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17.1 The Tenth Five-Year Plan highlightedthe importance of governance for �tackling theproblems of poverty, backwardness and lowhuman development� and pointed out theimportance of embarking on a comprehensivegovernance-related reforms agenda. A multi-faceted approach was adopted, with particularemphasis being laid on the implementation ofthe 73rd and 74th Constitutional AmendmentActs, 1992, which gave Constitutional status topanchayati raj institutions (PRIs) and urbanlocal bodies (ULBs) respectively, in both letterand spirit in order to bring about greaterdecentralisation and increase the involvementof the community in planning andimplementing schemes and, thus, increaseaccountability. The agenda also includedinstitutional reforms, including those relatedto the civil service, judicial system, policingand the criminal justice administration system.It also emphasised the role of e-Governance,which can improve the delivery of a widerange of services to citizens and businesses.

DECENTRALISATION &PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS

17.2 The political empowerment of PRIs� elections to the three tiers of PRIs andrepresentation for scheduled castes(SCs)/scheduled tribes (STs) as well as women �has been firmly established. The system hasover 3 million elected representativesparticipating in the decentralised governanceset-up, the largest democratically electedrepresentative base in the world. In manystates, the representation of women in PRIsis higher than the stipulated minimum of 33.3per cent. However, this politicalempowerment has not been accompanied byempowerment in other spheres. The stategovernments were expected to devolvefunctional autonomy, administrative supportand financial resources to the PRIs, but

success on this front has been patchy. PRIsin Kerala have been considerably strengthenedand are often cited as examples of genuinedevolution. Karnataka and Madhya Pradeshhave also made significant progress in thisarea. However, most states have honouredthe 73rd and 74th Constitutional AmendmentActs only in letter and not in spirit. Instancesof states initially devolving powers andfunctions and later withdrawing these havecome to light.

17.3 The National Common MinimumProgramme (NCMP) adopted by the UnitedProgressive Alliance (UPA) government in May2004 has resolved to strengthen the PRIs (seeBox 17.1). An important step towards thisobjective was the creation of a separate Ministryof Panchayati Raj.

17.4 The Ministry of Panchayati Raj, heldseven round table conferences in 2004 toformulate action plans to be adopted by thestate governments so that PRIs become effectiveinstitutions of self-government. Close to 150resolutions were adopted, relating to variousfacets of empowerment of PRIs. The Centraland state governments need to initiate workon these resolutions which can be categorisedunder the following 16 heads:

� Effective devolution of functions,functionaries and finances

� Strengthening of District PlanningCommittees and formulation of DistrictPlans as envisaged in the Constitution.

� Implementation of Plans, programmesand projects.

� Strengthening gram sabhas, byendowing them with greater powersand responsibilities.

� Empowerment of women and attentionto gender related issues.

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� Reservations for SCs, STs, otherbackward classes (OBCs) and women.

� Special problems of SCs and STs.

� Conduct of elections.

� Strengthening of the accounts and auditprocedures in PRIs.

� PRIs in Union Territories withoutlegislatures.

� Problems with parallel bodies to PRIs.

� Development of capability at all levelsin PRIs.

� State of Panchayats Report.

� Jurisprudence arising out of judicialdecisions and interpretations.

� Information technology (IT) enablede-governance for PRIs.

� Promotion of Rural Business Hubs.

DEVOLUTION OF FUNCTIONS TOPRIs

17.5 The issue of empowering PRIs bytransferring the three Fs (functions, funds andfunctionaries) to them has been at the centreof discussion between the Centre and the statesover the last 10 years. The PlanningCommission and the Ministry of RuralDevelopment have repeatedly impressed uponthe state governments the need to transferthese three Fs in respect of 29 items listed inthe Eleventh Schedule. In practice, however,while most states have transferred a largenumber of functions to the PRIs, this has notbeen accompanied by a transfer of funds andfunctionaries (Annexure 17.1). Even in the

states where funds and functionaries have beentransferred to the panchayats, state governmentofficials continue to exercise control on financialresources and the personnel transferred to thepanchayats.

17.6 Effective devolution requires devolutionof finances. The subjects earmarked for PRIscover all the social and economic dimensionsof rural life but the extent of financialdevolution is not commensurate with theresponsibilities. The sources of revenue thathave been earmarked for panchayats are farfrom adequate. The power of taxation is vestedonly with the lowest tier of the PRI � thegram panchayat. The higher tiers � thepanchayat samitis and district or zillapanchayats � do not have the power of taxation.The extent of devolution from the state levelto the PRIs is also very limited. Though StateFinance Commissions have been appointed,their recommendations have generally not beenimplemented. The only states where substantialresources are being transferred to panchayatsare Kerala, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. InKerala, 40 per cent of the state budget is placedat the disposal of the PRIs. A similar systemhas been introduced in Karnataka and MadhyaPradesh. The magnitude of the allocations,however, differs. In Karnataka the allocationsare largely to the zilla panchayats.

17.7 The lack of financial resources meansthat PRIs are heavily dependent on the stategovernments for funds, which effectivelyreduces them to an agency of the government,rather than an institution of self-governance, as

Box 17.1Panchayati Raj Institutions in the NCMP

� The UPA government will ensure that all funds given to states for implementation ofpoverty alleviation and rural development schemes by Panchayats are neither delayed nordiverted. Monitoring will be strict. In addition, after consultations with states, the UPAgovernment will consider crediting elected Panchayats with such funds directly.

� Devolution of funds will be accompanied by similar devolution of functions andfunctionaries as well. Regular elections to panchayat bodies will be ensured and theamendment Act in respect of the Fifth and Sixth Schedule Areas will be implemented.

� The UPA government will ensure that the Gram Sabha is empowered to emerge as thefoundation of panchayati raj.

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was envisioned by the Constitution. Indeed,fiscal decentralisation measured by various ratiosindicates that the financial autonomy of thePRIs has actually decreased after decentralisationat an all-India level. A number of Centrallysponsored schemes initiated in the 1990s areimplemented through the PRIs and this bringsin some PRI involvement, but these schemeshave detailed guidelines and the PRIs havevery little discretion in the use of these funds.

