More Menu

Local Self Governance and Decentralized Planning In India Part - 1

byPosted at
This blog explains what it means for India to have local self-government and decentralized planning (LSG&DP). It also talks about the history of LSG, DP, A Review of the 73rd and 74th Amendments, the PESA Act, and the Sixth Schedule, all of which have to do with local self-government.

Content

  1. Introduction
  2. Defining Local self Governance and Decentralized planning
  3. History of Local Self Governance & Decentralized Planning and development
  4. 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment
  5. Provisions for Tribal and in Fifth Scheduled Areas.
  6. Summary

Introduction

India is a very different country with millions of people living in many different places. These places can be broken up into three main groups: tribal, rural, and urban. This is called "local self governance," and it means that every area has its own group to run it and keep it going. In this module, we will look at how each of these bodies is run locally.

Defining Local self Governance and Decentralized planning

According to (Aslam, 2007) meaning of local self governance is; 
A Government run by the local people which is concerned with the local issues where all the local people can participate in all the concerns and the functions of the government. The local self governance advocates the accountability and efficiency to improve the local level concerns.
According to (Hari K. Nagrajan, Hans P. Binswanger-Mkhize, S. S. Meenakshisundaram, 2015) 
Decentralization, as is generally understood, implies devolution of powers to the local bodies that are separated from the Central Government. These local bodies are headed by representatives who are elected by a formally constituted electoral process.
Another definition of decentralization is 
“it is a political process whereby administrative authority, public resources and responsibilities are transferred from central government agencies to lower-level organizations of government”. (Crook and Manor, 1998: 6–7; Rondinelli et al., 1989; Meenakshisundaram, 1999; World Bank, 2000: 
Broadly, decentralization refers to transfer of political, administrative and fiscal responsibilities to the lower units.

History of Local Self Governance & Decentralized Planning and development

There is enough evidence in the Indian religious scriptures to show that local self-government existed, even if it took different forms. Even in the Middle Ages, villages ran their own local activities on their own. During the time of the British, there have been many changes. When, the system of local self-government went through two stages. The first phase began when the British took over and ended when the Constitution was changed in 1919. The second phase ran from 1919 until the end of British rule (Aslam, 2007).

Ancient India's village Panchayat system was very important to Mahatma Gandhi. In his "Gram Swaraj" plan, village assemblies were the most important part of running a democratic India in the future. From these assemblies, all power would flow to the top. So, he pushed hard for strengthening village Panchayats all over the country so that grass-roots democracy would be strong and include everyone. But after India gained independence in 1947, the well-being of the villages where most Indians lived did not become a major national political issue, and the colonial system of government stayed in place.

The Balvantrai Mehta Committee was set up in January 1957. It said, "Development can't move forward without responsibility and power." Community development can only happen if the people in the community understand their problems, know what their responsibilities are, give their representatives the power they need to do their jobs, and keep an eye on how the local government is running (Aslam, 2007). Later, between 1959 and 1964, the Panchayati Raj system grew in India. The first states to use it were Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. Also, a lot of other states used the system, but there wasn't any uniformity between the states. In 1977, a committee led by Ashok Mehta was put together. This was the turning point for the Panchayati Raj system. This committee looked at the work of earlier committees, figured out what was important, and suggested the next step. In 1985, the Planning Commission put together a group led by G. V. K. Rao to look at how rural development and programs to reduce poverty were being run at the time and make suggestions about how they could be improved. In June 1986, the government of India set up a committee led by Dr. L. M. Singhvi to write a concept paper on reviving the Panchayati Raj Institutions. This was followed by another commission whose main job was to look at the relationship between the center and the states. This commission also suggested strengthening local bodies financially and in terms of how they work. The government also put together some other committees to help the local government (Aslam, 2007).

73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment 

Several programs for growth were started after 1990. The picture of India's growth has changed because of globalization, liberalization, and privatization. Even though India has done very well in all areas, there was a need for major changes in local self-government. This is why the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments were passed in 1992 and 1993. The Tenth Five-Year Plan was the one that talked about how important governance was for solving problems like poverty, backwardness, and low human development. It also talked about how important it was to start a comprehensive reform agenda related to governance. It was decided to take a multifaceted approach, with a focus on the implementation of the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts, 1992, which gave constitutional status to Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs) and urban local bodies (ULBs), in both letter and spirit, in order to increase decentralization, get the community more involved in planning and implementing schemes, and make the government more accountable.

