PANCHAYATI RAJ AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Anant Mishra; SMS, MNNIT

Pradeep Agarwal; SMS, MNNIT

ABSTRACT

People form the basis of any society and all activities are aimed towards their welfare and
Government is the institution responsible to keep the flag of welfares flying. Modern day world
has an eye for development as the benchmark and all are dedicated to achieve the same, but it
cannot be isolated and the question of value attached to sustainability creeps in. Recent issues of
climate disturbance and other happenings have affected much on the question of development in
sustainable manner. When we look at the importance of government and welfare growth
simultaneously in the light of sustainable development, we find that it is the association of
peoples’ government and their actions which can contribute to ultimate goal of welfare society.
We plan to have a look into these aspects of development and how local bodies can relate
sustenance to growth and prosperity whereupon human society can prosper.
 PAPER

INTRODUCTION

India is the world’s largest democracy which has seen new age growth in recent past and has covered miles
since coming out of colonial rule in 1947. People from different regions of the country amalgamate together and
make up a well knit nation. At the time of independence father of the nation Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi gave
the call of reviving our traditional form of governance i.e. Panchayat system. His ideals of gram swaraj were
incorporated in the Constitution of India by virtue of 73rd amendment to the Constitution. The local self governance
gives a new light to the power in hands of people and they must apply it for overall growth of the nation. As
Honorable Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in his final address to the Constituent Assembly says “political democracy cannot
last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy” wherein he pointed out the principle of “one man one vote
and one ne value”(Ramachandra Guha 2009). This philosophy has lead to changes whereupon involvement of
people is not only restricted to governance but other issues also which may include economic and environmental
planning. The call for healthy environment has its roots in the global resolution of the United Nations Organization
whereby Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 provides for healthy air, drinking water and other
necessities within the purview of the Right to Life (Kapoor S.K. 2004). This philosophy was given weight in
Stockholm Declaration of 1972 and after that Burndtland Commission has again added on to this very concept of
Sustainable Development( Leelakrishnan P. 2008). Human society is facing a question of survival in the changing
economic and climatic situations and we the people should do our bit to contribute to the same and herein comes the
space for the local associations of the people at ground level. Panchayati raj institutions should therefore adopt
policies for sustainable growth and also work in tandem with state government, central government and other
authorities to apply them to perfection. Peoples’ association in activities of social upliftment and other concerns has
gained momentum and is becoming a necessity to achieve a growth for nation at large. India as a country is
galloping towards high economic growth but the same will be of no use if the rural India does not experience the
same and inclusive growth is a must for recognizing India at global stage but a rider is attached to it in the form of
sustainability of development.

PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS

Democracy is that form of governance which has been accepted by all and it has seen different branches
shooting out of the base viz. political democracy, social democracy, economic democracy and new angles like food
democracy. Ambedkar asked in his last speech asked, “What does social democracy mean?” and he himself replied
to it “It means a way of life which recognizes liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life. These
principles of liberty, equality and fraternity are not to be treated as separate items in a trinity. They form a union of
trinity in the sense that to divorce one from the other is to defeat the very purpose of democracy…” (Guha
Ramachandra 2009). Individuals make up a society and this society has the opportunity to write the life of masses in
golden color and also add color to the future of generations to come subject to certain conditions which must be
taken care of by the people. Society should feel for the present and future of generations to come and the
government is the institution responsible for this purpose in any country. A social structure in a country cannot
survive without administration wherein democracy is an efficient form of governance in modern world which
follows a decentralized system. A centralized administration however efficient it may be can never excel the basic
idea of democracy, i.e. government of the people, for the people, by the people. In a vast country like India
democratic decentralization is the method of making democracy real through Panchayati Raj Institutions. 73rd
Amendment is a historic step to revitalize these institutions in India. The new arrangements will certainly reduce the
burden of the government and increase the responsibilities of the people. For the effective implementation of the
system the people should be made well aware of it. The efforts have been made in this direction in the present
volume.( planningcommission.nic.in Chapter 10) The State in this regard should act upon to bring people around the
nation in a well knit unit for overall growth of the country at large. Panchayati Raj Institutions must take up the
responsibility to make up for the policy framers at higher level which are unable to reach to the grass root level.
Mahatma Gandhi believed in the rule of the people and present day PRI is a mirror image of his idea of swaraj. His
ideals of nation building had a place of eminence for the masses should not be forgotten and the people must do their
bit to let his ideals prevail. The institutions have been recognized under Indian Law and the Constitutional
recognition has provided a different edge to these local self government organs.

DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY

Self rule, envisaged as the premiere object of any independent nation gives a lot of impetus to development
of the country in a sui generis manner. The nation is answerable to itself and it applies to all its components for any
activity undertaken for development. Sustainable Development, henceforth, within a country must be a collective
effort of all the citizens. Sustainable Development is a concept which has gained momentum in modern era and all
around the globe learned minds are striving to attain its highest degree whereupon life of generations to come is not
made havoc due to our present day acts. The concept of Sustainable Development had come to be known as early as
in 1972 in the Stockholm Declaration where the then Prime Minister Ms. Indira Gandhi represented India. It had
been stated in the declaration that: “Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of
life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well being and he bears a solemn responsibility
to protect and improve the environment for present and future generation"But the concept was given a definite shape
in a report by World Commission on Environment, known as ‘Our Common Future’ (Burndtland Report 1987). The
concept had been further discussed under Agenda 21 of UN Conference on Environment and Development (June
1992 Rio de-Janerio). In recent past industrial growth and destruction of environment have been accused as culprits
which are blocking the path to sustainable development. The balance must be maintained between industrial growth
and nature’s needs whereby a plan for prosperity can be maintained and the environment is not exploited at the same
time. Sustainable development looks to be a distant horizon in this era but it can be achieved if the people make
collective efforts to have a balanced growth involving industry and nature. The man behind independent India
envisaged this philosophy and his upbringing of charkha and its promotion is founding stone of home-made
industrial initiation in India. Dr. Vandana Shiva, environmentalist, described his efforts and what we must learn
from his genuine efforts to lead India in modern competitive era and carry on to maintain a balance thereto and this
can be achieved only when the most basic unit of our social structure i.e. villages are involved (Amaethon 2010
MDMS IIM Ahmedabad).

INDIAN BIODIVERSITY AND PROTECTION

Traditional knowledge of any country is its most valuable asset and each and every one must contribute to
help in rediscovering the rich culture and philosophy must be adhered to at every walk of life. Biodiversity is the
basic of our sustainability. Bio resources of any nation decide the future course of activities and the natives of the
region must hold accountability for protecting the same. India is classified among the 12 mega-diversity centers of
the world. India's record in agro-biodiversity is equally impressive. There are 167 crop species and 320 species of
wild crop relatives and several species of domesticated animals. India is considered to be the centre of origin of
50,000 varieties of rice, 1000 varieties of mango, 100 varieties of pepper, 27 breeds of cattle, 22 breeds of goat, 40
breeds of sheep, 18 breeds of poultry, 8 breeds of buffalo (the world’s total biodiversity) and several other varieties
of pigeon-pea, turmeric, ginger, sugarcane, gooseberries etc and ranks seventh in terms of contribution to world
agriculture.( Kothari A 2001) India has a rich and varied heritage of biodiversity. It has 850 species of bacteria, 6500
species of algae, 14500 species of fungi, 2000 species of lichen, 2850 species of bryophytes, 1100 species of
pteridophytes, 64 species of gymnosperms and 17500 species of angiosperms (National Policy and Macro
level action Strategy on Biodiversity 1999 ). These alluring data may be giving a purple picture of our rich
heritage but when we pierce through the iron wall of concretization we will find that in wake of development these
have been forgotten and left out. The people of the country who are near these resources should maintain standards
for up-keeping of the grand biodiversity and the best people for this job are those living in the villages and areas
surrounding such regions. Herein comes the role of our panchayati raj institutions which are nearest to these
resources and the people involved therein should straighten themselves and do something for these wide range of
varieties and it surly leads to sustainable development. The resources of the country are limited and they must be
judiciously exploited for betterment of lives of all the citizens of the country. Development of the nation should have
a place for both urban and rural society in the era of inclusive growth and both segments must assist each other to
achieve the goal. Growth of villages is very necessary for overall prosperity of the nation but it must be done
keeping in mind the principle of sustainability, which can be adhered to by rational actions of local bodies whereby
they keep a check on destructive human actions. The wave of economic supremacy has lead to advent of new
concepts like Special Economic Zones, Export Zones and other novel ideas which are generally created in a rural
setup. These type of activities aim to drive out maximum out of available resources in the vicinity of the projects and
the local bodies with the people at center must take up this challenge to protect these valuable assets of the nation.
Panchayati Raj Institutions should not give a blind eye to these kinds of activities and people involved in gram
sabhas, gram panchayats and land management committees have a duty toward nature to maintain its richness by
having collective decisions concerning environment.
JUDICIAL PRONOUNCEMENTS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

