Policy Update
Diva Bhatia
Background
India’s three-tier system of local governance: comprising of Gram Panchayats (village level), Panchayat Samitis (block level) and Zilla Parishads (district level) in rural areas, Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats in urban areas, was constitutionally established by the 73rd and 74th Amendments in 1992 and 1993 respectively (Government of India, 1992; Government of India, 1993).
These amendments aimed to decentralize authority, deepen democratic participation, and enhance the planning and delivery of public services at the grassroots (Ministry of Panchayati Raj, 2025). To operationalize this decentralized framework, the Local Government Directory (LGD) was launched in 2007 by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) as a centralized and authoritative repository of all local government entities, their hierarchical relationships, and geospatial boundaries (Ministry of Panchayati Raj, 2025).
Over time, the LGD has become the backbone of numerous e-governance initiatives; eGramSwaraj for project monitoring, AuditOnline for financial oversight, and ServicePlus for citizen service delivery; by providing standardized coding and metadata essential for interoperability across Union, State and local platforms (Ministry of Panchayati Raj, 2025). Periodic updates to the directory capture newly constituted local bodies, mergers, bifurcations and boundary adjustments driven by demographic shifts and urban expansion (Open Government Data Platform India, 2025). As of 17 June 2025, the directory’s dataset on the Open Government Data (OGD) Platform continues to be actively maintained, reflecting real-time administrative changes (Open Government Data Platform India, 2025).
Why is LGD important?
1. Overall Coverage of Administration
The LGD lists all administrative units and local bodies in India, with a unique LGD code provided for every unit and body. The categorisation includes the following:
Revenue Units: State, District, sub-district (tehsil/taluka), block, village.
Rural Local Bodies: Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti, Zilla Parishad.
Urban Local Bodies: Municipal Corporation, Municipal Council, and Nagar Panchayat (Local Government Directory, 2025).
2. Use of Standardised Codes and Data Validation
The use of unique and structured codes ensures consistency and eliminates duplication of records. The LGD can interface with State Revenue Departments, Election Commissions, and licensed third-party software using RESTful APIs to exchange information and check the status in real-time (Ministry of Panchayati Raj, 2025).
3. Linkages of All Local Bodies to GIS Format Mapping and Spatial Analysis
The LGD used geospatial boundary files to link each local body and, by facilitating each LGD structure through GIS-based applications, possesses great value for land use planning, disaster management, and infrastructure development (Local Government Directory, 2025). Users can overlay panchayat boundaries on satellite imagery. Equipped with this type of information, sound disaster response actions and resource allocation decisions can be made.
4. Predefined Reports and Analytics
The LGD portal includes several auto-generated reports, including:
District Local Bodies Lists show all the local bodies within a district, urban and rural.
Unmapped Villages Report, which lists out villages with no panchayat.
Ward and Constituency Mapping, which links municipal wards to parliamentary and assembly constituencies.
Change Logs that record items created, deleted, updated, and when they are done (Local Government Directory, 2025).
5. Notifications and Workflow
Automatic emails and alerts via SMS will notify State Nodal Officers to examine reported pending updates, approve recommended changes to data, and confirm boundary updates. There is a built-in audit log that records the history of edits structured by time (Local Government Directory, 2025).
6. Governance Model and Access Control
While all directory data is accessible publicly, only State Nodal Officers can create and edit local government information. Only authorized State Nodal Officers have the role-based access control to edit what’s in the directory, which enables interdepartmental cooperation while maintaining data integrity (Ministry of Panchayati Raj, 2025).
Impact and Performance
1. Growth and Current Statistics
From April 1, 2022, and April 1, 2024, the number of Gram Panchayats grew from 235,482 to 248,271, representing about 13,000 new village entities established for more streamlined and effective local governance (Local Government Directory, 2025). As of June 2025, there were 255,335 Gram Panchayats, 6,733 Panchayat Samitis, 674 Zilla Parishads, and all urban local bodies listed in this directory as the Local Government Directory( Local Government Directory, 2025).
2. Consumption of LGD by E‐Governance Projects
Over 1,500 software applications now use LGD web services for functions such as workflow management, citizen grievance redressal, and financial auditing (Ministry of Panchayati Raj, 2025). Notably, for 2024–25, eGramSwaraj was able to attribute over ₹50,000 crore of Panchayati Raj Fund transactions with LGD codes, improving transparency in village public works (Ministry of Panchayati Raj, 2025).