17.8 Related to the question of resourcetransfer from the government is the issue ofresource mobilisation by panchayats themselvesto enlarge their area of activities. Mobilisationof resources at the local level would not onlystrengthen the financial position of thepanchayats, it would also lead to peopleexercising greater control over the manner inwhich the elected functionaries discharge theirfunctions. Property tax, collection of usercharges for water, irrigation and revenue fromthe tanks and ponds could be tapped by thelocal bodies to strengthen their fiscal domain.Property tax has emerged as a major source ofrevenue for gram panchayats in Karnataka. Afew states have attempted the practice ofproviding matching grants to the resourcesraised by panchayats by specific programmes.Such initiatives could be collated anddisseminated widely for replication by the otherstates.

AUDIT AND ACCOUNTING

17.9 The proposed transfer of funds to thePRIs by the Central and state governmentsmust be accompanied by efforts at strengtheningtheir accounting and auditing procedures. TheEleventh Finance Commission award had setaside a separate small provision of Rs.197.06crore for the development of a database on thefinances of the panchayats and Rs.98.61 crorefor the maintenance of accounts. The TwelfthFinance Commission has not made any separateallocation for these two heads but has, instead,indicated that the states may assess therequirement of local bodies in this regard andearmark funds for the purpose out of the totalallocation for PRIs.

17.10 The related issue of fiscal disciplineand accountability at the panchayat level isequally important. Very few states have framedspecific rules for dealing with the financialirregularities and misdemeanours of electedpanchayat functionaries. The Comptroller andAuditor General�s office has issued guidelineson the audit of panchayat finances. These needto be adopted immediately by all states. Rulesneed to be framed and notified for dealingwith misuse of funds and embezzlement by thepanchayat functionaries.

FUNCTIONAL DEMARCATIONBETWEEN THE THREE TIERS

17.11 Although 29 subjects have beenallocated to the PRIs, there is lack of clarityabout the distinct roles of the three differenttiers of the PRI system in relation to thesesubjects. The Eleventh Schedule does notspecify the principles of functional demarcationbetween the zilla panchayats, the panchayatsamiti and the gram panchayat. The S.B. SenCommittee on Decentralisation of Powers setup by the Government of Kerala hadrecommended that the principle of subsidiarity� functions which could be performed best bythe lowest tier, should be entrusted only tothat tier and not to a higher tier � could befollowed while demarcating the functionaldomain of the three tiers. This is even morenecessary as the three tiers are not hierarchical.

17.12 A Task Force set up by the Ministryof Rural Development, with representation ofstate governments, had studied this issue andoutlined the functional responsibility of eachtier in respect of the 29 items on the basis ofthe principle of subsidiarity. The report of theTask Force has been circulated to the stategovernments. The states should be persuadedto notify the division of functionalresponsibilities between the three tiers on thebasis of activity mapping. The demarcation offunctions is necessary to assess the requirementof financial resources at each level and theadministrative support that would be necessaryto carry out those functions.

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IMPLEMENTATION OF CENTRALLYSPONSORED SCHEMES

17.13 The transfer of Plan resources fromthe Centre to the states takes place throughtwo channels � Central assistance to the StatePlans and resources transferred forimplementing Centrally sponsored schemes inthe state sector. The 29 Eleventh Schedulesubjects fall within the functional domain ofthe different ministries of the Centralgovernment. The Ministry of RuralDevelopment, which was the nodal ministryfor PRIs until recently, has taken steps toinvolve PRIs in their schemes. The SampoornaGrameen Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) isimplemented exclusively through panchayats.However, most of the other departments haveeither not provided any role, or provided onlya very limited role, for the PRIs. The PlanningCommission had set up a Task Force on PRIsto examine this issue and suggest concretemeasures to ensure the involvement of PRIs inimplementation of the Centrally sponsoredschemes. The Task Force concentrated on ruraldevelopment, health, education, agriculture,environment and forest and social justice andempowerment sectors and outlined in detailthe stages at which the Central ministries couldinvolve different tiers of the PRIs. Manyministries have increasingly involved PRIs inprogramme delivery, but these efforts need tobe intensified further.

17.14 Centrally sponsored schemes providean avenue for the Government of India topersuade state governments to transfer financialresources and equip PRIs with administrativesupport to fulfil the objectives of the CSSs.One mechanism to do this would be to linkreleases under schemes to transfer of the threeFs by the states to the PRIs. This wouldprovide an incentive to the States to empowerPRIs. This could be done at least in case ofthose Centrally sponsored schemes relating tothe Eleventh Schedule subjects.

DISTRICT PLANNING

17.15 One of the major objectives ofdemocratic decentralisation was to facilitateparticipation of the people in planning,

implementation and monitoring ofdevelopment projects that addressed their felt-needs. The Constitution provides for settingup of District Planning Committees (DPCs),which are expected to consolidate the Plansprepared by panchayats and municipalities inthe district and then prepare a draft Plan forthe district as a whole. The district planningexercise has to be a bottom-up process, wherepanchayat plans are prepared in the gram sabhasand aggregated at the block/taluka level beforethey are integrated into the district plan. Thedistrict plans must, in turn, be reflected in thestate Plans.

17.16 This has simply not happened in practice.District planning has been one of the weakestlinks in system of decentralised governance.Many state governments are yet to set upDPCs and even in the states where they havebeen set up, their role in the formulation ofdistrict plans has not been very effective. Thisis clearly an area of major weakness and needsto be considerably strengthened.

17.17 The Central government is alsoresponsible, to some extent, for the dormancyof the DPCs. Sanctions under various Centrallysponsored schemes are accorded on a project-by-project basis by Screening and SanctioningCommittees set up in the Central ministries.The Ministries of Rural Development, TribalAffairs, the Department of the North-EasternRegion and many other ministries clear district-level projects through Central ApprovalCommittees. Such selection and approval ofprojects at the Central level negates the veryprinciple of participatory planning at the grassroot level. The Planning Commission couldalso encourage state governments to providefor separate district plans and incorporate thesein the State Plan before the latter is submittedfor approval.

17.18 District-level planning cannot becomeeffective unless it is backed by the provision ofblock grants at the district level in the form ofuntied funds. Programmes relating to a sectorshould be bundled under one head and districtsshould be empowered to select projects insuitable sectors and areas. The practice ofproviding a separate district budget, as has

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been done in Kerala and Madhya Pradesh,needs to be adopted by other states as well.This exercise may be undertaken on a pilotbasis in selected districts in each state.

