Point Out the Main Significance of Democratic Decentralization in India

Point out the main significance of Democratic Decentralization in India? The system of democratic decentralization came into limelight by the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments (1993) in order to provide the authority for self governance to the villages. The 73rd Amendment gives village, block and district level bodies a constitutional status under Indian Law. The more important features of the amendment are summarized below; The establishment of a 3 tier Panchayat Raj Institution (PRI), with elected bodies at village, block and district level [States with population less than 2 Mill are not required to introduce block level Panchayat]. ii. Direct elections to 5 year terms for all members at all levels. iii.Reservation of 1/3 of the seats for women and for backward classes. iv.A state election commission will be created to supervise, organize and oversee Panchayat elections at all level. i.

A State Finance Commission will be established to review and revise the financial position of the Panchayats on 5 year intervals and to make recommendations to the State Governments about the distribution of Panchayat funds. At the village level the Gram Panchayat area is meant to serve as a principle mechanism for transparency and accountability. According to S N Jha; “The 73rd and 74th amendments 1

are designed to promote self-governance through statutory recognition of local bodies. The latter are expected to move away from their traditional role of simply executing the programs handed down to them by the higher levels of government” (Decentralization and Local Politics_ Pg-103). It would be proper to assess the significance of Democratic Decentralization in India by analyzing the level of progress made by the initiative. Using the conventional classification of political, administrative and fiscal decentralization, the World Bank’s three Volume study of Indian Decentralization (World Bank; 2000A, 2000B, 2000C) ranks India among the best Performers internationally in terms of Political decentralization but close to the last in terms in terms of administrative decentralization. Most of the states have held at least one round of elections since 1993. In its study of 53 villages in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh for instance, the World Bank () found out that voter turnout for Panchayat elections was well over 90% for all categories in term of Gender, caste and class. This was significantly higher than the turn out for the 1998 Lokh Sabha elections which was 61% for women and 65.9% for men. (Y Yadhav_ India’s Third Electoral System/Weekly). In its assessment of the Indian Decentralization the task force on the devolution of powers and functions upon Panchayati Raj institutions (Ministry of Rural Development_ 2001Source Wiekimedia) found that most of the states had satisfied only the basic requirements relating to the transfer of function, functionaries, funds and financial 2

autonomy to the Panchayats. Vyasulu finds that the state government has devolved little finances and fiscal powers to the Panchayats. Instead, many have established parallel bodies as a channel for development funding. Self help groups connected to the Janmabhoomi programme in Andhra Pradesh and the Rajiv Gandhi Watershed Missions in Madhya Pradesh are two illustrations in this trend. M A: Oommen’s Panchayat Finance and Issues (1999_ Pg157) concludes that the conformity acts have generally been an exercise in amending existing Panchayat legislation for the sake of satisfying the mandatory provisions of the 73rd Amendment. He raises the following concern; i. Village Panchayats have been delegated functions without proper administrative and financial support. ii. With the exception of Kerala and West Bengal, Panchayats lack discretionary powers over spending and staff. iii.States reserve the rights to assign or withdraw functions to and from the Panchayats by ‘Executive Fiat’. iv.Panchayats lack autonomous budgeting powers. Still much work needs to be done including the removal of corruption to make more effective, the decentralization initiative, which has shown a respectable level of progress, especially in the states of West Bengal and Kerala. 3

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