Panchayati Raj In Bihar: Constitutional Promise, Institutional Practice, And The Next Frontier Of Decentralisation

Abstract

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment institutionalised democratic decentralisation across rural India by inserting Part IX (Articles 243 to 243-O) and the Eleventh Schedule into the Constitution, mandating elected Panchayats, regular elections, reservation for disadvantaged groups and women, and a framework for fiscal devolution through State and Central Finance Commissions. Bihar-one of India’s most populous and poorest States-adopted and adapted this constitutional architecture through the Bihar Panchayat Raj Act, 2006 (BPRA, 2006). Over the past two decades, Bihar has undertaken far-reaching representational reforms, most notably reserving 50% of seats and leadership positions for women; expanded the three-tier institutional footprint to 8,000+ Gram Panchayats; and leveraged Finance Commission grants and programmatic funds to animate local planning, infrastructure, and service delivery. At the same time, Bihar’s decentralisation journey is marked by classic challenges: uneven functional devolution, capacity constraints, fragmented accountability chains, periodic legal frictions over reservations (especially OBC/EBC quotas post K. Krishna Murthy and Vikas Kishanrao Gawali), and variably effective integration of line departments with Panchayats.

This paper situates Bihar’s Panchayats within the national constitutional framework, traces their legislative and institutional evolution, analyses representational, financial, and functional devolution, and evaluates accountability and capacity systems. It uses primary statutes, official portals, Finance Commission documents, CAG and departmental reports, and binding Supreme Court doctrine. It concludes with a Bihar-specific reform agenda: codifying activity-mapping with enforceable service standards; completing Panchayat Sarkar Bhawan infrastructure; strengthening district planning and GPDP quality; professionalising finance and audit at GP level; operationalising data systems (eGramSwaraj/PRI MIS) for performance-linked grants; ensuring “triple-test”-compliant social-category reservations; and deepening women’s leadership from descriptive to substantive representation.