Panchayat Service Cadre

• Article 243 G of the Constitution provides that, legislature of a State may, by law, endow the Panchayats with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-Government.
• Availability of minimum core staff at Gram Panchayats (GPs) is essential to carry out their mandated functions including implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
• Responsibility of providing necessary staff to the Panchayats vests with the concerned State Governments. Since, many States/UTs have not provided adequate manpower at the GP level, it is proposed to utilise the administrative cost under MGNREGS for providing core professional staff to GPs.
• To begin with, selected GPs including those in Left Wing Extremism affected districts are proposed to be covered. To avail of this, State Governments/UT administrations will need to ensure that either a functional office building for GP is already in place or taken up or a Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendra has been taken up. Detailed proposals in this regard have been invited from State Governments/UT administrations.