ended before its time. A new election must be held within six months. The new Panchayat serves only the rest of the old term. It does not get a fresh five years.

Example: say a Panchayat is dissolved after two years. The new one serves the last three years only.

Common mistake: a new Panchayat after an early dissolution does not get a full five years.

2.4 Who can contest, and who runs the election?

Article 243F sets the age. A person must be at least 21 years old to be a member. It is not 25 or 30.

Article 243K creates a State Election Commission. This body runs Panchayat elections. It is headed by a State Election Commissioner appointed by the Governor.

The Constitution names the bodies. Then it leaves much of the detail to State law.

The word to watch is “may”. “May” means the State can choose. “Shall” means the State must.

3.1 What is a Gram Sabha?

The Gram Sabha is the village assembly. It is not the same as the Gram Panchayat.

Article 243A says a Gram Sabha may use the powers and do the work that the State Legislature provides by law. So the Constitution names the Gram Sabha, but the State fixes its powers.

Example: the Panchayat is like a working committee. The Gram Sabha is the full meeting of the village.

3.2 Who sits in a Panchayat?

Article 243C says all seats are filled by direct election. That means voters pick the member themselves.

Each Panchayat area is divided into territorial constituencies. A constituency is a local area whose voters pick one member.

A State law may also give seats to some others:

• Chairpersons of Panchayats at lower levels.
• MPs and MLAs whose areas cover the Panchayat, for tiers above the village.

The village Chairperson is chosen as State law provides. At the middle and district levels, the Chairperson is elected by and from the elected members.

3.3 What work can a Panchayat be given?

Article 243G says a State Legislature may give Panchayats the powers they need to work as institutions of self-government. The law may give two kinds of work:

• Plans for economic development and social justice.
• Schemes for the same aims, including matters in the Eleventh Schedule.

So devolution differs from State to State. Devolution means handing powers down to local bodies. It depends on each State’s law.

Example: one State may let a Panchayat plan a village water scheme and run it. Another may only let it plan.

3.4 Can a court stop a Panchayat election?

Article 243-O limits the courts. A law on drawing constituency boundaries or allotting seats under Article 243K cannot be questioned in court.

A Panchayat election can be challenged only by an election petition. That is a case filed to challenge the result. State law says who hears it and how.

Common mistake: courts are not shut out of everything. They cannot question seat-drawing laws. They can hear a petition on the result.

3.5 Is there a village court?

The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 sets up village courts. Section 12 gives them criminal jurisdiction. Section 13 gives them civil jurisdiction. Criminal cases deal with crimes. Civil cases deal with disputes.

Common mistake: a Gram Nyayalaya is a court. A Gram Sabha is the village assembly. They are not the same.

Self-rule needs money. A tax is money the Government collects. A grant is money it gives. A Panchayat needs both to work.

Three Articles make a chain. Each one answers a different question.

4.1 How can a Panchayat raise money?

Article 243H says a State Legislature may, by law, do four things:

• Let a Panchayat levy, collect and keep taxes, duties, tolls and fees. To levy is to impose. A toll is a charge for using a road or bridge.
• Assign it taxes that the State collects.
• Give it grants-in-aid from the State’s Consolidated Fund. That is the main account of State money. A grant-in-aid is money given, not lent.
• Create Funds to hold its money.

The power exists only as far as State law gives it.

Example: a State law could let a Gram Panchayat charge a small fee for a village market. With no such law, it cannot.

4.2 What is the State Finance Commission?

A Finance Commission is a body that studies public money and says how to share it. Article 243-I says the Governor sets one up within one year of the Amendment, and then every fifth year.

Common mistake: it is the Governor who sets it up. It is not the Chief Minister.

It reviews the money position of Panchayats. It advises on how State taxes should be shared with them, and on grants-in-aid.

4.3 Who checks the accounts?

Article 243J says a State Legislature may make laws on how Panchayats keep accounts and how those accounts are audited. An audit is an outside check that the money was spent properly.

Memory hook: H earns. I shares. J audits.