India is a democratic society and we follow panchayat system to involve the people at grass root level to
have a say in the decision making and contribute to nation building. When the Pradhan and other officials are
elected in a gram panchayat and other bodies, people exploit their adult suffrage to contribute to the public welfare.
Sustainable development is the foremost objective of public welfare in this modern era and the elected officials must
employ their official powers to achieve sustainability. Local self government gives an edge to people living near the
biodiversity and they should take it as an able weapon in their hands to protect the same. While framing rules and
regulations for administration the panchayati raj institutions must have a space for checking into impact of the
activities in question. Constitutional status of the Gram Panchayat, Gram Sabha and other institutions cannot be
challenged and henceforth these bodies must be responsible to the need of the masses which lies in sustainable
development. When we feel for the masses then we are bound to enter into the ambit of sound living and appropriate
conditions for survival. The term sustainability has been derived from the Latin word sustinere which means to hold
up, to endure, to bear, to support, to provide for, to maintain, to sanction, to keep up, to prolong, to support the life
of(Chambers Concise Dictionary). So we see that sustainability is very much involved with lives of the
people because it aims at supporting everyone for overall personal growth. The Constitution of India which is the
supreme law of the land guarantees the right to life and personal liberty ( Tarun Arora 2007). Various
pronouncements of Indian judiciary have expanded this right to include in it clean and healthy environment. The
Constitution originally did not deal with environmental aspect, but some of the Articles, Schedules, and
Amendments have an indirect link with the topic like Art. 14, 19(1)(g), 21, 32, 7 th Schedule and others. The Apex
Court held that the right to clean environment has emerged as a basic human right (SCC 2005) and henceforth
government at every level should try to enunciate new regulations for protection of the same.

SUSTENANCE AND PRIs

Guarantee of life is not limited to mere existence on the earth; it also includes healthy life. The court
reiterated that Article 21 connotes something more than mere animal existence (INDLAW 2005). These aspects
prove that sustainable development has a place of significance in judgments pronounced by the apex court of the
country. The PRIs can play an efficient role in achieving the abovementioned objectives by applying the weight
attached to them in policy involving environmental degradation and its conservation, if any. Environmental Impact
Assessment is a novel concept followed to check into any new activity and if the local people find that the industrial
project is having anything to do with the ill effects to the ecological balance of the area then same may be stopped
and the progress may be curtailed on the same. Rural development has been associated with various acts of the
business houses but at last it is on the local people to avail the benefits and if they think that the same will adversely
affect their lives then the same can be disallowed. PRIs have to take up the issues in the local meetings with the
natives of any region and the decisions taken up as a whole must be applied thereto. Land Management Committee
and other executive bodies must apply their administrative powers judiciously so as to fulfill the desires of the
people in the zone of getting effected. Air, water and land all must be protected so as to have a healthy living and
PRIs should look into these matters seriously. Agriculture has been a mainstay of rural life but it is also not immune
to question of sustainability in this modern era because of usage of a lot of chemicals and non organic methods. PRIs
should take up this as a duty of theirs to educate farmers and concerned people to adopt sustainable means of
agriculture like organic farming, drip irrigation and seeds which judiciously use the mineral contents or the soil.
Recent legislations like Farmers’ Rights Act of 2001and Forest Rights Act of 2006 are gems of modern legislation
because people living in rural regions should be given protection and local self government bodies must apply
themselves to bring in the necessary reforms. Gram sabhas and panchayats have been given statutory authority under
these laws but the question is of genuine implementation. MNREGA is one of the new path-breaking legislation
which has taken up the cause of inclusive growth and since its inception in 2006; PRIs have got a new life to work
upon for overall growth of the people. It is very much evident from high participation given to PRIs that our
legislators believe in self rule at the village level and the ball is now in the court of such institutions to apply the
same judiciously and hence the burden of sustaining the development lies on the local bodies.

CONCLUSION

Modern world is a competitive world but we must not forget our past and the ultimate truth still lies in the
dwelling nature of the human being whereupon concept of “vasudhaiv kutumbkum ” holds ground and all of us
should aim for the common goal of a healthy living and survival of human kind. Panchayati Raj Institutions should
work upon the principles of brotherhood and collective wisdom to apply the philosophy of environmental protection
and controlled growth which can stand tall in the see-saw of development and degradation. Corporate houses have
their own place of importance in the economic scenario but at last it is the people who should benefit out of the
activities all around them but the same should not be a short run goal but a long run initiative encompassing future
generations to follow. The local self government bodies are therefore the most suited institutions which must not let
the people down and apply the authority with responsibility knowing that they are accountable to attain
Development coupled with sustainability.
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