Panchayati Raj System In The Process Of Democratization In India

Panchayati Raj is a modern system of autonomy in rural India. It was evolved from the traditional "panchayat". With the Indian political and economic development and social development needs, the Indian government has revived and continued to reform Panchayat Raj system. The development of modern Panchayati Raj had experienced three major stages. At The first period, Balwantray Metha Committee submitted a report and advertised the India build up the three-tire Panchayat Raj. Panchayati Raj should be constituted by democratic election. It experienced a boom period from 1959 to1964. But this system lost the powerfful support and began to decline in 1964. At the second period,the JP government apointed the Akaso Metha Committee to study the Panchayat Raj.The Committee submited a report named Report of Committee on Panchayati Raj Insitutions, they suggest build two-tire panchayat Raj system in rural area, and the political party can participate in the panchayat election, which promoting the development of the local parties. At the third period, seeking constitutional support for Panchayati Raj, Parliament approved the 73rd Constitutional Amendment based on the 64th Constitutional Amendment Bill introduced by Rajiv Gandhi's government. These Amendments clearly defined the status, function of Panchayat and emphasize the modern Panchayati Raj as a grass-roots democratic autonomous organization. These provisions enable Panchayat to make effective use of resources to implement rural development plans and promote economic development and social justice in rural areas.The modern Panchayati Raj has experienced more than half a century of development since India's independence. The Panchayat system expand grassroots democracy and promote social integration in India. The introduction of the electoral system and political party competition improve the political participation enthusiasm of grassroots people, so that grassroots people can participate in decision-making and management. Its reconstruction and reform is a turning point in the process of promoting grassroots democracy. However, Panchayati Raj system is facing many challenges and obstacles in the development process. The Constitution just give a principled regulation of Panchayat, most of the state government take negative attitude in the Panchayat organization, local decentralization is problematic, functions and personnel decentralization is not fully realized, and the lack of training of staff in Panchayat, moreover, the influence of traditional culture such as caste and sexism in India have made the development of Panchayati Raj very slow and difficult.