EMPOWERMENT OF GRAM SABHA

17.19 Article 243 A of the Constitutionmakes the gram sabha the repository of allpowers and functions devolved on panchayatsby the Constitution and expects it to functionalmost like a legislature, with the grampanchayats deriving their authority from it.The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act alsostipulates that state government should bestowgram sabhas with clear powers and functions.The various State Conformity Acts that werepassed, however, only provided supervisorypowers to gram sabhas, without giving themany effective control over the electedfunctionaries. States have to strengthen thegram sabhas by providing them more effectivepowers before they can emerge as the fulcrumof panchayati raj, as envisaged in the NCMP.Mechanisms that ensure accountability ofPRIs to the people need to be beefed up.The Central government has often requestedthe state governments to enlarge the role ofgram sabhas. Training camps have beenorganised by the government and non-government organisations (NGOs) to generateawareness among the gram sabha membersabout their rights and responsibilities.

17.20 A few states have made social auditof the programmes implemented by the PRIsmandatory. Many examples of good workdone by gram sabha and panchayats havebeen widely reported. Nevertheless, gramsabhas, by and large, continue to be weakand lack substantive powers and control overthe gram panchayats. In fact, many gramsabhas rarely meet.

17.21 The Right to Information Act passedby the Government of India and many stategovernments will strengthen gram sabhas.What is also needed is a much largerprogramme of training and awarenessgeneration for panchayat functionaries, thegovernmental machinery and the communityto explain to each of them their role and

responsibilities. The practice of social auditprevalent in some states should be extendedto all the states and made mandatory.

TRAINING OF PANCHAYATI RAJFUNCTIONARIES

17.22 The Ministry of Rural Developmenthas assisted state governments by providingresources for training elected representativesand government functionaries dealing withPRIs. NGOs have also been assisted by thestate governments to take up awarenessgeneration programmes in the rural areas.International organisations have also been activein this area. However, given the magnitude ofthe task, these efforts have not been able tomake a major impact on the ground. Thechallenge is to change the mindset of thegovernment functionaries and encourage themto cooperate with panchayat functionaries. Amuch larger training programme, therefore,needs to be undertaken for training panchayatfunctionaries and government officials whoseservices have been placed at the disposal of thePRIs. Training of trainers, therefore, is equallyimportant.

PANCHAYATS (EXTENSION TOSCHEDULED AREAS) ACT

17.23 The Panchayats (Extension toScheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) extendspanchayats to the tribal areas of AndhraPradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh,Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand,Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Rajasthan to enabletribal communities to preserve theirtraditional customs and rights. Most stategovernments have passed enabling legislationto give effect to the provisions of PESA.However, rules are yet to be framed andnotified in many states and, as a result, PESAhas not yet been operationalised. Under theAct, the gram sabhas/panchayats are givenmandatory powers to be consulted, torecommend and to enforce prohibition,ownership of minor forest produce, preventalienation of land in the Scheduled Areas andcontrol of local resources for State Plansincluding Tribal Sub Plans.

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17.24 A review of the state Acts shows thatmost states have assigned a less prominent roleto gram sabhas/panchayats in the ScheduledAreas than was intended by PESA. In Orissa,gram sabhas/panchayats have been given veryfew powers. In many states, powers earmarkedfor gram sabha/panchayats have been entrustedto taluka and zilla parishads. In many states,gram sabhas have been given powers of controlonly on forests located within the revenueboundaries of the village and not on all forests(including reserved forests) in the vicinity ofthe village. Forest products such as cane,bamboo and mahua seeds have been excludedfrom the category of minor forest produce inorder to keep them under the control of theForest Department.

17.25 PESA gives wide-ranging powers tothe gram panchayats in the Schedule V areas.Given the fact that tribals are among the mostmarginalised sections of society, the Act is animportant instrument to encourage tribalcommunities to participate in the growthprocess and improve their living conditions. Itis necessary to impress upon the states theneed to implement PESA and modify/repealall laws that come in conflict with it, as wasenvisioned by the Act itself.

PROGRAMME DELIVERY SYSTEMAND IMPLEMENTATION DESIGN

17.26 Successful implementation ofdevelopment programmes requires adequatefunds, an appropriate policy and institutionalframework and an effective delivery mechanism.Past experience suggests that availability offunds, though necessary, is not a sufficientcondition for tackling the problems of povertyand backwardness. The capability of thedelivery system to optimally utilise the fundsand achieve sustainable outcomes on the groundis equally important.

17.27 There is now substantial evidence thatbasic public services and programmes (such asthose meant for the poor and the weakersections) function relatively inefficiently in thepoorer and less well-governed states. This isdue to, on the one hand, lack of motivation,

accountability, absence of performanceappraisal, lack of a system of incentives andpenalties, understaffing and poor workingconditions, and, on the other, large-scaleleakages.

17.28 Technology-enabled delivery systemdesign for implementation of the proposednational rural employment guarantee schemeis indicated in Box 17.2. The concept needs tobe validated through pilots before it is rolledout.

17.29 From this example, it will be apparentthat e-Governance solutions can be useful indesigning implementation and monitoringsystems for poverty alleviation and other ruraldevelopment programmes such as the SarvaShiksha Abhiyan, Sampoorna Grameen RozgarYojana (SGRY), SGSY, Mid-Day Meal Scheme,Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).

17.30 The Tenth Plan highlighted the role ofPRIs, as well as of civil society, includingvoluntary sector, in the governance relatedreforms agenda. It was envisaged that thevoluntary sector would be recognised, as apartner in development and Non-GovernmentalOrganisations (NGOs)/ VoluntaryOrganisations (VOs) would be involved in thetask of planning and implementation ofdevelopment programmes. An enablingenvironment will be created for greaterinvolvement of the voluntary sector andappropriate databases on NGOs/VOs wouldbe created. The NCMP has endorsed theimportant role which this sector can play andthis is reflected in the constitution of theNational Advisory Council.

