Local Self-government in India - Ashok Mehta Committee (1978)

Ashok Mehta Committee (1978)

With the coming of the Janata Party into power at the Centre in 1977, a serious view was taken of the weaknesses in the functioning of Panchayati Raj. It was decided to appoint a high-level committee under the chairmanship of Ashok Mehta to examine and suggest measures to strengthen PRIs. The Committee had to evolve an effective decentralised system of development for PRIs. They made the following recommendations:-

• the district is a viable administrative unit for which planning, co-ordination and resource allocation are feasible and technical expertise available,

• PRIs as a two-tier system, with Mandal Panchayat at the base and Zilla Parishad at the top,

• the PRIs are capable of planning for themselves with the resources available to them,

• district planning should take care of the urban-rural continuum,

• representation of SCs and STs in the election to PRIs on the basis of their population,

• four-year term of PRIs,

• participation of political parties in elections,

• any financial devolution should be committed to accepting that much of the developmental functions at the district level would be played by the panchayats.

The states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal passed new legislation based on this report. However, the flux in politics at the state level did not allow these institutions to develop their own political dynamics.