12 years of Panchayat reforms: 4.1 crore representatives trained, 3.18 crore SVAMITVA property cards

The Panchayati Raj Ministry says capacity-building, digital governance and fiscal devolution — an 84% jump in rural local-body grants — have strengthened self-government, with a strong push on women representatives and participatory village planning.

What happened

• In a 12-year review, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj said India has seen significant strengthening of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) as effective institutions of self-government — deepening democratic decentralisation, digital governance, local planning and fiscal devolution.
• Under the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) — introduced in 2018-19 and revamped from 2022-23 — training of a cumulative 4.10 crore Panchayat elected representatives and functionaries of more than 2.70 lakh PRIs at all three tiers has been completed.
• RGSA has driven capacity-building of women representatives — over 33.55 lakh women elected representatives trained from FY 2022-23 to FY 2025-26 — alongside PESA training and governance skilling.
• More than 25,100 Gram Panchayat buildings and over 61,000 computers were provided, and Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs) were institutionalised across 2.55 lakh-plus Gram Panchayats, with the e-GramSwaraj platform improving transparency.
• The Ministry highlighted about 3.18 crore property cards issued under SVAMITVA and an 84% jump in grants to rural local bodies — marking gains in fiscal empowerment and rural self-governance.

For Prelims

• Panchayati Raj & 73rd Amendment: The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 gave constitutional status to PRIs (a three-tier system: village, intermediate, district), mandated regular elections, reservations (SC/ST/women), State Finance Commissions and State Election Commissions (Part IX, Articles 243-243O; 11th Schedule).
• SVAMITVA: 'Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas' — uses drones to map rural inhabited (abadi) land and issue property cards, giving villagers legal ownership records and access to credit.
• RGSA: The Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan — a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for capacity-building and training of PRIs to deliver SDGs locally (revamped 2022-23).
• GPDP & e-GramSwaraj: Gram Panchayat Development Plans are participatory village plans; e-GramSwaraj is the digital platform for PRI planning, accounting and monitoring.
• PESA Act, 1996: Extends Panchayati Raj to Fifth Schedule (tribal) areas, empowering Gram Sabhas over local resources — a focus of RGSA training.
• Fiscal devolution: PRIs receive funds via Finance Commission grants (e.g. tied/untied grants under the 15th FC) and State Finance Commission devolution — the '84% jump' refers to rising rural-local-body grants.
• Don't confuse: SVAMITVA gives property cards for inhabited (abadi) village land, not agricultural land; PRIs are creatures of the 73rd Amendment (rural), distinct from urban local bodies (74th Amendment).

For Mains

Syllabus: GS2.2 · GS2.15 · Linkage L2