The number of wards in a panchayat across states range between 13 and 23. The bone of contention is that limiting the number of simultaneous works in a panchayat to 20 could mean that a state with 23 wards in a panchayat could have a situation where one ward may not be able to offer employment opportunities to residents there. At the same time, the ministry has argued that not having any limit and having several open or ongoing works at the same time makes it difficult to monitor the works.