17.31 Recognizing the increasing importanceof the voluntary sector in the developmentprocess, the Planning Commission has issuedGuidelines to the concerned Departments/Ministries and State Governments to facilitatethe working of voluntary organisations. Inthese Guidelines, inter-alia, it has been suggestedto set up grievance redressals mechanisms, tonotify the state Planning Department as thenodal agency for voluntary sector, to constitutestate joint machinery for Government and

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voluntary sector collaboration, to takeappropriate steps for capacity building ofNGOs, to sensitize government officials aboutthe role of NGOs, to adopt simplified formatsand fast tract systems for involving NGOs, tohave better coordination between NGOs andPRIs etc. The Planning Commission isformulating a draft National Policy on theVoluntary Sector which will seek to define orfacilitate the role of voluntary sectioninformation in improving governance in thedevelopment process. As basic data onvoluntary sector on the country is not available,the Planning Commission is preparing adatabase on NGOs. Information on about16,000 NGOs who have received funding fromdifferent departments of the Government isavailable, as on 20th April 2005. Thisinformation is continuously being updated andavailable on the website of PlanningCommission. In addition, the database of otherconcerned departments and other useful sitesfor voluntary sector have been hyperlinked onthe Planning Commission website.

17.32 It has been estimated that there areabout 12 lakh Voluntary Organisations in thecountry. The database of Planning Commissionis still not able to capture the full contours andcontributions of the voluntary sector. For thisenormous task, keeping in view the ever-increasing size and role of the voluntary sector,proper infrastructure or institutionalarrangements need to be placed at the earliest.

INSTITUTIONAL ANDADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS

17.33 In addition to the issue of empoweringPRIs, there is a broader governance-relatedagenda which will affect the capacity ofgovernment (both at the Centre and the statelevel) to manage resources efficiently andprovide an environment in which individualsare able to pursue their economic activitywithout undue restrictions and delays. Thisrequires action on three fronts.

� Reducing the extent of governmentinterference, to the extent possiblethrough deregulation, rightsizing andbuilding public-private partnerships.

� Making the government customer-centric through improved efficiency,transparency and minimisingtransaction costs.

� Participative government, whichinvolves building up communicationand consultative processes with thestakeholders.

Some of the key areas that would promotegovernance related reforms are outlined below.

CIVIL SERVICES REFORM

17.34 Governments face three criticalchallenges in the area of civil services reform.One, they must enhance the productivity ofthe civil services and make certain that eachemployee is performing socially relevant tasks.Two, they must ensure the long-termaffordability of the civil services. Three, theymust enforce procedures for rewarding andpromoting merit, and penalising malfunctionand misconduct, in order to strengthenaccountability and enhance performancequality.

17.35 Rightsizing government: Thegovernment has, unfortunately, long been seenas the employer of first resort by the middleclass and a rapid expansion of governmentemployment has taken place, especially of thesupport staff. With the changing role of thegovernment, there is a pressing need forrightsizing of the government, without causinghardship. Governments should identify surplusstaff, set up an effective redeployment plan,and also devise a liberal system for exit. Forthe time being, recruitment should only takeplace for functional posts, and vacant posts ofsecretarial and clerical nature should not befilled. The Central government has alreadyrestricted the recruitment of fresh personnel tojust one-third of the posts falling vacant eachyear, and some states have taken similar steps.These are moves in the right direction. TheAdministrative Reforms Commission (ARC)Report, 1970 had recommended the abolitionof clerical positions in the secretariat, bymerging the field departments with thesecretariat departments at appropriate levels,and by following the pattern prescribed in the

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Box 17.2Delivery System and Implementation Design for Employment Guarantee Scheme

The proposed national rural employment guarantee scheme stipulates the provision ofemployment for a minimum of 100 days a year for at least one adult per rural household. Forthis scheme to be properly implemented, it will be necessary for every village panchayat tomaintain a register enumerating eligible adult individuals in every family. This would need tobe converted into a workers� register. All government departments with works programmesin rural areas would have to create village-wise works registers, which would then have to becentrally aggregated and catalogued village-wise at the district/block headquarters. Eachpotential worker would have to be given a distinct ID and would have to be assigned to theaggregated village-wise works register so that an account can be kept for 100 days ofemployment for one member from each family. In a nutshell, this would require works andworkers inventories to be created and stored in a central data depository at the districtheadquarters. To carry out the programme in a monitorable mode, on a nation- wide basis,it would be necessary to set up state and national level data depositories.

Tata Consultancy Services had carried out a study in 2004 of various rural employmentschemes including the Maharastra rural employment guarantee scheme and had identified thefollowing flaws in the implementation design of the scheme.

� Inflated SchemesØ Inflated qantity of work, depressed productivity, inflated person day estimates

� Bogus RegistrationsØ Registration of non-living persons, minors and medically unfit persons, duplicate and/

or proxy registration, fictitious registrations

� Fraudulent Requisition of FundsØ False measurement, inflated progress of works, omitting an operation or work item

� Inflated MusterØ Ghost workmen, bogus attendance

� Fraudulent Wage PaymentØ Under payments, dependant fraudulent payments

These loopholes can be effectively eliminated/minimised by re-engineering the scheme toprovide access to the details over the Net and to enable online updating of information relatedto attendance, progress and measurements of works completed. The main process reengineeringchanges involve:

� Providing permanent photo identity card which is machine-readable (either through barcode, radio frequency identification (RFID) tag or smart card for beneficiaries.

� Displaying the programme details on website

� Recording attendance at works site either manually or through the RFID tag or smart card

� Works measurement by an independent agency

� Posting of progress of work and manpower details in the district headquarters database

� Reconciliation of the progress of work with cost estimates and time deadlines

� Reconciliation of the muster with the database of registered workers

� Direct wage payments from district headquarters to workers using post office savingaccounts/money orders sent to their residence

� Aggregation of district data at the state and national level data depositories

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army for decision making through the singlefile system. These recommendations remainrelevant even today. Reducing the number ofgeneral holidays, as recommended by the FifthPay Commission can lead to better productivityof the existing staff.

17.36 Open government is a key element ofgovernance reform. The environment of secrecythat pervades government functioning onlyencourages suspicion, resentment andmalpractices. Sharing of information and higherlevels of transparency would certainly reducethe danger of the system being manipulated bya few and would make administration moreresponsive and performance oriented. One wayof sending a signal for reform is to encouragethe enactment of legislation for Right toInformation along the lines of what has beendone at the Centre. If the right of the ordinarycitizen to information is recognised, it willdramatically increase the strength of the citizento understand and challenge corruption andthe arbitrary exercise of State power. There aremany ways to bring about openness ingovernment. The declared intention of thegovernment should be in favour oftransparency. All information that is generallyprovided by the Parliament or state Assemblyto a legislator should also be accessible to thepublic. Departments with extensive publicdealing, such as the police and revenuedepartment, should be subjected to a socialaudit at periodic intervals. These audits, byeminent members of the public, should look attheir policies and performance, and suggestconstructive steps for their improvement.

