Chamba’s development data raises red flags

The Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI), a national tool introduced to track the performance of gram panchayats across the country, has revealed worrying trends in Himachal Pradesh’s only aspirational district – Chamba.

An analysis of the data shows that while some areas have made reasonable progress, large parts of the district, including blocks under special development programmes, have either underperformed or failed to report basic data.

According to the findings, Chamba’s aspirational blocks — Bharmour and Pangi —along with the non-aspirational Tissa block, have shown dismal performance in terms of data submission, raising serious questions about governance and development planning in the region.

The PAI, launched by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, is based on nine themes aligned with Localised Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs), such as poverty eradication, healthcare, water sufficiency, green initiatives and good governance on basis of which each gram panchayat is assessed. Based on their scores, panchayats are placed in five categories: achiever, frontrunner, performer, aspirant and beginner.

Of the 309 gram panchayats in Chamba, only 214—or 69.3 per cent—submitted their data. Entire blocks like Tissa and Pangi failed to upload any information, while Bharmour submitted partial data for only eight of its 31 panchayats.

This is particularly alarming given that these blocks are among those targeted under the Aspirational District and Aspirational Block Programmes, designed to push forward development in India’s most under-served regions, said Dr. Baldev Singh Negi, Assistant Professor, Centre for Rural Development, Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), Shimla, who analysed the data.

Dr Negi noted that the absence of data not only hinders developmental planning but also reflects a deeper malaise in administrative accountability. “The failure to upload data from blocks like Tissa, Bharmour, and Pangi suggests either gross negligence or deliberate attempts to avoid transparency. This becomes all the more serious when these regions are beneficiaries of special funding and support from the Centre,” he said.

The report highlights that even among the panchayats that submitted data, the top performers in Chamba district—Jiyunta in Bhattiyat block and Gehra in Mehla—managed to score between 60 to 70 points, obtaining the ‘Performer’ category tag. No panchayat in the district crossed into the ‘Frontrunner’ or ‘Achiever’ categories. Meanwhile, several gram panchayats in blocks like Chamba, Salooni and Bhattiyat recorded scores under 50, falling into the ‘Aspirant’ category, which signals major gaps in basic public services.

“The PAI is not just about numbers; it’s about measuring the delivery of essential services at the grassroots. If data is not being submitted, it suggests there is something to hide. This affects planning, budgeting and most importantly, the lives of the people,” said Dr Negi.

He urged the government to take serious note of the lack of data submission from blocks and initiate accountability measures. “The Champions of Change Dashboard and PAI are meant to bring transparency and empower local governance. If ignored, they risk becoming irrelevant,” he added.

Notably, the best performing gram panchayat in Himachal Pradesh as per the PAI is Thanadhar in Shimla district with a score of 77.63, placing it in the ‘Frontrunner’ category.