I compliment Solution Exchange for a very interesting debate on relevance of decentralization in India and ways to strengthen Panchayats.
Relevance of decentralization may be seen in global context; for a birds-eye view, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decentralization This article summarizes developments in some of the countries and various factors that go against highly centralized public administration. Increase in level of literacy and public awareness, apart from technological advances, leads to more effective democratic participation by citizens. In the Indian context, there are obvious shortcomings in development administration. Despite seven-year-old RTI Act, there is (i) lack of transparency, (ii) administrative obstacles in effective accountability of grass-root public authorities to the `beneficiary' of Government-funded development schemes, (iii) rampant corruption and (iv) growing realization that these schemes have failed to deliver intended results. There is a need for creative solutions to promote participation by citizens in managing their affairs.
Perhaps, one can keep debating about pros and cons of empowering Panchayats, without being sincere about it (going by its superficial implementation). In my humble opinion, it is unethical to continue to treat "decentralization" as political gimmick to garner votes. The motive of such subterfuge is obvious: persons having power would do anything to avoid giving it away and have deeply entrenched vested interest in circumventing effective devolution of power. Although implementation of RTI Act has been superficial and has not fully penetrated to the grass-roots, there are visible examples of advantages on enabling citizens to access Government records.
In short, provisions of the Constitution of India should be implemented in letter and spirit. There is need for pressuring State Governments that are dragging their feet to avoid effective devolution of power to Panchayats. Perhaps, a Public Interest Litigation (P.I.L) to the Supreme Court might help. Drafting of P.I.L could be a separate topic for discussion in Solution Exchange, to put our wits together!
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