17.37 Each department with a public interfaceshould develop a Citizens� Charter, whichshould clearly define the standard for theservices being rendered. It should also specifythe remedial mechanisms available to thecitizen. Merely notifying citizens� chartersshould not be an end in itself. Afterpromulgating citizens� civil charters,departments should ensure that the necessarychanges have also been introduced in everyaspect of the functioning of the departmentand at every level to conform to the standardsset in these charters. Each department shouldorganise large-scale capacity building

programmes to bring about attitudinal changein their employees.

17.38 Ensuring accountability of publicservants for their actions is another key elementof civil service reform. The high transactioncosts involved in interacting with governmentagencies corrodes the credibility of publicinstitutions, leading to widespreaddisenchantment with them, weakening the veryfabric of governance, and making it virtuallyimpossible to speed up development tasks.Accountability, transparency and the rule oflaw, are integral constituents of goodgovernance. Transparency in governmentfunctioning will, in itself, reduce the possibilitiesof leakage and malpractice. The issue ofaccountability is crucial for effective financialmanagement and a responsive civil service.

17.39 While it is imperative that publicservants be made accountable, it is also essentialthat they be provided security of tenure. Thisis important not only for good delivery ofservices to the public, but also for an honest,objective appraisal of a civil servant�sperformance. Short tenures and transferswithout notice cannot be conductive to goodperformance and in fact, serve to demoralisesincere, hard working officers. This is an issuethat has been debated in the past also, withcivil services boards being suggested as a possiblemeasure against frequent and arbitrary transfersof public servants. However, there has notbeen satisfactory progress in this direction; onthe contrary, the problem seems to havebecome more acute in some States. There is,therefore, an urgent need for the CentralGovernment to persuade the States to institutemechanisms for providing security of tenureto civil servants and discouraging their frequentand arbitrary transfers.

17.40 Procurement is an area especially proneto malpractices. Enactment of legislations/regulations to mandate strictly competitivebidding of all contracts and procurement ofworks, goods and services by the governmentand its entities, with regular issuing of tendernotices, bid closing dates and contract awards,should be effectively ensured to minimiseopportunities for malpractices in procurement

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decisions. A major problem in this context isthe ease with which the outcome of competitivebidding can be negated, which can become asource of corruption.

17.41 Civil society has an important role toplay in promoting reforms by subjectinggovernment actions and decisions to continuousscrutiny and pressure. Yet, despite theenormous burden posed by weak governance,civil society action has, on the whole, beenfound wanting. The pace of improvement ingovernance would accelerate only whencountervailing forces in society developsufficient confidence to oppose inefficiency andcorruption in government. States should,therefore, not just tolerate, but activelyencourage credible civil society organisations.

JUDICIAL REFORMS

17.42 Though India has a robust judicialsystem based on the Anglo-Saxon legaltradition, the process of delivery of justice tothe common man is very long and torturous.The long list of pending cases in courts, frequentadjournments, dilatory tactics by counsels andthe extortive practice of charging the client onper court hearing/per diem basis and not onoutcome basis are resulting in interminablelitigation and unacceptable delays inadjudication.

17.43 Since justice delayed is justice denied,special attention must be paid to reforms thatwould speed up the judicial process. Thefollowing initiatives deserve consideration:

� Empowering the presiding officers ofthe court to exercise better controlover their case-lists or List of Businessesin a transparent manner. The List ofBusiness Information System (LOBIS)developed by the National InformaticsCentre (NIC) can help courts monitorwhether hearings are getting fixed withpredictable periodicity and are beyondmanipulation of court staff. LOBIS ishelping the Supreme Court registrygenerate daily cause lists and needs tobe suitably adapted to meet therequirements of district courts.

� The counsel-client relationship andcounsel fee-payment system need to bebrought under some principledregulation to make the judicial processmore client-friendly, creating anincentive for counsels to ensure earlydelivery of the decision. In sessionscases, this can be done by not allowingadjournments during sessions trial. Incivil cases, the Bar Council or anyother appropriate body should regulatethe counsel remuneration system onoutcome basis.

� There is also a need to provide greaterfinality to adjudicatory processes.Currently the judicial processesmeander through an interminableprocess of interlocutory injunctions andappeals against interlocutory orders.This can be simplified by enhancingthe power of the court to review itsown orders, to enable it to bring abouta self-correction at the interlocutorystage.

� There is a strong case for moving froma two appeal system to a single appealsystem to give finality to judicialpronouncements.

17.44 The application of informationtechnology can bring about a sea change in thequality of management of casework and cansubstantially reduce the time taken in disposalof cases. Under the directions of the SupremeCourt and the Conference of Chief Justices,the NIC has initiated COURTIS (CourtsInformation System) covering all 18-HighCourts. This has already enabled them toimprove the court-litigant interface, withprompt delivery of copies of judgements, dailyorders, case status information, etc.

17.45 In the Tenth Plan, an ambitious targethas been set to computerise all 14,948subordinate courts in the districts (including1,734 fast track courts). In the first two yearsof the Plan 1,600 courts have beencomputerised. In the third year (2004-05),Rs.103 crore has been provided to computerise3,475 district/subordinate courts while 9,873courts will be computerised by March 2006,

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thus covering all the remaining 13,348 courtsat a cost of Rs.384.53 crore. Provisions haveaccordingly been made in the Plan budget of2005-06.

17.46 While computerisation and networkingof all courts will enable better administrativesupervision and control by High Courts overdisposal of cases in subordinate courts on adaily basis, the full benefits of induction of ITwill be realised when the judicial processesstart getting re-engineered in the followingmanner-

� Allowing e-filing of plaints, writtenstatements, affidavits, counter-affidavitsand rejoinder affidavits.

� e-filing of examination-in-chief is madeadmissible in evidence.

� Permitting cross-examination ofwitnesses in remote locations (i.e.outside courts) through video-conferencing and making it admissiblein evidence.

� Providing touchscreens in witness boxesto enable witnesses to draw site-plansof scenes of occurrence in complicatedsessions cases.

� Allowing audio-recorded/audio-video-recorded versions of evidence in orderto shorten the time of court inrecording evidence. Once technologyis perfected, speech to text transcriptscan also be made admissible in evidence.

