Union Territories & Panchayats
State law may endow Panchayats with the powers and authority needed to function as genuine self-government institutions, including devolving responsibility for preparing economic development/social justice plans and implementing schemes covering the 29 subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule (like agriculture, rural housing, drinking water, and primary education).
This is the constitutional invitation for states to genuinely devolve real governance functions - not just symbolic representation - down to the Panchayat level, covering a broad list of subjects closely tied to everyday rural life. Notably, though, this is phrased as something states "may" do, not an automatic constitutional mandate - the actual extent of devolution has varied significantly from state to state in practice.
In states that have devolved these powers meaningfully, a Gram Panchayat can have real authority over things like local drinking water supply, rural roads, and primary school management - while in states with less devolution, Panchayats may have much more limited practical authority despite this constitutional provision.