Citizens Get a Direct Role in Assessing Gram Panchayat Performance
Rural Development Today | 5 October 2026 | Development Connects
India's rural governance system is experimenting with a potentially important new form of citizen accountability through the My Panchayat, My Assessment initiative. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj, in collaboration with MyGov, has invited citizens to examine the performance of their own Gram Panchayats and provide feedback against the framework of Localised Sustainable Development Goals.
The survey opened on 14 September 2026 and remains available until 15 October 2026. Citizens are encouraged first to visit the Panchayat Advancement Index portal and examine the scorecard of their Gram Panchayat. They can then report their own experiences of Panchayat services and development performance across nine Localised SDG themes. This creates a reference point for comparing officially reported performance with conditions observed in the village.
The initiative can create a second layer of evidence alongside administrative data. Quantitative indicators alone may not reveal whether a drinking-water system functions regularly, sanitation reaches all settlements, vulnerable households can access services, or local development priorities correspond with residents' needs.
The next measurable indicators should include participation rates, social and geographic representation, major gaps between scorecards and citizen experience, and documented actions taken by Panchayats following the assessment. The initiative therefore places rural residents not merely as programme beneficiaries but as participants in measuring local-government performance.
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