Opinion: Decentralise democracy

To counter repoliticisation of decentralised bodies, citizen’s participation in decision-making should be promoted

By A Rajeshbabu

Hyderabad: Democracy becomes an impossible thing until power is shared by all, but let not democracy degenerate into mobocracy – MK Gandhi

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Mahatma Gandhi advocated decentralisation to help people be in proximity to governance. In 1992, the central government brought the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments to strengthen local self-governments in rural and urban areas by decentralising democracy at the grassroots levels. Local governments play an indispensable role in putting the welfare and development plans of State and central governments into action. Giving local governments more authority results in real decentralisation of power.

Going Grassroots

Local governments are a crucial step towards democratisation because they provide people with the power to choose policies and initiatives they wish to implement. Decentralisation is aimed at bringing people-friendly governance, improving the public sector’s delivery services and enhancing the standard of living. It increases people’s participation in decision-making at the grassroots level, benefiting them with the welfare schemes by bringing awareness among them and increasing transparency and accountability. Gram Sabhas assist in bringing collective solutions against the challenges involved while implementing schemes and policies.

However, decentralisation is challenged by repoliticisation at the local level. The government at the Centre has been propagating the fancy term ‘Double engine growth,’ ie, if the same political party at the Centre is brought to power in the State, then the government at the State could reap the benefits of the same party at the Centre and the State.

Similarly, the same is being practised at local bodies. During local body elections, the campaign is navigated and all efforts are made to bring the same political party at the State level to power in the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI). This campaign sometimes involves not only patronising the voters but also threatening them to the extent that they will be removed from their entitled government schemes.

Toothless Tiger

The repoliticisation of decentralisation makes the elected leader from an opposition party at the panchayat level a toothless tiger. It happens often at the gram panchayats that the elected leader from an opposition party does not have any power (de facto) to carry out welfare activities. The power at the panchayat level lies with the representative (unelected) of the political party of the incumbent State government. This representative is respected and feared not only by the people but also by the local bureaucracy. Sometimes, the elected leader from an opposition party is pressured to change the political party to carry out his/her duties as the Sarpanch without any hassles.

The repoliticisation of decentralisation has gone to the extreme of excluding people from their entitled welfare schemes by the party’s representatives. The households inclined towards another political party are denied the welfare schemes offered by the State and central governments. The denial of welfare schemes hit the livelihoods of the people making them helpless. For example, Field Assistants (belonging to the political party in power at the States) of MGNREGS deliberately either don’t register new job cards or register the job cards of the households from other political parties very late denying them the livelihood opportunities.

The incumbent government of Andhra Pradesh has brought a path-breaking ‘Village Volunteer System’ to take the welfare schemes to the doorstep of the people. A volunteer is appointed for every 50 households to implement the State government’s door-to-door governance. Ideally, this is a very good initiative. These volunteers were picked by the party’s representative of the State government in 2019 irrespective of whether the representative has any elected or selected position. There is no surprise that these volunteers belong to the same political party as the State government. The volunteers played a prominent role during the local body elections in 2021 in Andhra Pradesh.

However, instead of making governance people-friendly, these volunteers are made to focus on politicising the system. The volunteer system can bring a revolution in the State if utilised properly. Unfortunately, with the ultimate purpose of only politicising governance, it is defeating the very purpose of decentralised governance. It may also happen that if the government changes in the next election, then automatically the volunteers will be replaced with their representatives.

Strengthening System

Decentralised bodies like PRIs are often affected by repoliticisation owing to power dynamics and vested interests of the regional political parties. To counter repoliticisation of decentralised bodies, citizen’s participation in the decision-making process should be promoted in an inclusive, responsible and transparent manner.
The legal framework of PRIs should be strengthened making the PRIs accountable to the people. Capacities should be built (creating awareness on legal aspects like RTI) to enable people to take informed and independent decisions without depending upon the local politicians. A cohesive environment should be created so that the voice of the representatives of every political party is heard and considered during Gram Sabhas for decentralising democracy, both in letter and spirit.