Panchayati Raj means to uplift the common people socially, politically, and economically and also connect them with the governance. In India, the Panchayati Raj system is one of the significant cornerstones of the democratic structure. This Panchayati Raj system is also acknowledged by the constitution of India under the 73rd constitutional amendment. Its prime purpose was to provide the citizens with the right to run their local administration themselves according to their native needs. These local institutions are also called the apparatus of democratic seed drilling in the Indian soil.
According to the former Union Minister for Panchayati Raj Mani Shankar Aiyar, the lack of ‘B-desire’ and understanding has led to disappointment to empower the Panchayati Raj (Tiwari Ruhi, 2013). In addition to this, the Mani Shankar Aiyar committee (2013) also reported that due to the lack of political will and rigid bureaucracy, the progress of Panchayats is unsatisfactory (Report of the Expert Committee on Leveraging Panchayats for Efficient Delivery of Public Goods and Services, 2013). Furthermore, there are a lot of studies conducted by scholars on the challenges of Panchayati Raj in India, the foremost observation these studies reported are discourteous behavior of rigid bureaucracy towards these Panchayati Raj institutions. Bureaucrats do not want to devolve powers to bodies due to the fear of power encroachment (Paliath, Shreehari 2018). The bureaucracy of the country is not comfortable seeing these panchayats as a unit of local governance (Mathew George, 2013).
The 73rd constitutional amendment was already implemented in other states. In these states, (apart from J&K) elections were held mostly at regular intervals, with all three tiers elected. Regardless of the implementation of the 73rd amendment, we witness in the official annual Panchayati Raj reports from the Ministry of Panchayati Raj Government of India. In these reports, we continuously notice one thing: there are only a few south Indian states and some north Indian states that are doing well in the context of Panchayati Raj. These states are also by some means facing the rigidity of the bureaucrats. These challenges to these Panchayati Raj institutions are also noticeable in a highly growing state like Kerala (Mathew George, 2017).
No doubt, the administration has taken a lot of steps for the betterment of Panchayat Raj but still, after listening to the experiences of the elected Panchayati representatives, it is reported that there is a wide tussle between Panchayats representatives and the administrative heads. The government servants and officers neglect the views of these Panchayat elected representatives; they understand them as a turban to stick in Kashmiri phrase as Lodi Disteer (means a person with no power only for show). These administrative heads did not bother to discuss the developmental plans with the Panchayat Representatives (Rather Abas, 2021). According to the Provincial President of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat conference Arun Kumar Sharma, only dreams were shown to these Panchayati Raj representatives, giving lectures and making big posters did not help the Panchayati Raj. He further said that bureaucracy is the big hurdle there is a complete dictatorship of bureaucracy (Sharma Arun, 2022).
In a nutshell, it is apparent from the studies that the environment is not fertile in which the Panchayat Plant can blossom. Therefore, how this same bureaucratic atmosphere could be fruitful for the Panchayats of Jammu and Kashmir. And it has been also reported from the grassroots that these bureaucrats even did not consider the opinions of these Panchayat Raj representatives. The administration should work on the accountability of the Panchayat Raj institutions at the grassroots level. For this, there is a need to implement the Panchayat Raj ombudsman Act 2014 in letter and spirit. Establish the accountability committee of educated youth at every panchayat will act as the watchdog and will help to maintain the accountability at the grassroots level. Furthermore, the administration should activate and empower the local Adalat system. This will reduce the burden on the courts and in this way; it will foster justice for the needy people.
The author can be mailed at farooqmajeed19@gmail.com
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