Jammu and Kashmir has been able to progress gradually in improving the Panchayat Acts, starting from electing the panchayat members by show of hands to direct elections by the people and empowering elected members by means of defining certain powers. However, their functioning in practice demonstrates the glaring deficiencies in the state Panchayat Act and these institutions face a number of problems. Though the Panchayati Raj Institutions have been in existence in the state for a long time, it has been observed that these institutions have not been able to acquire the statur and dignity of viable and responsive people's bodies due to number of factors.