CONTEXT:

• The National Panchayati Raj Day is celebrated every year in India on 24th April.
• The Constitution of India recognizes Panchayats as ‘Institutions of self-government’.

BACKGROUND:

• Due to the high population and large area in many states, the person sitting at the highest post in the state does not get actual scenario of the problems faced by the people of rural areas.
• So it was decided that the power of democracy should be decentralised.
• In order to fulfill this requirement a committee was constituted in 1957 under the chairmanship of Balwantrai Mehta.
• The Committee recommended democratic decentralization of the power. Hence the concept of Panchayati Raj was constituted in India for the first time in the history.
• This day marks the passing of Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 that came into force with effect from 24 April 1993.
• The first National Panchayati Raj Day was celebrated in 2010