Understanding Intra-tier Responsibilities in the Eleventh Schedule

When the 73rd Constitutional Amendment gave panchayats constitutional status in 1992, it did more than just create elected village councils. It handed them a detailed to-do list, a roadmap of 29 functional areas spanning everything from agricultural extension to the welfare of weaker sections. This list, tucked into the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution, is arguably the single most important document shaping rural self-governance in the country. Yet understanding how these 29 subjects actually get distributed within the three tiers of rural local bodies, and why that distribution matters, takes us into the heart of one of the most complex governance puzzles: the question of intra-tier responsibilities.

What the Eleventh Schedule actually contains 🔗

The Eleventh Schedule was inserted into the Constitution through the 73rd Amendment Act of 1992, and it operates under Article 243G. The article empowers State Legislatures to endow panchayats with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-government, including responsibilities related to the preparation of plans for economic development and social justice and the implementation of schemes entrusted to them.

The 29 subjects listed in the schedule cover an astonishing breadth of rural life. They include agriculture and agricultural extension, land improvement, minor irrigation, animal husbandry and dairying, fisheries, social and farm forestry, small-scale industries, khadi and village industries, rural housing, drinking water, fuel and fodder, roads and bridges, rural electrification, non-conventional energy sources, poverty alleviation, education (including primary and secondary schools), technical training, adult and non-formal education, libraries, cultural activities, markets and fairs, health and sanitation, family welfare, women and child development, social welfare, welfare of weaker sections, public distribution, and the maintenance of community assets. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has mapped these 29 subjects against the Sustainable Development Goals and Localised SDG themes, reflecting how deeply the schedule is tied to on-the-ground development outcomes.

Why the schedule exists in the first place 🔗

Before 1992, panchayats operated as creatures of state law, often weak, under-funded, and easily dissolved. The 73rd Amendment implemented the long-pending vision of Article 40 of the Directive Principles, which had called for the state to organise village panchayats and give them the authority to function as units of self-government. This amendment upgraded panchayats from a non-justiciable part of the Constitution to a justiciable one, placing a constitutional obligation on states to enact Panchayati Raj Acts in line with Part IX. The Eleventh Schedule was the substantive content that breathed life into this new structure. Without it, constitutional status would have been ornamental.

The meaning of intra-tier responsibilities 🔗

Here is where the interesting work begins. The Constitution lists the 29 subjects but does not specify which tier of the panchayat system does what. Should primary schools be run by the gram panchayat? Should the panchayat samiti handle minor irrigation? Should the zilla parishad take charge of poverty alleviation programmes? These are the questions that intra-tier responsibility allocation seeks to answer.

Part IX of the Constitution provides for a three-tier panchayat structure: the gram panchayat at the village level, the panchayat samiti at the intermediate or block level, and the zilla parishad at the district level. States with populations below 20 lakh have the option not to have the intermediate level. Within this structure, the actual distribution of the 29 subjects across the three tiers is left to the state legislatures. As the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has noted, the Eleventh Schedule gives a list of subjects in respect of which functions, finances and functionaries may be devolved by the state to Panchayati Raj Institutions, with the authority for such transfer vesting with the state governments.

The principle of subsidiarity 🔗

The guiding idea for dividing responsibilities across tiers is subsidiarity, the principle that a function should be performed at the lowest level of government capable of handling it effectively. A task like maintaining a village pond or managing a ration shop is best handled by the gram panchayat. Something like running a district-level technical institute or coordinating a large watershed project across multiple blocks makes more sense at the zilla parishad level. The panchayat samiti fits in between, typically coordinating block-level schemes and acting as a bridge between village and district.

This logic sounds neat on paper. In reality, translating it into clear intra-tier assignments has been one of the most difficult governance challenges in rural administration.

The framework of activity mapping and the 3Fs 🔗

To make the Eleventh Schedule operational, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj encouraged states to carry out what is called activity mapping. This exercise breaks each of the 29 subjects into specific activities and assigns each activity to a particular tier, along with the funds and functionaries needed to perform it. The three pillars of effective devolution, popularly called the 3Fs, are Functions, Funds, and Functionaries.

Functions refer to the actual tasks a panchayat is authorised to perform, such as maintaining anganwadi centres, managing common grazing lands, or supervising primary health sub-centres. Funds are the financial resources, whether from state grants, central transfers, or own-source revenue, that enable panchayats to carry out these tasks. Functionaries are the personnel, from the panchayat secretary to line department staff like teachers, engineers, and health workers, who are placed under the administrative control of the panchayats to deliver services.

Without all three Fs being devolved together, the framework collapses. A gram panchayat assigned responsibility for primary education but with no control over teachers or budget is simply being given a title without power. Of the three Fs, funds have been the least devolved and most neglected by state governments, and a review of fiscal decentralisation has found that local governments are fundamentally unable to raise taxes, track their expenditures or deliver services at the local level.

