Th e Thirteenth Commission invited views from the Decentralization Community on its terms of reference and suggestions on how it should move forward. The query added value to the information that the Commission sought from the States as well as from the public through its website. Members benefitted as they got a via media for providing suggestions at the policy level. The inputs received and the following Colloquium was found very useful by the Thirteenth Finance Commission. Many of the inputs have been included in the Chapter on Gram Panchayats in the Report.