17.47 Video-conferencing can be deployed bycourts more effectively as an aid to judicialprocesses in following situations:

� Securing evidence of witnesses inremote locations or those not able toattend the court

� Securing evidence of vulnerablewitnesses like rape victims, who maywant to avoid public gaze

� Conducting identification proceedings

� Physically distancing the witnesses fromthe criminals in the identificationparade. This will enable the witness toidentify the offender fearlessly.

� Dispensing with the transportation ofundertrials to and from jail for periodicappearances before magistrates. Thiswill reduce instances of custodialescapes.

17.48 In order to implement these proposals,the judicial processes will need to be re-engineered and amendments made in theEvidence Act, 1872, Criminal Procedure Code(CrPC) and Civil Procedure Code (CPC). Thisshould not be difficult, considering thatSingapore, which had similar legislation/regulations in place because of the shared Britishcolonial past, has successfully re-engineered itsjudicial processes to enable e-courts in order tobring about expeditious disposal.

POLICE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICEADMINISTRATION REFORMS

17.49 The police is the instrument ofcoercive power of the State and this power hasto be exercised transparently, with maximumrestraint but with telling effect. Several Centraland State Police Commissions have suggestedcomprehensive police reforms but theeffectiveness of the beat constable, as well asthe Station House Officer (SHO) has onlydeclined progressively since Independence. Inthe 1950s, a single beat constable used to effectarrests of several offenders, but today, a posseis needed for the same task. The loss of qualityof law enforcement has been made up bynumbers or show of strength.

17.50 If this trend is to be reversed, themajesty of law must be re-established and publicperception will have to be changed so that apoliceman is seen as the person responsible forpublic safety, an ace-investigator and aprofessional crime-buster. His achievements willhave to be rewarded and misconducts punishedrelentlessly. Once this is done, it will benecessary to change the legal system so that itgives greater credence to the policeman deposingin a court of law. In special circumstances, hissolitary evidence should be relied upon forsecuring convictions. (Presently, unlesscorroborated, his evidence is treated as suspectby the court). Conversely, it will be necessary

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to hold the police officer fully accountable forthe depositions made by him. Any falsificationof evidence should make him liable to theseverest punishment, including dismissal. Thischange is fundamental to realigning the criminaljustice administration system with itsfoundation as �veritas� or truth.

17.51 Once this is achieved, the convictionrate will increase, perpetrators of crime willget punished and judicial processes will startbuttressing the deterrent effect of law. Thecurrent vicious circle of poor policing, poorinvestigation, half-hearted prosecution, hostilewitnesses and high acquittal rate will getconverted into a virtuous cycle of greaterprofessionalism in investigation, moreresponsible prosecution, higher conviction rateand lesser crime. A more orderly society is thebedrock of planned development.

17.52 Technologies today enable us to viewcrime perpetration, detection, registration,investigation, prosecution, adjudication andincarceration as a seven-stage continuum. It ispossible to follow and monitor the crime andthe criminal from the time of the perpetrationof crime to the time of its adjudication andresultant conviction.

17.53 A unified database on a shared networkfrom the time a criminal perpetrates a crimetill conviction can help monitor the ability ofthe system to deliver punishment for eachoffence committed. It will also enable evaluationof the performance of investigators andprosecutors, more systematically and enableHigh Courts to supervise the subordinate courts

more effectively. State governments should beencouraged to establish an integrated portal forcrime and punishment. The portal will havetwo tracks:

� The Crime Tracking System willmonitor crime from the time of itsdetection, through registration,investigation, prosecution andadjudication.

� The Criminal Tracking System willcreate a nation-wide system of datacapture for criminals at the time ofarrest with digital equipment for lifting,recording and storage of fingerprints,and with a powerful search engine formatching fingerprints with those inthe data-base across the country. Thiswill help in creating comprehensivecriminal history sheets of individualcriminals, habitual offenders andperpetrators of repeat-crimes.Subsequently, more sophisticateddatabases could be built based on DNA-fingerprinting and other biometricidentifiers viz., retinal imageidentification system and LambdoidSutures etc. The fingerprint data capturesystem could first be established at eachdistrict headquarters and subsequentlyat the major police stations.

GOVERNANCE REFORMS INBANKING SERVICES

17.54 The Indian banking sector is facingmany challenges, the most important one beingexpectation of anytime anywhere banking onthe part of customers. This requires legacy

Box 17.3Electronic Data Interchange

The Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) aims at creating an integrated information exchangeand decision support system for trade facilitation. Participating agencies are the Customsdepartment, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Port Trusts, shipping lines andshipping agents, airlines and airports, the Container Corporation (CONCOR), banks andimporters and exporters. The current configuration of the EDI is flawed since it is mostlyabout translating the existing processes of the legacy system into electronic processes. It needsto quickly move to reconfiguring the information exchange and decision making process in amanner that brings about complete web enablement of on-line real-time transactions betweenthe various stake holders involved in the business of imports and exports.

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systems to migrate from a traditional paper-based environment to an IT/web-enabledenvironment. This process involves completeprocess re-engineering, full-scalecomputerisation, networking, standardsintegration, building user interface, securityand authentication etc.

17.55 The magnitude of the challenge can beestimated by the fact that the public sectorbanks have 47, 375 branches of which only29,175 have been fully computerised. Of the407 existing service branches, 367 have beenfully computerised. Since 57 per cent of thefully computerised branches are alsointerconnected, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)has authorised Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT),thus enabling 5,480 branches to carry out onlinetransfer of funds between different banks. TheRBI has also put in place the Real Time GrossSettlement (RTGS) system for facilitating inter-bank settlements. The RTGS envisagessettlement across current accounts of the bankswith RBI and enables bank account holders totransact business from one bank to another atany time. Banking services to individuals andbusinesses are rapidly undergoing profoundchange in all three areas � intra-banktransactions, inter-bank transactions and bankuser interface.

17.56 The Electronic Clearance Services(ECS) covering both debit and credit clearingoperations is an example of intra-bank networkapplication. Under the guidance of the RBI,the banks have operationalised the ECS.Dividends, interest on bonds and debentures,salary, pension can now be credited directlyinto the beneficiary�s accounts using ECS(CREDIT) services. Similarly, telephone bills,electricity charges; school fees, credit card duesand tax payment can be made using ECS(DEBIT) services.

