Local Government - The Invisible Force

In May, we gave ourselves a new Parliament in Delhi, as well as a few new State Assemblies, when citizens cited issues of bijli, sadak and paani to oust incumbent MPs and MLAs. Unfortunately, they should have used their votes more intelligently.
Not because their issues were not legitimate. But because local roads and water, and—for that matter—sanitation, garbage, primary health and education, building permits, registration of births and deaths, slum development, and a host of other basic services, are the domain of LOCAL government. Not the Union or the State Government.
Unfortunately, our knowledge of local government is inversely proportional to its importance. Armed with little but a superficial understanding, we have our usual lazy Sunday afternoon commentaries on what needs to be done to improve government. Politics to the Indian citizen is a lot like cricket: a spectator sport.
Over the past decade, there have been extraordinary steps taken to make this third level of government more effective. Indeed, some believe that the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution—enacted in 1993, giving power to local self-governments—are the most sweeping changes in the structure of our public institutions since Independence.
There are several compelling public policy arguments for decentralisation. Beyond efficiency arguments, however, there is the moral argument that Gandhi used when he said “let us be a nation of 700,000 self-governing villages.” We could add “towns and cities” without taking anything away from the Mahatma’s vision.
In addition, decentral-isation could also act as the training wheels during our political infancy as a citizenry. What decentralisation does is to “localise” government, demys-tify it: roads and drains are easier to understand than defense policy and WTO negotiations. And this is true whether we live in towns or villages. So it gives us a foothold to engage with government, and begin our political education.
But there is much to be done. A decade has passed since the historic Amendments, and we are still barely at the dawn of decentralisation. There are many reasons for this, not least because it involves unraveling the many layers of existing governmental structures, and clarifying the role for local government and citizens. More changes are needed, and at a faster pace.
What follows is a Ten-Point Manifesto to accelerate the momentum towards more effective local government:
1. Remove the distinction between rural and urban local government. There are more commonalities which suggest clubbing this tier under a single LOCAL Government umbrella. Some of the benefits that could accrue:
a. Alignment in the powers of local government.
b. Streamlining of the distortion in the delivery systems of state governments, where there are more departmental arms in rural activities.
c. Creation of integrated systems for urban and rural local governments. For example, integrated rural-urban district development plans, common heads of accounts, removal of confusion that currently exists as a local unit grows and transforms from rural to urban, and goes through bureaucratic and jurisdictional schizophrenia.
d. Use of common mechanisms, like the powerful idea of a Gram Sabha which could come into urban decentra-lisation as well, giving the opportunity for every voter to participate in decision-making.
2. Ensure the implementation of the District Planning Committee (DPC) as the instrument of integrated rural-urban development.
3. Over a 5-year period, integrate all special agencies that deliver local services into local government structures, in a manner that ensures their continuing technical capacities: water supply boards, area development boards etc.
4. Maintain the sanctity of the powers being devolved: Ensure that no powers can be re-centralised without 2/3rd majority in the State Legislature, and that every Bill presented before the legislature needs to have a supporting document on implications for local governments.
5. Create clearly defined mechanisms for participatory processes, where citizen involvement in decision-making is encouraged. Examples include ward-level vision documents, incentives for sharing of revenues generated locally. Existing user-group programmes like watershed management should be integrated into the local government.
6. Establish systems to dramatically improve the quality of data. Given the enormous volume of information being generated, poor systems could be the Achilles heel of decentralisation. Intelligently designed technology can provide the scaffolding for the development of a robust decision-making environment. This should include:
a. Proper financial management systems: across the country, local governments have the capacity to generate tens of thousands of crores of rupees of their own, in addition to the funds that gets devolved to them. A modern, accrual-based system of accounting is a must.
b. Clearly defined and concurrent audit systems for real-time corrective action, rather than dated 5-year lag documents that read like yesterday’s newspapers.
c. Quarterly audited financial statements to be made available to all interested parties: elected representatives, citizens, NGOs, lending agencies etc. These quarterly meetings could be integrated with DPC reviews.
State Finance Commissions should define devolution formula based on adoption of the above changes. Funds also need to be provided for capacity-building at the local government level to absorb and manage these changes.
7. Incentivise and track the utilisation of funds and decision-making for equity: the poor, the disabled, women and children etc. Provide additional support to these groups to participate. Do away with multiple beneficiary lists for special programmes (housing, ration card etc), and integrate the creation and management of these lists into the mandate of the local government.
8. Urge the 12th Finance Commission to creatively interpret its mandate, and work with the 11th Planning Commission to give teeth to fully empowered local governments, creating mechanisms for funds and decision-making to flow to them. Keeping the balance between equity and efficiency, horizontal devolution formulae need to reward effective decentra-lisation, through a monitorable Decentralisation Index.
9. Remove discretionary development powers to MPs and MLAs, abolishing MP and MLA Local development funds. These distort the process of local decision-making.
10. And finally, have a Ministry for Local Government to champion and coordinate the above. While this may seem like another centra-lising layer, a nodal entity is required to deal with various central schemes, interact with local government cells in all affected Ministries, the Planning and Finance Commissions, and continuously unspool the twisted tape of decision-making within government.
Committing to this agenda could unleash a torrent of change at the grassroots of our democratic system, and give us all that we could wish for as a nation: sustainable growth with equity.
The writer is Campaign Coordinator of Janaagraha, a citizens’ platform for participatory democracy. He can be reached at ramesh@janaa-graha.org