WHY focus on Local Governance reforms?
To understand our governance crisis, we must first consider our initial conditions: widespread poverty, illiteracy, deep social divisions, and universal suffrage, creating a volatile mix. A consistent power imbalance from the start has cornered poor, disenfranchised citizens on one side, and public servants endowed with secure jobs, stable incomes, and significant authority on the other. This imbalance is further complicated by inadequate service delivery, where bribes, bureaucratic red tape, harassment, and delays are commonplace even for basic services.
In this environment, there has therefore been an over-reliance on politicians who must return to the electorate to renew their mandate. Ideally, politicians should have established a framework for straightforward, painless service delivery with sensible incentives and robust accountability. Instead, they have responded by building extensive party machinery to address public needs in the face of an unaccountable and dysfunctional bureaucracy. This approach has not improved service delivery; rather, it introduced perverse incentives and further distorted the governance landscape. Excessive centralization has compounded these issues, enabling both state legislators and bureaucrats to thrive in a centralized, opaque system.
Efforts to decentralize power have been half-hearted and ultimately unsuccessful; we now grapple with the cumbersome 73rd and 74th amendments, which have created over-structured, underpowered, and largely ineffective local governments. The connection between the vote and public good has increasingly weakened, transforming the vote into a commodity that voters use to maximize short-term gains. The vast political machinery originally erected to address public grievances amid poor service delivery has now acquired a life of its own, necessitating its sustenance through corruption and the abuse of power.
HOW can we reform?
Entrenched corruption in centralized governance has severely hindered the democratic functioning of our nation, a condition that can be remedied through a shift to decentralized governance. It is the only channel through which a link between vote and consequences, tax and services, and authority and accountability can be established. This approach makes the connection between a citizen’s vote and their well-being starkly apparent.
Citizens will recognize the true value of their vote—far exceeding the minor sums offered during elections. Seeing direct impacts on essential services like water, roads, healthcare, and education from elected officials will motivate voters to choose with more consideration and insight. Although transformation won’t occur overnight, empowering local governments is essential for revitalizing our democracy.
Integrating authority with accountability reduces the scope for public servants to underperform. The most effective defense against authority abuse is a vigilant citizenry, which is most feasible at the local level where issues impacting daily lives are best understood. In a true democracy, the citizen is central, not isolated by a distant Union Government. To translate the principle of subsidiarity into reality, several steps must be undertaken. Firstly, Articles 243 G and W should be amended to explicitly empower local governments, ensuring that the 11th and 12th schedules of the Constitution mirror the 7th Schedule. Additionally, healthy practices of devolution and decentralization need to be evolved, including the transfer of 50% of tax resources as untied grants, de-provincialization of employees who perform local functions, and the restructuring of village Panchayats to create larger, more viable units of self-government. This should also include rotating reservations once every two terms to enhance stability and foster leadership. Finally, instruments of accountability must be established to ensure that governments at all levels remain under scrutiny.
WHAT has FDR done so far?
Passionately believing that local governments form the schools of democracy, FDR has been consistent in its advocacy of the strengths and inherent need of local governments. The following major interventions have taken place from the organization:
Publication of discussion paper ‘Empowerment of Local Governments’, 2014
Through extensive research and advocacy, FDR published a comprehensive discussion paper studying the significant benefits as well as the pressing need for decentralization, centered around the state of Andhra Pradesh. The paper included a set of elaborate and lucid set of recommendations to enhance the existing system of local governance in the State.
Civil Society collaborations
FDR has collaborated with organizations including the Praja Foundation and Janaagraha in underscoring the crucial role of local governance in enhancing democratic effectiveness and addressing urban challenges.