Parliament Question: Weakening of powers given to Panchayati Raj Institutions

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRYOF PANCHAYATIRAJ RAJYASABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO.– 572 ANSWEREDON 04.02.2026 WEAKENINGOFPOWERS GIVEN TO PANCHAYATI RAJINSTITUTIONS 572#SHRIRAMJI LALSUMAN: Will the Minister of PANCHAYATIRAJ be pleased to state: (a) the status of steps taken during the last five years for decentralisation of powers to Panchayati Raj Institutions in the context of the powers devolved under the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992; (b) whether the powers conferred on Panchayati Raj Institutions under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have been undermined due to terminationof scheme resulting inweakeningof powers of the PanchayatiRaj; and (c)if so, the detailsthereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF PANCHAYATI RAJ (SHRIRAJIVRANJAN SINGH) (a) “Panchayat”, being “Local Government”, is a State subject and part of State List of Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. Panchayats are set up and operate through the respective State Panchayati Raj Acts which may vary from State to State, subject to the provisions of the Constitution. Article 243G of the Constitution empowers the Legislature of a State to make provisions, by law, for the devolution of power and responsibilities upon Panchayat at appropriate level,subject tosuch conditions asmaybe specified, with respect to the preparation of plans for economic development and social justice and implementation of schemes for economic development and social justice as may be entrusted to them including those in relation to matters included in the Eleventh Schedule to the Constitution. The State legislatures are to consider the 29 subjects set out in the Eleventh Schedule for devolution of power and responsibilities uponPanchayats. Accordingly, totake steps for decentralisation of powers to Panchayati Raj Institutions depends on the extent of powers and resources devolvedtothem bythe States concerned,which variesacross States. However, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj reviews performance of Panchayats, from time to time, through studies, review meetings, field visits, video conferencing, Information Technology applicationsetc. The Ministry has released a report titled “Status of Devolution to Panchayats in States - An Indicative Evidence-Based Ranking, 2024” in February 2025 to assess the effectiveness of devolution and the role of local governments in strengthening grassroots democracy. This report presents the Devolution Index, which provides the overall scores and ranks for all 1States/Union Territories covered under Part-IX of the Constitution, based on six identified dimensions: Framework, Functions, Finances, Functionaries, Capacity Enhancement, and Accountability. This report reveals that the extent of devolution has increased from 39.9% to 43.9% betweenthe period2013-14 to2021-22. To strengthen the local self-governanceframework of Panchayati Raj Institutions across the country, thisMinistry haslaunchedeGramSwaraj(https://egramswaraj.gov.in), a user friendly web-based portal, which aims to bring in better transparency in the decentralized planning, progress reporting, financial management, work-based accounting and details of assets created. The eGramSwarajportal has also been integrated with Public Financial Management System for online transfer of the Central Finance Commission funds by the States to PRIs and enabling Panchayats to make real-time payments to vendors/service providers. Panchayats prepare and upload their Annual Panchayat Development Plans on eGramSwaraj portal. In addition, the Ministry has integrated eGramSwaraj with the Government e- Marketplace (GeM) tobring transparency toPanchayatprocurement. The Ministry has implemented Mission Mode Project on e-Panchayats (MMP-ePanchayat), a Central component of the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) scheme under which various e-governance projects are funded towards digitalization of Panchayats. Revamped CentrallySponsored Schemeof RGSAhas beenimplementedw.e.f. financial year2022-23 in States/Union Territories with mainobjective for capacitatingPRIsthrough impartingtraining to all the Elected Representatives, functionaries and other stakeholders to develop their governance capabilities for leadership roles to enable the Panchayats to function effectively. Under the scheme, Ministry supplements the efforts of States/UTs on limited scale for creation basic infrastructure for effective functioning of Gram Panchayats such as Construction of Gram Panchayat Bhawans, Computers and co-location of Common Service Centres (CSCs) with Gram Panchayat Bhawans with focus on North East States, as proposed by States/UTs in their Annual Action Plans and later approved by Central Empowered Committee. Ministry has also been providing support to the States/UTs, under the scheme of revamped RGSAfor setting up of Project Management Units (PMUs) at States, District and Block level as approved in the Annual Action Plan for effective implementation of the scheme and setting upof institutional mechanism asState, District andBlocklevel Panchayat Resource Centrestosupport Capacity Building & Training of Panchayats. Under the revamped RGSAscheme, 13,848 Panchayat Bhawans and 65,345 Computers have beenapprovedfor the States/UTs so far. An online application ‘AuditOnline’ has been developed for online audits of Panchayat accounts and their financial management. AuditOnline portal, launched in April 2020, facilitates transparent auditing of Central Finance Commission funds utilization and strengthens financial management of Panchayats. Similarly, Panchayat NIRNAY is an online application aims at bringing transparency and better management inconduct of Gram Sabhas byPanchayats. (b)No, Sir. (c)Does not arise. *** 2