4.4 What did the 15th Finance Commission give?

The Union Finance Commission also gives grants to rural local bodies. The 15th Commission covered 2021-26 and 28 States. A lakh is 1,00,000. A crore is 100 lakh.

The grants set aside were ₹2,36,805 crore. About ₹2,21,882 crore was released. That is roughly 93.7%.

The rest, ₹14,923 crore, could not go out. States had not met the set conditions.

• Uttar Pradesh got all of its ₹38,012 crore.
• Karnataka had ₹3,850 crore held back, out of ₹12,539 crore.

Of the total, 60% (₹1.42 lakh crore) was a tied grant. A tied grant can be spent only on set purposes. It was split equally: ₹0.71 lakh crore for drinking water and ₹0.71 lakh crore for sanitation.

Common mistake: the unreleased money was not lost to a mistake. States did not meet the conditions.

Part IX is the rule. But the Constitution makes some exceptions. Some areas already have their own councils.

5.1 Which areas does Part IX leave out?

Article 243M is the exception clause.

• Part IX does not apply to the Scheduled Areas and tribal areas named in Article 244. These are areas with special rules in the Constitution.
• It does not apply to Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram.
• It does not apply to the hill areas of Manipur that have District Councils.
• The district-level Panchayat rule does not apply to the hill areas of Darjeeling in West Bengal, where the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council exists.

5.2 Can Part IX still reach them?

Yes. Clause (4) gives two ways.

• The Legislature of Nagaland, Meghalaya or Mizoram may extend Part IX by a resolution of its Assembly.
• Parliament may, by law, extend Part IX to the Scheduled Areas and tribal areas.

Such a law is not an amendment of the Constitution under Article 368. So it needs only a simple law, not the special amendment process. A simple law is an ordinary Act of Parliament.

5.3 What is PESA?

Parliament used this power in 1996. The law is the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, or PESA. “Extension” means stretching Part IX to areas it did not cover.

It got the President’s assent on 24 December 1996.

Under its section 4:

• A State law on Panchayats in these areas must follow the listed features.
• Every village has a Gram Sabha.
• The Gram Sabha approves plans, programmes and projects before the Panchayat takes them up.
• The Gram Sabha or Panchayat is consulted before land is acquired.
• Its recommendation is mandatory before a licence or lease for minor minerals.
• At least half the seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes. All Chairperson posts are reserved for them too.

Common mistake: PESA does not replace Part IX. It stretches Part IX to these areas, with its own extra rules.

Memory hook: Part IX is the rule. Article 243M is the exception. PESA is the bridge.

Today’s Panchayats run on apps. E-Panchayat means doing Panchayat work on computers and phones. It puts records online.

This part shows what the Ministry runs, what it costs, and why the design splits the work.

6.1 What is the e-Panchayat family?

The e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project puts planning, accounts and audit online. Its main apps are:

• eGramSwaraj for plans, budgets and accounts.
• AuditOnline for online audit of Panchayat accounts.
• Meri Panchayat, Panchayat NIRNAY and SabhaSaar. SabhaSaar uses AI to write up Gram Sabha meetings.

eGramSwaraj also links with GeM, BSNL and BHASHINI.

For FY 2025-26, 98.65% of the 2,58,730 Gram Panchayats had uploaded their plans (GPDPs). A GPDP is a village plan for the year’s work and budget.

About 95% paid ₹57,337 crore through the eGramSwaraj-PFMS link. Audit reports were made for 2,33,743 Gram Panchayats for 2024-25.

6.2 How can the Centre run a scheme in a State subject?

Panchayat is a State subject. That means it is mainly the State’s job. Even so, the Centre runs RGSA (Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan) as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.

It trains elected members and staff. Since 2023-24, 3,73,422 people have been trained on e-governance.

Technology money goes to NICSI for central support. No e-Panchayat money goes to States or UTs.

6.3 How is devolution measured?

The Ministry’s report on the Status of Devolution to Panchayats came out in February 2025. It brought in a Devolution Index. The Index rose from 39.9% to 43.9% between 2013-14 and 2021-22.

6.4 Why is it built this way?

The Centre pays for apps and training. Technology stays central. Local choices stay local.