17.57 The Indian Financial Network(INFINET), which is the communicationbackbone for the banking and the financialsector using a combination of technologiessuch as Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT)and terrestrial leased lines, is one example ofinter-bank network applications. Presentlythe network consists of 2,300 VSATs in 300

cities. Other examples are SWIFT connectivity,which is global connectivity provided by theSociety for Worldwide Inter bank FinancialTelecommunications, EFT and the RTGSsystem.

17.58 The best example of bank-usernetwork application is the Core BankingSolution and Internet banking. Once this isachieved, all major banks in India would havetheir own central data depository where theentire book keeping would be done centrallyfor all the branches and all customers. Thebranches will cease to be accounting centresand will become service retail outlets. So far,only 16 per cent of bank branches have acceptedthe core banking solution. Once it gains wideracceptance, on-line real time Internet basedbanking transactions from one branch toanother, one bank to another and one locationto another would become possible.

Box 17.4Some e-Governance initiatives

� Andhra Pradesh has computerised landrecords in sub-registrar�s offices to bringin speed and transparency.

� The Delhi government has alsocomputerized the collection of propertytaxes.

� Tamil Nadu has begun publishing itspublic examination results on the webto avoid inconvenience to students.

Box 17.5Using Internet to touch ordinary lives

Experiments like the Warana Wired VillageProject in Maharashtra, and the FriendsProject in Kerala have demonstrated howInternet can be used to make a differenceto the day-to-day lives of every Indian.

The Gyandoot programme in the Dhardistrict of Madhya Pradesh is networked to31 village centres. The service provides awide range of information to villagers likeprices of agricultural produce, auctioncentre rates, copies of land records, on-lineregistration of applications, village auctionsite, to name just a few.

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E- GOVERNANCE

17.59 e-Governance is the application ofinformation communication technologies (ICT)to various types of interaction between thegovernment and citizens or businesses. It is animportant instrument for improvinggovernance and making it more citizen-friendlyand transparent. It is important to emphasisethat e-governance is not just the application ofnew technology to an old process. It involvesfundamental redesign of work processes forincreased transparency and accountability withthe aim of providing services in an easy andaffordable way.

POTENTIAL AREAS FORE-GOVERNANCE THRUST

17.60 A number of sectors are particularlysuited for e-governance initiatives.

� Public grievances: Various publicutility services and public dealingdepartments like electricity, water,telephones, ration cards, sanitation,public transport and police could beconsidered for computerisation forquick redress of the problems thatcitizens face.

� e-tendering: ICT can be used to bringin transparency, accountability andspeed into the procurement/tenderingprocess, which is an activity everygovernment establishment undertakes.

� Police: Registration of first informationreports (FIR), information on lost andfound valuables/persons, andinformation on dead bodies, etc., couldbe provided online and theaccountability of the departmentenhanced.

� Social services: Activities such as civilsupplies, old age pension, widowspension, pension for handicappedpersons, ex-gratia payments,acquisition/rehabilitation andcompensation can be computerised inorder to make operations faster andtransparent.

� Registrations: Activities such asregistration for ration cards, birth anddeath certificates, land records, drivinglicence, domicile, caste/tribe certificates,arms licence renewal, registration ofdocuments, school registration,university registration and motorvehicle registration could also becomputerised to cut down on the delaysand paperwork involved and improveefficiency. Online availability of avariety of certificates will do away withthe need to go to block or districtheadquarter and would be a boon forthose living in rural areas.

� Public information: Information onemployment exchange registration,employment opportunities,examination results, hospitals/beds

Table 17.1Mission Mode Projects (MMPs)

Central State Integrated

G2C Income tax Land records Common service centresPassport, visa and Property registration India portalimmigration Road transportNational Citizens ID Agriculture

MunicipalitiesPanchayatsPolice

G2B Excise Commercial taxes EDICompany affairs (DCA21) e-Biz

e-ProcurementNational e-Governancegateway

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availability, railway, airline and roadtransport timetables, charitable trusts,government notifications, governmentforms and government schemes, can allbe made available online.

� Utility payments/ billing: Paymentof electricity, water and telephone billswill become much easier when doneover the Internet. On the commercialside, using Internet for mundaneactivities such as income tax/corporatetax filing, payment of custom duties,central/state excise duties, payment ofsales tax, house tax, property tax, octroi,road tax, and company returns willmake a difference to the lives ofindividuals and businesses.

NATIONAL E-GOVERNANCE PLAN

17.61 The Central government has identifieda number of services at the Central and statelevels that are amenable to e-Governanceinitiatives and the Department of InformationTechnology (DIT), in association with theDepartment of Administrative Reforms andPublic Grievances and in consultation with theDepartments concerned, has identified an actionplan called the National e-Governance Plan(NEGP). Twenty-five Mission Mode Projectshave been identified at the Centre, state andintegrated service levels to create a citizen-centric and business-centric environment forgovernance.

17.62 Various e-Governance projectsidentified for implementation in mission modeare divided into services delivered by Centralgovernment departments and those deliveredby state/municipal departments. They also areclassified by type of output, namely services tocitizens (G2C), to businesses (G2B), and othersto facilitate service integration and indicated inTable 17.1.

17.63 Government has initiated a project,DCA 21, to facilitate companies to interactwith the Department of Company Affairs(DCA) by establishing a healthy business eco-system, which would facilitate reduced cost ofcompliance for all its services. This projectwould introduce a service�oriented approach

in the design and delivery of governmentservices and make the country globallycompetitive. Further, a unique identificationnumber (Global Location Number � GLN) isbeing provided to each registered company.The DCA 21 envisages:

� Electronic filing of companies�documents through an entirelypaperless process.

� Registering a company and filingstatutory documents on anytime,anywhere basis.

� Easy access to the public to relevantrecords and effective redressal ofgrievances.

� Enabling professionals to be able tooffer efficient services to their clientcompanies.

� Making the registration and verificationof charges by financial institutions easy.

17.64 The DCA serves over 4,50,000companies in India through its 35 field officeslocated mainly in the state capitals. Anotherproject, E-Biz, is also being implemented. eBizis one of the five integrated service projectsfiguring in the NEGP. It seeks to provideintegrated services of the Central, state andlocal governments, in the pre- and post-establishment phases of business entitiesthrough a single window G2B portal forinformation, knowledge and transactions(registration, tax related etc.) A pilot projecthas been launched, which involves provisioningof 25 services across eight Central governmentdepartments, five state government departmentsand one local body. The pilot is to beimplemented in one district of four states �Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra andUttar Pradesh.

