National Panchayati Raj Day - Current Affairs UPSC

India celebrates National Panchayati Raj Day every year on 24 April to honour the establishment of the Panchayati Raj System.

This year (2024) marks the 31st anniversary of National Panchayati Raj Day.
In 2024, there won’t be a particular theme for the National Panchayati Raj Day in India, as the Ministry of Panchayati Raj will host a national colloquium on ‘Governance at the Grassroots after Three Decades of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment’ at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi to mark the celebration of the day.
On this Day, the government recognises the best-performing Panchayats across India for their outstanding efforts to improve the lives of rural households

PRI is a system of rural local self-government in India
By the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992, which came into effect on April 24, 1993, gave constitutional status to PRI.
It added a new Part IX to the constitution titled “The Panchayats” covering provisions from Articles 243 to 243(O) and a new Eleventh Schedule covering 29 subjects within the functions of the Panchayats.
Article 40 of the Indian constitution: the State shall take steps to organise village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government.
The Ministry of Panchayati Raj created in May 2004 is a branch of the Government of India looking after the ongoing process of decentralisation and local governance in the States.

Mayo’s resolution of 1870 impeded local institutions’ development by enlarging their powers and responsibilities.
In 1882, Lord Ripon introduced an important Local Self–Government Resolution.
It provided for local boards consisting of a large majority of elected non-official members and presided over by a non-official chairperson, considered to be the “Magna–Carta” of local democracy in India.

In 1957, the National Development Council constituted a committee headed by Balwant Rai Mehta to look into the working of community development programs.
The committee suggested three-tier PRIs, Grama Panchayats (GPs) at the village level, Panchayat Samiti (PSs) at the block level, and Zilla Parishad (ZPs) at the district level.
Consequently, Bagdari Village, Nagaur District became the first village where Gram Panchayat was established, on 2 October 1959.
Ashok Mehta Committee in 1977: recommended a two-tier Panchayat Raj institutional.
Other important committees are the Hanumantha Rao Committee (1983), G.V.K. Rao Committee (1985), L.M.Singhvi Committee (1986) and the Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State Relations (1988), P.K. Thungan Committee (1989).

Effective local administration is necessary for India to achieve inclusive growth and address problems like climate change and rural-urban migration.
PRIs are in a good position to ensure fair and sustainable development at the local level and respond to local demands.
The Panchayat Raj system helped uplift the people in rural areas by providing them a space to voice their opinions and be a part of development and empowerment.