How different tiers typically share the work 🔗

While every state has its own activity mapping, a rough pattern emerges across the country. Gram panchayats usually handle drinking water supply, street lighting, sanitation, maintenance of village roads and drainage, primary schools, anganwadis, common assets, and the local public distribution system. Panchayat samitis typically take up block-level coordination for agriculture and animal husbandry extension, minor irrigation works that cross village boundaries, rural employment schemes, and technical guidance. Zilla parishads tend to focus on district planning, secondary education, district hospitals, large poverty alleviation programmes, and oversight of lower tiers.

Britannica summarises this functional spread well, noting that the Eleventh Schedule lists 29 subjects ranging from agriculture and minor irrigation to health, education, housing, roads, and social welfare, which states and union territories use to decide what to assign to each tier, with the exact division of work, staff, and funds differing by state.

Focus areas within the schedule 🔗

Sustainable rural livelihoods 🔗

A large cluster of the 29 subjects is tied directly to the agrarian economy. Agriculture and agricultural extension, land improvement, minor irrigation, animal husbandry, dairying, poultry, fisheries, and social forestry together recognise that rural life in the country revolves around the land and what it produces. Assigning these to panchayats aims to put decisions about seed distribution, extension advice, micro-irrigation, and pasture management into the hands of those who depend on them most.

Welfare of weaker sections 🔗

Several subjects are explicitly aimed at vulnerable populations. These include welfare of weaker sections, particularly Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, women and child development, family welfare, and social welfare. The idea is that panchayats, being closer to the people, can identify and respond to local needs more sensitively than distant state departments. The reservation of one-third seats for women and proportional reservations for SCs and STs in panchayats is institutionally tied to these welfare responsibilities.

Education and human development 🔗

Education (including primary and secondary schools), technical training and vocational education, adult and non-formal education, libraries, and cultural activities all fall within the schedule. This is a significant grant of authority. It implies that panchayats should help plan, monitor, and in some cases manage the educational infrastructure of their area.

Environmental and resource management 🔗

Social and farm forestry, fuel and fodder, non-conventional energy sources, drinking water, and the maintenance of community assets reflect an environmental consciousness built into the schedule. These subjects encourage panchayats to think of themselves not just as service delivery agencies but as stewards of common resources.

Public distribution and poverty alleviation 🔗

The public distribution system and poverty alleviation programmes are explicit entries. Handing these to local bodies is meant to reduce leakages and ensure that ration shops, employment schemes, and housing benefits reach the intended households. This reflects a core insight of decentralisation: local accountability tends to improve last-mile service delivery.

The uneven reality of devolution 🔗

More than three decades after the 73rd Amendment, the actual devolution of the Eleventh Schedule subjects remains deeply uneven. Some states have moved boldly, others have barely moved at all. Reports have found that among 27 states examined, only seven had devolved all 29 functions to panchayats as listed in the Constitution, and only Karnataka had handed over functionaries and funds to panchayats for all 29 subjects. Incompleteness and ambiguity in how activities are assigned to each tier has even led to litigation, with many panchayats fighting state laws in the high courts and Supreme Court.

Parallel bodies, such as district rural development agencies and watershed committees, often run alongside elected panchayats, diluting their authority. Line department staff, though posted at the block or district level, may not be accountable to the panchayat chairperson but to their parent department. The result is a patchwork system where the constitutional promise of Article 243G exists more on paper than in practice in many areas.

Signs of improvement 🔗

There have been genuine improvements too. Finance Commission transfers have risen substantially over the years. Fund allocation to rural local bodies increased from about Rs. 100 per capita per annum under the 10th Finance Commission to Rs. 674 per capita per annum under the 15th Finance Commission. States like Kerala, Karnataka, and West Bengal have developed relatively mature activity mapping frameworks. Some gram panchayats have begun raising their own revenue through innovative local initiatives.

Why this matters for rural governance 🔗

The Eleventh Schedule is not just a constitutional annexure. It is a statement of faith in the idea that the rural poor are best served when decisions are taken close to them, when local governments manage local resources, and when citizens can hold their representatives accountable for services they actually see and use. Assigning intra-tier responsibilities well means ensuring that the gram panchayat handles what a village can handle, the panchayat samiti coordinates what a block must coordinate, and the zilla parishad plans for what a district needs to plan.

Getting this allocation right is crucial because it determines whether decentralisation is real or cosmetic. When a village body controls the ration shop, the primary school, the anganwadi, and the water supply, and has the money and staff to run them, citizens can see and feel local self-government. When it only holds meetings and forwards files, the promise of grassroots democracy remains unfulfilled.

What do you think? Given the wide variation in how states have devolved the 29 subjects of the Eleventh Schedule, do you think the Constitution should have specified a minimum uniform distribution of functions across the three tiers? And in your own area, which of these 29 subjects do you see the panchayat actually handling well, and which ones remain on paper?

References

1. https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1419768/
2. https://panchayat.gov.in/en/document/mapping-of-29-subjects-under-eleventh-schedule-of-the-constitution-sdgs-and-lsdg-themes/
3. https://secforuts.mha.gov.in/73rd-amendment-of-panchayati-raj-in-india/
4. https://www.pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=11575
5. https://accountabilityindia.in/sites/default/files/policy-brief/panchayatbrief2.pdf
6. https://www.britannica.com/topic/panchayati-raj
7. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/environment/f-for-failure-5428
8. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1815682