17.65 e-Governance requires high quality ITinfrastructure, networking capabilities andadequate support in terms of technicalmanpower available at all levels.

17.66 A Programme Outcome & ResponseMonitoring(PO&RM) Division has beenestablished which will ensure that financialoutlays are converted into and correlated with

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THE WAY FORWARD

DECENTRALISATION AND PANCHAYATI RAJ

� Transfer of the three Fs � functions,funds and functionaries � to the PRIs,commensurate with the responsibilitiesassigned to them.

� Empower the gram sabhas, which arethe foundation of the panchayati rajsystem.

� Give greater attention to training andcapacity building of the gram sabhamembers.

� Notify the division of functionalresponsibilities between the three tiersof the panchayati raj system on thebasis of activity mapping.

INSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE

REFORMS

� Enhance the productivity of the civilservice through rightsizing ofgovernment. Identify the surplus staff,set up an effective redeployment planand devise a liberal system for exit.

� Ensure openness and transparency inthe functioning of government. Pressfor the adoption of Right toInformation legislation across thecountry. Subject departments withextensive public dealing to social auditat periodic intervals.

� Ensure accountability of public servantsfor their actions.

� Persuade the States to institutemechanisms for providing security oftenure to civil servants and discouragingtheir frequent and arbitrary transfers.

� Speed up reforms that will speed up

the judicial process. This has to bedone through:

Ø Empowering the presidingofficers of the courts to exercisebetter control over their case listsor List of Businesses.

Ø Bringing the counsel-clientrelationship and counsel fee-payment system under someprincipled regulation

Ø Providing greater finality to theadjudicatory processes

Ø Moving from a two appeal systemto a single appeal system

� Use the benefits of informationtechnology to manage casework andspeed up processes. Allow e-filing ofplaints, statements, affidavits and otherdocuments. Permit video-conferencingfor examination of witnesses in certainsituations. Allow audio/video recordedversions of evidence.

� Pursue amendments to the EvidenceAct, Criminal Procedure Court andCivil Procedure Code.

e-GOVERNANCE

� Push for political ownership at thehighest level and a national vision fore-Governance. In the absence of suchownership, e-Governance would remaina purely technology initiative andwould not penetrate into day-to-dayuse.

� Build up India�s e-readiness in asystematic way by overcominginfrastructural inadequacies, re-engineering the processes to weed outoutdated procedures and making them

measurable physical outcomes for whichparameters for monitoring will be identifiedupfront. Data generation and data capture andtimely submission of data collected from thefield will have to be ensured to create aprogramme monitoring and decision supportsystem which enables us to make timely and

meaningful interventions in the programmeroll out. The PO&RM Division will be servicedby NIC and its countrywide network in all587 districts. Under this initiative data collectedat field level will be transmitted to and storedin State and Central Data depositors andsubstantial part of it will be accessible online.

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user friendly, strengtheninge-governance drivers, buildinginstitutions for capacity building andtraining and putting in placeappropriate laws.

� Design applications to respond tocitizen�s needs and aspirations.

� Implement projects in stages of increasingcomplexity; providing information in thefirst stage and then moving on toproviding interactive forms and finally apayment gateway where monetarytransactions can take place.

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Annexure 17.1Status of devolution of departments/subjects with funds, functions and functionaries to

Panchayati Raj Institutions(as on 1

st April 2004)

Sl. States / UTs No. of Departments / subjects Status of constitution of DPC�sNo. Transferred to Panchayats with

Funds Functions Functionaries

1. Andhra Pradesh 05 17 02 Not yet constituted. However, anOrdinance has been issued by theGovernment of AP in December,2003 for constitution of DPCs.

2. Arunachal Pradesh - - - Not Constituted

3. Assam - 29 - Not Constituted

4. Bihar 8 25 - 37 districts out of 38 districtsconstituted on ad hoc basis.Chairman ZP is the Chairman ofDPCs.

5. Jharkhand - - - Panchayat elections yet to be held.

6. Goa 6 6 - Constituted. President of ZP is theChairperson of DPC.

7. Gujarat 15 15 15 Not Constituted.

8. Haryana - 16 - 16 districts out of 19 districts. Restunder consideration.

9. Himachal Pradesh 02 26 subjects 11 Only in 6 districts out of 12.Minister is Chairperson of DPC.

10. Karnataka 29 29 29 Yes, in all Districts. President ZP isChairman of DPC.

11. Kerala 26 26 15 Yes, Chairman of District Panchayat(DP) is chairman of DPC.

12. Madhya Pradesh 10 23 09 Yes. District incharge Ministers areChairpersons.

13. Chhattisgarh 10 29 09 Constituted. Minister is Chairpersonof DPC.

14. Maharashtra 18 18 18 Not Constituted.

15. Manipur - 22 04 Yes in 2 districts out of 4,Adhyaksha, DP is Chairperson.

16. Orissa 09 25 21 26 Districts. Minister is Chairpersonof DPC.

17. Punjab - 07 - Not Constituted

18. Rajasthan 18 29 18 Yes, Chairman of DP is Chairmanof DPC.

19. Sikkim 24 24 24 Yes

20. Tamil Nadu - 29 - Yes, Chairperson of DP isChairperson.

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21. Tripura - 12 - Not Constituted.

22. Uttar Pradesh 04 12 06 DPCs are not functional.

23. Uttaranchal - 11 11 Yes. Minister is Chairman of DPC.

24. West Bengal 12 29 12 Yes, Chairperson of DP isChairperson of DPC

25. A&N Islands 06 06 06 Yes, Chairman of DP is Chairmanof DPC

26. Chandigarh - - - Not constituted.

27. D&N Haveli - 03 03 Yes, Chairman of DP is Chairmanof DPC

28. Daman & Diu 05 09 03 Yes, Chairman of DP is Chairmanof DPC

29. Lakshadweep - 06 - Yes. Collector cum Dev.Commissioner is Chairperson.

30. NCT of Delhi - - - Panchayati Raj system is yet to berevived

31. Pondicherry � - - Panchayat Elections yet to be held.

Source: Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of IndiaNOTE : The provisions of the Constitution (73

rd Amendment) Act, 1992 are not applicable to the States of J&K,

Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland.

Sl. States / UTs No. of Departments / subjects Status of constitution of DPC�sNo. Transferred to Panchayats with

Funds Functions Functionaries