Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
De-centralization in India (Rationale for Decentralization? (It is…
De-centralization in India
Rationale for Decentralization?
It is difficult to govern a vast country like India with a two tier government
Some states in India are as large as some countries in Europe
In terms of population, UP is bigger than Russia & Maharashtra is as big as Germany
Many of these states are internally very diverse
So India needed another tier of government below the state government
This third tier of government is called
local government
The basic idea is that many problems & issues are best settled at the local level
Local people have better knowledge of their problems and where to spend money
Local people are able to take part in decision making
Local government is the best way to practice the principle of democracy - namely local -self government
Definition
When power is taken away from Central & State governments and given to local government, it is called decentralization
Panchayats in villages & municipalities in urban areas were set up in all the states
Reasons for ineffectiveness of Decentralization
Panchayats & Municipalities were under the direct control of the government
Elections to these local governments were not held regularly
Local governments did not have any powers or resources of their own
Steps to improve 3-tier system
A major steps towards decentralization was taken in 1992
The constitution was amended to make 3-tier democracy more powerful
According to the constitution, now it is compulsory to hold regular elections to the local governments
Seats are reserved in these local governments for SC, ST & OBC
At least 1/3rd of all positions are reserved for women
An independent institution called
State Election Commission
has been created in every state to conduct panchayat & muncipal elections
The State governments are required to share some powers & revenue with the local governments
Structure of Local Government
Rural local government is popularly known as
panchayati raj
Each village or group of villages has a
gram panchayat
It has many ward members called
panch
& the president is called
sarpanch
They are directly elected by the people of a ward or village
The panchayat works under the supervision of the
gram sabha
All the voters in the village are its members