Hello aspirants,
Today’s revision capsule of PSIR optional preparation covers GRASSROOT DEMOCRACY. There are five 20-markers, six 15-markers, and two 10-markers questions in the last 12 years PYQs.
Role of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in Deepening Indian Democracy
- Why Local Self-Government Matters
| Key Idea | Core Message | Voices & Concepts |
| Decentralisation = true democracy | Democracy is most tangible when people run the affairs that touch them daily. | Lord Bryce: “best school of democracy”. Dhaliwal & World Bank: voice, accountability, service quality. |
| Participative + deliberative democracy | Gram Sabhas let citizens debate, decide and monitor—turning voters into active “co-producers”. | Gandhi’s Gram Swaraj; Habermas’ “public sphere”; Sen’s stress on public debate. |
- Historical Evolution (Three Generations)
| Phase | Catalyst & Design | Performance / Critique |
| Ancient & Colonial Roots | Village sabhas, Mughal autonomy; Ripon Resolution 1882, first Madras Municipal Corp 1687. | Mainly “tapping local resources” for colonial aims (Arora & Goyal). |
| 1st Generation (1950s-60s) | Community Development Programme; Balwantrai Mehta (1957) → three-tier PRIs. | Bureaucracy-led, election delays; local elites capture (Rajni Kothari). |
| 2nd Generation (1977-92) | Ashok Mehta (1977) → two-tier, party links, constitutional status; 64th CAA Bill failed. | Political instability, state reluctance, “conspiracy against panchayats”. |
| 3rd Generation (1992 onwards) | 73rd & 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts under P.V. Narasimha Rao. | Institutional breakthrough but devolution uneven—“skeleton without flesh”. |
- The 73rd Amendment: Institutional Architecture
- Uniform three-tier system (GP-PS-ZP) for >20 lakh states; Gram Sabha recognised (Art. 243A).
- Regular five-year elections & independent State Election Commissions.
- Reservation: ≥⅓ seats and chairposts for women; SC/ST in proportion; some states now 50 %.
- Eleventh Schedule (29 subjects) – agriculture to social forestry.
- 3 F’s: Funds, Functions, Functionaries + State Finance Commissions every five years.
- District Planning Committees; PESA 1996 for Scheduled Areas.
Urban mirror: 74th Amendment, 18 functions (Twelfth Schedule), ward committees, Nagar Panchayat to Municipal Corporation.
- Fiscal Decentralisation — Theory & Indian Reality
| Insights & Scholars | Ground Situation | |
| Why money matters | Oates’ fiscal federalism; Olson’s smaller-group efficiency. | PRIs’ share of public spending tiny; “fiscal poverty” (M.A. Oommen). |
| Revenue powers | Rao & Marjit: real taxation rights at village level. | States seldom notify local taxes; heavy grant-dependence. |
| State Finance Commissions | Intended to be the “honest broker”. | Reports often late or ignored; weak data, expertise. |
| Recent correctives | 14th FC: ₹2 lakh cr direct to GPs. 15th FC (2021-26): ₹4.36 lakh cr, performance-linked, health grants. | Execution varies; capacity gaps hamper absorption. |
- Impact on Inclusivity & Leadership
- Women: Seats equal ~46 % in practice; Snehalata Panda shows focus on water, health. Yet “Pradhan-pati” proxy persists.
- SC/ST: Guaranteed space, though entrenched caste relations curb voice (Rajni Kothari).
- Trans persons: Odisha, Kerala begin separate reservation; aligns with inclusive-democracy claim (G. Malik).
- Measuring Devolution & State Patterns
- IIPA Devolution Index 2012-13: Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu top; Goa, Punjab, Bihar bottom.
- Gram Sabha participation studies
Low quorum (Ramesh K. Singh, Bihar); higher attendance but low awareness (Pal & Pai, Haryana); 80-90 % women attendance yet domestic burdens persist (Mohanty, Odisha).
- Persistent Challenges
- Incomplete transfer of 29 subjects – parallel schemes (MPLADS, CSS) bypass PRIs.
- Bureaucratic dominance – lack of separate rural cadre; no model code of conduct.
- Capacity deficit – planning, accounting, social audit skills weak.
- Elite / contractor capture & corruption – “decentralisation of corruption” (Mani Shankar Aiyar Committee).
- Urban neglect – overlapping parastatals, ceremonial mayors; smart-city SPVs sideline elected councils (Isher Judge Ahluwalia).
- Reform Prescriptions
| Source / Scholar | Core Proposal |
| Subsidiarity principle (Punchhi Comm., 2nd ARC) | Map every activity to the lowest viable tier (“what can be done locally must be done locally”). |
| Mani Shankar Aiyar Expert Comm. | Gram Sabha to monitor all social-sector schemes; Panchayat Ombudsman; compulsory video-recorded meetings. |
| Ashok Mehta, Rajiv-era Bills | Party-based panchayat polls, two-tier system, direct GP funding. |
| 14th & 15th Finance Commissions | Larger untied grants, health-specific window, SFC report compliance. |
| Training push | 10 lakh engineers/technicians to aid GP plans; 300 “Rurban” clusters as models. |
| Civil-society & grassroots movements (D.L. Sheth, Rajni Kothari) | Bottom-up mobilisation to demand genuine power; link micro-movements into national alliances. |
- Urban Local Bodies — The Unfinished Agenda
- Need: 40 % population urban; cities produce 70 % of GDP.
- Problems: weak revenue (octroi gone), parastatal overlap, limited planning authority.
- Way forward: elected mayors with real tenure, metropolitan planning committees, own-source taxes (land value capture, user charges).
