Failures:

♤ Authority and functions: State government, meant to transfer functions listed as per 73rd AA has undertaken very little devolution of authority and functions to PRIs. Core functions like water, sanitation, maintenance of community assets, etc. continue to be in the hands of State governments.

♤ Finances: The power to tax, even for subjects falling within the purview of PRIs, has to be specifically authorized by the state legislature. Though State Finance Commissions have advocated for greater devolution of funds, there has been little action by states.

♤ Functionaries: Many State Governments have not transferred the required staff to the PRIs after the devolution of powers. Government officers are not willing to work under the administrative control of elected PRIs and administrative personnel serving under Panchayats are accountable to state government and not local bodies.

♤ District Planning Committee: The mandate to establish a DPC to prepare a draft development plan has been violated and distorted in most States. Parallel bodies encroach upon the domain of Local Governments (LGs).

♤ Capacity Building: There haven’t been adequate capacity building exercises for members of Panchayats belonging to weaker section. For example, women participation has been mired by challenges such as ‘sarpanch patis’.

♤ Parallel schemes and agencies such as MPLAD and MLALAD continue to bypass local governments.

Hence for governance efficacy at grassroots level, the only long-term solution is to foster genuine fiscal federalism where PRIs have authority to levy, collect and appropriate taxes to augment their resources and there is adequate devolution of functions making PRIs well equipped to solve their problems.