Functions and Powers — Revision Notes

⚡ 30-Second Revision

Article 243G: state-law endowment of Panchayat powers and responsibilities.
Eleventh Schedule: subjects relevant to plans and schemes, not an automatic identical transfer to every Panchayat.
Article 243H: state-law authorisation for local taxation, assigned revenues, grants and funds.
Article 243-I: State Finance Commission review.
Distinguish planning a service, financing it and executing it.

2-Minute Revision

The powers of a Panchayat must be read as an allocation of authority, not a catalogue of aspirations. Article 243G permits the state legislature to endow institutions with powers for self-government, including economic-development and social-justice planning and implementation of schemes.

The Eleventh Schedule supplies subject areas such as drinking water and rural roads. Actual responsibility depends on state law and the allocation among levels and agencies. Article 243H deals with fiscal authorisation; inclusion of a subject in the schedule does not itself authorise a Panchayat to levy an unspecified tax.

5-Minute Revision

Work through a rural-road example

Assume a village Panchayat identifies a damaged road. Four separate facts are needed: who owns or controls that road, who can sanction the repair, which budget can finance it, and which staff can execute and certify the work. The answer cannot be inferred from the words “rural roads” in the Eleventh Schedule alone. A state road department or a different Panchayat tier may have the relevant assignment.

Read fiscal power precisely

A need for revenue is not a legal power to impose a charge. Locate the authorising state law and its limits. Distinguish the body's own revenue from assigned revenue and grants; these differ in discretion and predictability. Finance Commission recommendations contribute to the fiscal framework but should not be confused with the direct execution of a work order.

Build the evaluation

Describe the assigned function, show the mismatch in funds or personnel, and propose a correction that respects the allocation of authority. This produces a stronger decentralisation answer than assuming that every local problem can be solved by the village body alone.

Vyyuha Quick Recall

A–M–S–R: Authority to act, Money to fund, Staff to execute, Review to account. Apply all four to one assigned function.