Study to Assess the Availability of Resources for Creating the Assets and Initiatives taken for Generating Various Own Sources of Revenue

The main emphasis of the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution of India is to ensure uniformity between the functional responsibilities and the financial resources of the three-tier Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). For this, the Gram Panchayat (GP) plays a dynamic role as an agency of local self-government. In order to become self-reliant, the Panchayats need to mobilize their own funds through the collection of taxes, fees, and dues as per the powers accorded to them by Article 243-H of the Indian Constitution. The generation of Own Source of Revenue (OSR) provides greater autonomy to the Panchayats and helps them make self-reliant to transform the idea of Gram Swaraj into a reality. Against this backdrop, this evaluation study by NCAER delves deep into the aspects related to the status and challenges faced by the GPs in generating revenue and creating resources through a primary survey carried out in 5042 GPs located in 146 districts across 23 states. The study observes wide variations in the performance of the Panchayats in collecting taxes and there is an impending need to standardize the rates of taxation collected by them with a proper valuation of the Common Property Resources (CPRs) available on the ground. Submitted to Ministry of Panchayati Raj Government of India