Transfer of Subjects

Twenty-nine subjects that had previously belonged to the States' own list of responsibilities were identified and listed in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution, for transfer to Panchayati Raj institutions. Article 243G of the Constitution states this power: 'Article 243G. Powers, authority and responsibilities of Panchayats.—.........., the Legislature of a State may, by law, endow the Panchayats with such powers and authority....... ...with respect to—.....the matters listed in the Eleventh Schedule.' The subjects listed are overwhelmingly ones connected to local development and welfare — a partial list, exactly as the Eleventh Schedule itself presents it (with several items skipped over), reads: '1. Agriculture, ...; 3. Minor irrigation, water management and watershed development. ....; 8. Small scale industries, including food processing industries. .....; 10. Rural housing. 11. Drinking water. .....; 13. Roads, culverts,....; 14. Rural electrification.....; .....; 16. Poverty alleviation programme. 17. Education, including primary and secondary schools. 18. Technical training and vocational education. 19. Adult and non-formal education. 20. Libraries. 21. Cultural activities. 22. Markets and fairs. 23. Health and sanitation, including hospitals, primary health centres and dispensaries. 24. Family welfare. 25. Women and child development. 26. Social welfare, ...; 27. Welfare of the weaker sections, and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. 28. Public distribution system. .....' Importantly, listing these 29 subjects in the Constitution does not by itself transfer them — the actual transfer of functions still depends on each State's own legislation, and every State decides for itself how many of the 29 subjects it will actually hand over to its local bodies, which is a major reason the real powers of Panchayats still vary so widely across India. A related gap concerned Adivasi-inhabited areas: the 73rd Amendment's provisions were not made applicable there at all, because many Adivasi communities have their own traditional customs for managing shared resources like forests and small water bodies. In 1996, a separate a …