Salient Features of the 73rd and 74th Constitution Amendment Acts 

  1. Panchayats and Municipalities will be “institutions of self-government”. 
  2. Basic units of democratic system-Gram Sabhas (villages) and Ward Committees (Municipalities) comprising all the adult members registered as voters. 
  3. Three-tier system of panchayats at village, intermediate block/taluk/mandal and district levels except in States with population is below 20 lakhs (Article 243B). 
  4. Seats at all levels to be filled by direct elections [Article 243C (2)]. 
  5. Seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and chairpersons of the Panchayats at all levels also shall be reserved for SCs and STs in proportion to their population. 
  6. One-third of the total number of seats to be reserved for women. One third of the seats reserved for SCs and STs also reserved for women. One-third offices of chairpersons at all levels reserved for women (Article 243D).
  7. Uniform five year term and elections to constitute new bodies to be completed before the expiry of the term. In the event of dissolution, elections compulsorily within six months (Article 243E). 
  8. Independent Election Commission in each State for superintendence, direction and control of the electoral rolls (Article 243K). 
  9. Panchayats to prepare plans for economic development and social justice in respect of subjects as devolved by law to the various levels of Panchayats including the subjects as illustrated in Eleventh Schedule (Article 243G). 
  10. 74th Amendment provides for a District Planning Committee to consolidate the plans prepared by Panchayats and Municipalities (Article 243ZD). 
  11. Funds: Budgetary allocation from State Governments, share of revenue of certain taxes, collection and retention of the revenue it raises, Central Government programmes and grants, Union Finance Commission grants (Article 243H). 12. Establishment of a Finance Commission in each State to determine the principles on the basis of which adequate financial resources would be ensured for panchayats and municipalities (Article 243I)

Provisions for Tribal and in Fifth Scheduled Areas

The Constitution of India was the first place where the term "Scheduled Tribes" was used. Article 366  said that scheduled tribes are "those tribes or tribal communities, or parts of or groups within those tribes or tribal communities, that Article 342 says are Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this Constitution."
  1. Article 243M of the Constitution, while exempting the Fifth Schedule areas from Part IX of the Constitution, provides that Parliament may by law extend its provisions to the Scheduled and Tribal Areas subject to such exceptions and modifications as may be specified in such law and no such law shall be deemed to be an amendment to the Constitution. On the basis of the report of the Bhuria Committee submitted in 1995, the Parliament enacted the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) to extend Part IX of the Constitution with certain modifications and exceptions to the Schedule V areas of 9 States viz. Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odessa and Rajasthan (Sahota, 2014).
  2. The Act provides autonomous powers to the Gram Sabhas to protect and preserve the traditions of their people and community resources. These include mandatory consultation in matters of land acquisition, ownership of forest produce and other natural resources, among others. Observing the detailed list of the executive power provided to the Gram Sabhas under PESA, it can be confidently deduced that this Act guarantees the safeguard of culture and traditions of the tribal ethnicities of India and there by preserving our rich heritage. The Gram Sabhas under PESA are deemed to be 'competent' to safeguard and preserve the traditions of their people, community resources and customary mode of dispute resolution (Sahota, 2014). 
  3. The Gram Sabhas further have: 
    • (a) Mandatory executive functions to approve plans of the Village Panchayats, identify beneficiaries for schemes, issue certificates of utilization of funds, 
    • (b) Right to mandatory consultation in matters of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation, and prospecting licenses / mining leases for minor minerals, 
    • (c) Power to prevent alienation of land and restore alienated land; 
    • (d) Power to regulate and restrict sale/consumption of liquor; 
    • (e) Power to manage village markets, control money lending to STs; 
    • (f) Ownership of minor forest produce; 
    • (g) Power to control institutions and functionaries in all social sectors; 
    • (h) Power to control local plans and resources for such plans including TSP, etc (Sahota, 2014).

Summary

In this post, we've talked about what the panchayati raj is and how it works. We've also talked about its history and the most important parts of the 73rd and 74th amendments. We have also learned about the PESA Act and the Sixth Schedule Areas. In the next lesson, we'll learn more about decentralized planning in India and look at how it works and how well it helps people on the ground.

Reference

  1. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 74TH CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. (n.d.). State Level Reform under JNNURM . New Delhi, Delhi, India. Retrieved from http://p2.mpcdp.com/PDF/Reforms/OptionalReforms/74thConstitutionalAmendment.pdf 
  2.  Ministry of Finance, Governmenr of India. (2015-16). Forteenth Financce Commission. Retrieved 06 08, 2017, from mof.gov.in: http://www.panchayat.gov.in/documents/10198/349332/Guidelines.pdf 
  3. Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. (n.d.). Ministry of Law & Justice. Retrieved 06 08, 2017, from lawmin.nic.in/: http://lawmin.nic.in/olwing/coi/coienglish/Const.Pock%202Pg.Rom8Fsss(34).pdf 
  4. Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India. (2015, 08 04). Panchayat Finances. Retrieved 06 08, 2017, from www.panchayat.gov.in: http://www.panchayat.gov.in/panchayat-finances 
  5.  Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India. (n.d.). Definition of Scheduled Areas. Retrieved January 08, 2017, from http://tribal.nic.in/Content/DefinitionofScheduledAreasProfiles.aspx 
  6.  NITI Ayog. (n.d.). Reports And Publications. Retrieved 06 08, 2017, from http://www.niti.gov.in: http://www.niti.gov.in/documents/reports 
  7. Worldpress.com. (2012, 09 June). Issues in India. Retrieved January 08, 2017, from www.socialissuesindia.wordpress.com: https://socialissuesindia.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/abrief-history-of-local-governance-in-india/
Post a Comment
Tag, , , ,

Comments

Thank You