A backbone for India's grassroots democracy

India's democracy draws its real strength from the ground up — from the panchayats and urban local bodies that are constitutionally recognised as the third tier of governance.

- Arvind Mayaram

The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments laid down the vision of self-governing villages and towns, backed by decentralised planning and execution. Yet, decades later, this vision still lacks a functioning administrative structure to support local elected bodies in delivering development effectively.

Across the country today, gram panchayats (GPs) are implementing major national schemes like MGNREGA, Swachh Bharat Mission, Jal Jeevan Mission, PM Awas Yojana Gramin, and the National Rural Livelihoods Mission. Together, these account for public expenditure worth several lakh crore rupees annually. Much of it flows through panchayats — institutions that, shockingly, operate with minimal to no professional staff. Most GPs have no technical assistant, no accountant, no civil engineer, and no planning support.

The outcome is predictable. Projects suffer from poor design and shoddy execution. Fund utilisation remains weak. Citizens feel unheard and unserved. And elected local representatives are left disillusioned, blamed for outcomes they were never truly empowered to shape. An effort was made in 2010 to rectify this by allowing key functionaries to be hired within the MGNREGA funding, but this fell by the wayside.