Panchayat staffing rules may improve service delivery

Some age-old practices that guide selection to posts in panchayats will be eliminated

To make 239,000 panchayats more inclusive and in order to seek uniform results from the massive funds being devolved to them, the Centre will soon release a report to decide on who should be recruited as non-elected panchayat staff. 

The release of the report is expected to dismantle entrenched nepotism that provided panchayat members enormous clout in rural India and has made many government programmes non-starters.

Instead of only insisting on education levels to decide who should be recruited as staff in panchayats and related bodies, the report is expected to offer practical solutions. 

In 2015, the Rajasthan government enacted