3. Monitoring and Evaluating Policy Evidence
The Devolution Index Report 2024 used LGD data in establishing State-wise devolution of functions, funds, and functionaries of rural bodies and reported, on average from the previous year, a further 4.2% increase in devolution metrics (Ministry of Panchayati Raj, 2025). Likewise, the Svamitva Yojana survey, which covered 6.62 lakh villages between 2021 and 2025, leveraged LGD boundaries to both plan and implement drone-based property mapping, resulting in the registration of over 4 million property titles by March 2025 (Svamitva Yojana, 2025).
4. Efficiency Benefits
Standardizing directory codes has improved workflow across departments and saved 30% of the time spent on reconciling data between State revenue and urban development departments (Ministry of Panchayati Raj, 2025). Unbiased and automated boundary management has cut manual GIS processing time in pilot districts by 50%.
Where is LGD lacking?
The Local Government Directory (LGD), despite notable improvements, still falls short in several respects. Although its integration with AuditOnline boosted village audits, from covering 82 percent of Panchayats in 2022 to 95 percent in 2024, true fiscal transparency remains uneven, with reporting standards and timelines varying widely across states.
Equally concerning is the accuracy of its boundary data: an independent audit in January 2025 found that nearly one in six LGD-mapped limits deviated by over fifty metres from Survey of India benchmarks, underscoring the urgent need for more rigorous GIS validation processes (Local Government Directory, 2025).
On the operational front, inconsistencies in state-level reporting cadences, ranging from monthly returns in Kerala to biannual updates in Bihar, mean that national aggregates often lag by up to three months, undermining the reliability of pan-India analyses. Compounding these challenges, a year-end 2024 survey of 200 State Nodal Officers revealed that 40 percent had never been trained in the LGD’s advanced functionalities, creating a backlog of over 25,000 unprocessed updates nationwide (Ministry of Panchayati Raj, 2025). Finally, while public APIs have democratized access to administrative data, they have also heightened risks of unauthorized scraping and potential misuse, pointing to an urgent need for strengthened security and privacy safeguards.
Way Forward
To consolidate the LGD’s role as the linchpin of India’s decentralized governance, the following measures are recommended:
1. Real-Time Push Updates
Set up secure push-notification pathways for State Revenue Departments to relay entity creations, mergers, and boundary changes to local government, which may reduce manual processes and lagging synchronization.
2. National Update Protocol
Establish a consistent monthly update cycle for States and UTs to comply with via a national LGD compliance framework, allowing for similarly fresh data without reporting lag.
3. Improved GIS Verification
- Partner with Survey of India to build high definition satellite images along with on-ground verification teams to reduce boundary discrepancies to below 5 percent by March 2026.
4. E-Learning and Capacity Building
Implement an awarded licensed use e-certification program for State Nodal Officers, complemented with quarterly online workshops to stimulate dialogue and key learnings, and provide local or regional help desks with an established program cadence to harness and improve technical capacity and backlog.
5. Maturity of API/ Platform Security
Implement API Gateway enhanced type protection with OAuth type protection, cap the number of requests by user privileges, review the usage for protection of the data offering, while aligning to the principles of open data.
6. Citizen Feedback Mechanism
Build a public portal where residents can enter or suggest a correction to local-body data and engage citizens to contribute to improving data quality in a community.
7. Impact Analysis at regular intervals of the adopted policy
Conduct significant impartial evaluations of LGD’s effectiveness in the flow of funding, adequate service delivery, and participatory governance at a minimum of every two years, with public reporting and crowdsourcing for continuous improvement, learning, and other policy design considerations.
By enhancing its technical design, aligning its update protocols, and investing in stakeholder capacity, the Local Government Directory will sustain evidence-based policy making, increase financial transparency, and encourage democratic engagement at India’s local level
References
- Government of India. (1992). The Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992. Ministry of Law and Justice.
- Government of India. (1993). The Constitution (Seventy-fourth Amendment) Act, 1993. Ministry of Law and Justice.
- Government of India. (2025). Local Government Directory (Image Citation)
https://share.google/qYnNwlVa7SxKJARle
- Local Government Directory. (2025). Key Features and Reports. Ministry of Panchayati Raj https://lgdirectory.gov.in/demo/
- Ministry of Panchayati Raj. (2025). Annual Report 2024–25https://panchayat.gov.in/en/notice/annual-report-2024-25/
- Open Government Data Platform India. (2025). Local Government Directory (LGD) Datasethttps://data.gov.in
- Svamitva Yojana. (2025). Survey of Villages Abadi and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas. Ministry of Panchayati Raj https://svamitva.nic.in
About the Contributor
Diva Bhatia is a research intern at IMPRI and currently pursuing a major in Political Science from Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi. Her research interests include gender studies, international relations, and exploring the socio-political intricacies of North East India.
Acknowledgement- The author sincerely thanks Aasthaba Jadeja and other IMPRI fellows for their valuable contribution.
Disclaimer- All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
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