Publications

  Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was not only one of India’s greatest parliamentarians and constitutional experts but also a relentless crusader for Dalits. His views on the Panchayati Raj system were profoundly complex and shaped by his understanding of India's rural social dynamics. While he fiercely opposed the inclusion of Village Panchayats in the Constitution in 1948, he had previously spoken in favor of them in 1932—under one strict condition. Understanding Dr. Ambedkar's evolving stance provides crucial insight into the current state of local governance and Dalit participation in India. The 1948 Stance: The Village as a "Sink of Localism" On November 4, 1948, during the Constituent Assembly debates, Dr. Ambedkar made a blistering critique of the Indian village. Quoting Metcalfe on how village communities survived centuries of invasions merely on a "selfish level," Dr. Ambedkar questioned the pride placed in them. He famously argued against those championing villa...

  It has been more than 30 years since the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1993 was enacted, designed to transform Panchayats into vibrant institutions of self-government. Ideally, these rural bodies should operate as autonomous entities with clearly defined functions, adequate funds, and sufficient functionaries. However, a closer assessment reveals a sobering reality: most Panchayats remain severely malnourished and lack the authority required to address grassroots issues. While states like Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu offer a silver lining, the overarching national picture of power devolution remains deeply flawed. Measuring the Health of Panchayats (2024 Study) To evaluate how well these institutions have been empowered, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (Government of India) commissioned the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) in 2024 to study the Status of Devolution to Panchayats . The study measured the "health" of Panchayats using a Composite Devo...

  Recently, NK Singh, Chairman of the Fifteenth Finance Commission (FFC), raised concerns about the growing political culture of freebies and its impact on the macroeconomic stability of both the Centre and the States. While this is a critical observation, transforming this culture requires more than just central and state-level reforms. True cooperative federalism (CF) must empower citizens from the Ward Sabha to the Lok Sabha. Currently, the discourse on fiscal federalism rarely travels beyond the State level, leaving a massive gap where our Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) should be. The Current State of Cooperative Federalism Under Article 243G of the Constitution, state legislatures are empowered to endow panchayats with the authority to function as institutions of self-government, particularly regarding the 29 subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule. However, in practice, the spirit of cooperative federalism fails to embrace India’s 2.55 lakh panchayats. At present, we hav...