Which of the following reasons were cited by the Ashok Mehta Committee for the decline of the Panchayati Raj Institutions in India? 1. Role of Bureaucracy 2. Lack of Political Will 3. Lack of Conceptual clarity 4. Lack of gender parity Select the correct answer using the code given below :

Which of the following reasons were cited by the Ashok Mehta Committee for the decline of the Panchayati Raj Institutions in India? 1. Role of Bureaucracy 2. Lack of Political Will 3. Lack of Conceptual clarity 4. Lack of gender parity Select the correct answer using the code given below : Correct Answer 1, 2 and 3

The Correct answer is 1, 2 and 3.

 Important Points

Ashok Mehta Committee

• In December 1977, the Janta Government appointed a 13 member committee to look at the performance of the PRI.

Reasons for the poor performance of PRI as noted by the Committee.

• The reasons for the decline of PRIs were haphazard programs, non-performance, the rise of vested interests, lack of adequate financial resources.
• The concept of Panchayati Raj itself got lost in a haze of conflicting interpretations.
• Committee noted that the bureaucracy was also responsible for the decline for particularly two reasons:
  • The officers felt that they are primarily accountable to the State Governments.
  • They were not able to adjust to working under the supervision of the elected representatives.