Money is also tied to reform. States must meet the set conditions first. That is why part of the 15th Commission grant stayed unreleased.

This part lists recent news that exams may use.

7.1 What did Parliament hear on 4 August 2026?

• The Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI 2.0, FY 2023-24) covered 2.59 lakh Gram Panchayats in 33 States and UTs.
• Under RGSA, 36,81,750 members and others were trained on localising the SDGs.
• For FY 2026-27, 1,56,019 Gram Panchayats took up the Sankalp for planning. Of these, 31,789 chose Water Sufficient and 32,806 chose Clean and Green.

7.2 What was released on 31 July 2026?

Minister of State Prof. S. P. Singh Baghel released “51 Stories of Panchayats”. It is a set of 51 case studies on grievances solved through CPGRAMS.

7.3 What new programmes began on 27 and 28 July 2026?

Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh launched the Atmanirbhar Panchayat Programme, the SAMARTH portal and Model OSR Rules. OSR means own source revenue.

• The programme turns local assets into bankable projects, with NABARD and HUDCO as partners. It aims at 350 projects over four years: 50 in year one and 100 in each of the next three years.
• SAMARTH manages revenue online. Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh are on it, with more than 51 lakh taxpayers.
• The Model Rules are advisory. States may adopt or adapt them.

The Viksit Gram Panchayat Plan comes under Section 16 of the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025. Yuktdhara is a GIS tool that helps with the plan. Under Section 21, the State must give staff such as Rozgar Sahayaks.

7.4 What happened at the BRICS Women Ministerial in July 2026?

The meeting was in Kochi on 8 and 9 July 2026. The Panchayati Raj Ministry showed women-led Panchayati Raj. Sarpanches Neeru Yadav of Rajasthan and Bhakti Sharma of Madhya Pradesh shared their work.

A first-ever Joint Statement in the Women Track was adopted. India proposed a BRICS Digital Repository of Best Practices.

7.5 What came out in June 2026?

• 30 June: NITI Aayog and the Ministry released a study on low Gram Sabha attendance. It covered nearly 7,800 people in about 400 Gram Panchayats in 213 districts of 26 States and UTs. It noted best practices from 10 States.
• 23 June: the “Seva Se Samriddhi” workshop in Srinagar drew people from seven States. Nearly 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats use eGramSwaraj. SabhaSaar writes Gram Sabha records in 23 Indian languages. About 1.5 lakh Panchayats use it.
• 28 June: an AI-enabled Rural Internal Audit Portal was launched at the Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Sammelan. It began as a pilot in Chandauli, UP, on 1 April 2025. All core modules ran by October 2025.

Here are the points to carry into the exam, and the questions that tested this topic.

UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2025, General Studies Paper I, Q91.
Consider the following statements:
1. Panchayats at the intermediate level exist in all States.
2. To be eligible to be a Member of a Panchayat at the intermediate level, a person should attain the age of thirty years.
3. The Chief Minister of a State constitutes a commission to review the financial position of Panchayats at the intermediate levels and to make recommendations regarding the distribution of net proceeds of taxes and duties, leviable by the State, between the State and Panchayats at the intermediate level.
Which of the statements given above are not correct?

All three are wrong. Small States need no middle tier. The age is 21. The Governor sets up the Commission. Test yourself on this question.

NDA and NA (II) 2017.
Which one of the following is not a subject that has been devolved to the Panchayati Raj Institutions by the 11th Schedule of the Constitution of India?

The answer is higher education. The Schedule lists education, including primary and secondary schools, and adult and non-formal education. Test yourself on this question.

NDA and NA (I) 2025.
The Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act provides for

An elaborate system that makes Panchayats units of self-government. Test yourself on this question.

• Part IX: Articles 243 to 243-O. It came with the 73rd Amendment.
• Twenty lakh: a State this small may skip the middle tier.
• “May”, not “must”: most power and money Articles say the State may. The State decides.
• Age 21. Term five years. A new election within six months of a dissolution.
• Governor, not the Chief Minister, sets up the State Finance Commission.
• Exception and bridge: Article 243M and PESA, 1996.