- Conclusion – “From Skeleton to Living Body”
PRIs have pushed India from representation toward participation. They constitutionalised:
- Inclusivity (women, SC/ST, tribal, now transgender).
- Regular elections and grassroots deliberation.
- Third layer of federalism (Mukherjee & Arora).
Yet the promise is only partly fulfilled. Funds, functions, and functionaries lag; bureaucracy and elite interests blunt grassroots voice; urban local democracy trails rural gains.
The task ahead is to match legal form with living practice—embed subsidiarity, honour Finance-Commission transfers, professionalise staff, invigorate Gram Sabhas, and let local bodies become India’s real “safety net” for democracy and development.
Current Update
1 ┃ Money & Devolution
| What’s new | Why it must be added |
| 15th Finance Commission (FC-XV) grants: about 78 % of the ₹ 2.36 lakh crore allocation has actually reached rural and urban bodies; Audit Online flags utilisation gaps in roughly one-fifth of Gram Panchayats. | Gives the real—not promised— fiscal space of PRIs/ULBs and shows which states still short-release funds. |
| 16th Finance Commission notified (Dec 2023) with a specific brief to review local-body needs; report due Oct 2025. | The debate is already shifting to FC-XVI; existing notes stop with FC-XV (2021-26). |
| Performance-linked “property-tax & user-charge” reform grant for urban bodies launched in 2023-24. | Connects fiscal devolution to concrete revenue-raising reforms; several cities have already qualified. |
2 ┃ Digital Governance & Transparency
| New development | Why relevant |
| e-GramSwaraj plus AuditOnline now live in over 3 lakh Gram Panchayats, integrating planning, workflows and double-entry accounts. | Shifts the “capacity-deficit” debate—tech adoption is becoming the main bottleneck, not paperwork. |
| SVAMITVA drone-survey mapping has covered more than 3.2 lakh villages; over 2 crore digital title cards issued. | Strengthens the village tax base and settles land disputes—key for any current discussion on local finance. |
3 ┃ Representation & Social Justice
| New fact / rule | Why it alters the narrative |
| Women now hold 50 % of seats and chairposts in local bodies in 21 states (latest adopters: Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha). | Moves far beyond the constitutional floor of 33 %; gender balance is the norm in most of India. |
| PESA operational rules notified in Madhya Pradesh (2022) and Chhattisgarh (2023), giving Gram Sabhas veto power over mining, excise and land-use. | Marks the first substantive rollout of tribal self-rule in two decades—missing from older summaries. |
4 ┃ Judicial Safeguards
| 2022-24 rulings / laws | Policy impact |
| Supreme Court decisions on Goa SEC and West Bengal panchayat polls tighten deadlines and bar state interference in local elections. | Refreshes the earlier Bommai/Nabam line with hard timelines and contempt threat for delays. |
| Delhi Ordinance / GNCTD Act 2023 re-centralises service control in the National Capital Territory. | Now the biggest ongoing tussle over urban local-body autonomy; must be reflected in any ULB analysis. |
5 ┃ Urban Reform & Climate Finance
| What changed | Why add it |
| India’s first green municipal bond (Indore, ₹ 244 crore, Feb 2023) oversubscribed; AA+ rating. | Shows cities moving beyond grants and tapping climate finance—reframes “ULB dependence”. |
| MoHUA credit-rating drive and pooled-bond mechanism (relaunched 2022-24). | Indicates a systemic push toward market access for municipal infrastructure funding. |
Scholars Index
Isher Judge Ahluwalia | Mani Shankar Aiyar | Balveer Arora | S.R. Bommai | Lord Bryce | Dhaliwal | Mahatma Gandhi | Rajiv Gandhi | L.C. Goyal | Jürgen Habermas | Rajni Kothari | G. Malik | Sugata Marjit | Ashok Mehta | Balwantrai Mehta | Manoranjan Mohanty | Mukherjee | P.V. Narasimha Rao | Wallace E. Oates | Mancur Olson | M.A. Oommen | Pai | Pal | Snehalata Panda | M.M. Punchhi | M. Govinda Rao | Nabam Rebia | Lord Ripon | Amartya Sen | D.L. Sheth | Ramesh K. Singh
Practice Questions (Write before 4 p.m.)
Question 1. Political decentralisation has not been matched by administrative decentralisation at the grass roots level. Explain. [2019/10 m]
Question 2. Gram Sabha in the Panchayati Raj system is a forum which gives expression to the collective wisdom, aspirations and the will of the people. [2024/15 m]
Question 3. Examine the unique features of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment. Do you think this Amendment would contribute in achieving the goal of empowerment of marginalised sections of the society? [2022/20m]
📌 Model answers drop this evening on the Telegram channel: https://t.me/psirbyamitpratap – keep notifications on.
See you tomorrow on Day 21. Keep practicing!
—Amit Pratap Singh & Team
A quick note on submissions of copies and mentorship
- 2025 Mains writers: Cohort 1 of O-AWFG started on 12 June and ATS on 15 June. The above practice set will serve as your revision tool, just do not miss booking your mentorship sessions for personalised feedback especially for starting tests. Come with your evaluated test copies.
- 2026 Mains writers – keep uploading through your usual dashboard. Act on the feedback and improve consistently.
- Alternate between mini-tests (O-AWFG) and full mocks (ATS) has been designed to tackle speed, content depth, and structured revision—line-by-line evaluation pinpoints your weaknesses and errors. Follow your PSIR O-AWFG & ATS schedule and use the model answers to enrich your content, as rankers recommended based on their own success.
