Realising The Potential Of Panchayati Raj In India

Rural decentralisation and panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) are a profound change in the Indian rural institutional scene. They may ultimately offer a better option for rural development and poverty alleviation. However, it was a mistake to think that PRIs would emerge as caring institutions in an environment of rent-seeking politics and unresponsive and inefficient bureaucracy. If district level civil servants and politicians are indifferent to public welfare, it is too much to expect that village and block level politicians will be any different. Thus there are big risks in premature promotion of PRIs. Past attempts at decentralization failed in India, in part because of resistance of the vested interests of the bureaucracy and state level politicians. These vested interests remain. If not carefully designed, sequenced and implemented, decentralisation can increase the fiscal burden on the states and lead to a breakdown in service delivery1, in particular to the poor. Thus political and civil service reforms must go hand in hand with empowerment of panchayats. Described in this paper are the reforms that are specific to panchayats and decentralisation.