Thirty-Two Lakh Trained, Little Devolved: The Word "May" That Decides Whether Panchayats Govern

The Word "May": Why Training Panchayats Cannot Substitute for Empowering Them Article

243G says the Legislature of a State may, by law, give panchayats the powers and authority they need to function as institutions of self-government. That single permissive word, not "shall", is the hinge of Indian local democracy. The Constitution created the panchayat tier in 1992 but left the decision to fill it with powers to each State.

What the

new scheme does The Pradhan Mantri Viksit Gram Swaraj Yojana, approved on 28 October 2026 with an outlay of ₹7,395.55 crore for 2026-27 to 2030-31, works entirely on one side of that hinge. It will:

• train about 32 lakh elected representatives, functionaries and stakeholders - support 2.55 lakh Gram Panchayat Development Plans through the eGramSwaraj portal - build a common digital platform linking schemes, beneficiaries and community assets Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reportedly described it as a shift from prescription-based schemes to local capacity and planning. The text of the scheme says capacity. The text of the Constitution says devolution is optional. The scheme can make a panchayat better at planning. It cannot make a State give that panchayat anything to plan with.

The rule as written, the rule as practised Article 243G links panchayats to the 29 subjects of the Eleventh Schedule.

Article 243H allows States to authorise panchayats to levy taxes and receive grants and Article 243I requires State Finance Commissions to review their finances. Together they sketch a self-governing tier. In practice, the Panchayat Devolution Index shows how far that sketch remains unfilled.

The national average score rose only from 39.92 in 2013-14 to 43.89 in 2024, out of 100. Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu lead. Most States have devolved a fraction of what the Constitution permits. This is where the scheme's design matters.

When planning runs through a central portal and a common digital platform, the panchayat becomes a node that reports upward, faster and more legibly. That is genuinely useful for convergence. But without funds, functions and functionaries, better reporting is not the same as more autonomy.

The counter-model already exists Kerala's People's Plan Campaign, launched in 1996, did the reverse.

It devolved a substantial share of the State's plan funds to local bodies and then built capacity around real money and real decisions. Kerala's place among the top three on the Devolution Index reflects that sequence: power first, then training to use it.

Why it matters PMVGSY's timeline is deliberately aligned with the Sixteenth Finance Commission.

That makes sense, because better-trained panchayats will spend Finance Commission grants better. But grants that arrive tied or that States route around panchayats, will not be rescued by training. For GS2, the lesson is that the 73rd Amendment's unfinished agenda lives in one word.

Until States treat "may" as "shall", every capacity scheme will strengthen the panchayat's ability to report while leaving its authority to govern largely where it was.