<P> Mahatma Gandhi advocated panchayat raj as the foundation of India's political system . It would have been a decentralised form of government where each village would be responsible for its own affairs . The term for such a vision was Gram Swaraj ("village self - governance"). Instead India developed a highly centralised form of government . However, this has been moderated by the decentralisation of several administrative functions to the local level, empowering elected gram panchayats . There are significant differences between the traditional panchayati raj system, that envisioned by Gandhi, and the system formalised in India in 1992 . </P> <P> 》 Ensures the direct participation of people at the grass root level . 》 In 1956, the National Development Council appointed a committee under Balwant Rai Mehta, which submitted its report in 1957 in which it recommended: - 》 A 3 - tier structure consisting of Zila Parishad at the District level, Panchayat Samiti at the Block level and GramPanchayat at the village level . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (May 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (May 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr>

What do you understand by panchayati raj system