Panchayati Raj

Panchayati Raj means self-government by elected village councils. Leaders disagreed about it at independence:

• Gandhi dreamt of gram-swarajya: self-governing, self-reliant villages as the base of Indian democracy.
• Ambedkar feared that power in the villages would go to local elites (upper castes, landlords) who would exploit the downtrodden.

The 73rd Amendment (1992) made Panchayati Raj part of the Constitution:

• At the base is the Gram Sabha: all adult voters of the village. It meets to discuss plans and check the panchayat's work.
• States with over 20 lakh people have three tiers: the village panchayat, the block level, and the district level.
• Elections must be held every five years.
• One-third of all seats are reserved for women, and seats are also reserved for SCs and STs.

The effect was dramatic: the 1993–94 panchayat elections brought about 800,000 women into local government. Many, like Kalavati in the book's example, were poor women who had never spoken in public before, and who learnt to lead, question officials and push for roads, water and schools. Women's presence changed what village politics paid attention to.

Powers and duties of panchayats:

• preparing plans for economic development and social justice;
• collecting some taxes;
• welfare: registering births and deaths, running maternity and child welfare centres;
• building and maintaining roads, wells, drains and schools.

Panchayats must display boards listing the funds they receive and how they spend them, a kind of right to information at village level.

Some regions also have Nyaya Panchayats, village courts that hear petty civil and criminal cases (they can fine, but cannot send anyone to prison), and Van Panchayats that protect local forests.