Set in the fictional village of Phulera, the story of the popular web series Panchayat unfolds as the protagonist, born and brought up in the city, heads there to run the panchayat and faces the hurdles that come with it. Panchayat captures, with humour, life in a north Indian village and the difficulties of running a local government body, almost like the ones that crop up in reality. A government report published this month reveals the challenges confronting panchayats in India and analyses how each state has performed when it comes to the devolution of powers and responsibilities to these bodies. The 2024 index that the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj has published based on a study by the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) has seen Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu topping the index and Uttar Pradesh and Bihar recording the biggest improvement. The IIPA studied 172 panchayats in 68 districts across India to measure the performance of the panchayat system on six parameters: framework, functions, finances, functionaries, capacity building, and accountability. Using these, the IIPA developed the Panchayat Devolution Index (PDI) that scored states on a scale of 0 to 100. The index was last published in 2014 and, over the past decade, the national average score rose from 39.92 to 43.89. In 2013-14, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh got the top scores. Since then, 18 states and Union Territories improved their scores while 11 recorded declines. In the latest index, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Jharkhand are the lowest-scoring states, while Manipur, Arunachal and Haryana have seen the biggest declines in the past decade. Among the top 10 states, only Maharashtra saw a decline despite ranking fourth overall. The representation question As of 2024, there are 2.62 lakh panchayats in India, up from 2.48 lakh in 2013-14. In 2013-14 and 2024, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh recorded the most panchayats. But in terms of average rural population per panchayat, while the national average in 2024 was 4,669 (up from 3,087 in 2013-14), West Bengal, Assam and Bihar had the most densely populated panchayats. In 2013-14, Kerala had the most densely populated panchayats in the country. While panchayats in most states have a 50% quota for women, there are seven states and UTs that fall below their respective reservation threshold. Among them are Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, and Tripura. However, 21 states and UTs are at or above the reservation threshold. Odisha has the highest proportion of women among panchayat representatives at 61.51%, followed by Himachal Pradesh at 57.5%, and Tamil Nadu at 57.32%. Among the states, UP has the lowest proportion of women representatives at 33.33% but the state’s rules provide for only one-third reservation for women. The national average proportion of women representatives is 46.44%, marginally up from 45.9% in 2013-14. While there were 11 states in 2013-14 with 50% or more women representatives, there were 16 such states in 2024. The IIPA study said that while there is no stipulated reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Punjab had the highest proportion of SC representatives in panchayats at 36.34%, Chhattisgarh had the highest share of STs at 41.04%, and Bihar the highest OBC representation at 39.02%. The national average representation for these groups stands at 18.03% for SCs, 16.22% for STs and 19.15% for OBCs. In 2013-14 too, Punjab had the most SC representation at 32.02%. On OBC representation, Andhra Pradesh topped in 2013-14 with 34%. While Arunachal did not report its figures for 2024, all of its panchayat representatives were STs in 2013-14. The major challenges Independent studies have found that consistent funding and infrastructure are among the biggest challenges facing panchayats. In 2023-24, state governments allocated Rs 47,018 crore to panchayats, according to the study, but only Rs 10,761 crore was released as of November 2023. In 2022-21, states allocated Rs 46,513 crore, of which Rs 43,233 crore was released. Panchayats in some states lack basic infrastructure. Only seven states and UTs reported that 100% of their panchayat offices were pucca buildings while in 21 states and UTs, at least three-fourths of panchayat offices were pucca. The fewest pucca buildings were in Arunachal Pradesh at 5%, followed by Odisha at 12%. Twelve states and UTs reported that 100% of their panchayats had computers, though in Arunachal no panchayat had computers and just 13% did in Odisha. While 14 states and UTs reported 100% internet access in panchayats, no panchayat in Haryana reported Internet access, according to the report, and just 1% did in Arunachal.
