Unfinished Agenda of Gandhi’s Gram Swaraj- Present Status of Panchayati Raj in Assam

Abstract

The successful working of Democracy demands association of the people at different levels of administration. Panchayati Raj aims at associating the people with administration at grassroots level. Though the Father of Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, advocated for a village based political formation for the creation of Gram Swaraj, the idea of Panchayati Raj did not find a place in the Draft Constitution of India. The working of the Panchayati Raj in different States in Post colonial India is not satisfactory. Gandhian ideal of Gram Swaraj remains an unfinished agenda even after fifty years of implementation of the Panchayati Raj on the recommendation of the Balwantray Mehta Study Team and two decades after the enactment of the 73rd Amendment and its implementation by various States. In this paper I would like to analyse Gandhi’s concept of Gram Swaraj , unsatisfactory working of Panchayati Raj system  and factors responsible for it with a special reference to present status of Panchayati Raj  in Assam.

Key words: Gram Swaraj, Panchayat, Decentralisation, Democracy.