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Approach

• Define grassroot governance.
• Explain the need for citizen centric administration.
• Mention the steps taken by the government in this direction along with legislative and constitutional provisions.
• Give examples or best practices in Indian context.
• Conclude by giving importance of community in nation building.

Introduction

Grassroot governance is empowerment of the people at the lowest level ‘antyodaya’ as mentioned in John Ruskin’s book ‘Unto his last’. This inspired Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of ‘Su-raj’ that is good governance. Citizens are the core of good governance and are inextricably linked to it.

Body

De-centralization and community participation are necessary for both good governance and inclusive growth. Also, as suggested by 2^nd ARC report, good governance requires ‘citizen centric governance’. Thus, there was a need to strengthen institutions of local self government.

The following reforms were introduced in 1992 to create a system of grassroot governance in the form of Panchayati Raj institutions at the rural areas and Municipalities for urban areas, as third tiers of government.

Panchayati Raj:

• 73^rd amendment introduced a uniform pattern of 3 tier panchayati raj system throughout the country which made the formulation of policies easier.
• Their prime responsibilities are to prepare plans for socio economic development of rural areas and to implement government schemes at local level.

However, even after 70 years of the existence of the republic, the Gandhian vision of ‘village republics’ as self sufficient villages remains a utopia. Following reasons can be attributed for this:

• Non cooperative attitude of bureaucracy and state governments.
• Lack of clarity of functions of gram sabha.
• Lack of adequate finances as pointed out by Economic Survey 2018.

Following suggestions can be given for their improvement:

• There is an urgent need for devolution of 3Fs- funds, functions and functionaries, to these institutions.
• Kerala Panchayati Raj Act should be made a model act for other states. Kerala government brought model code of conduct for civil servants towards panchayat institutions.
• Capacity building of panchayat representatives to enhance transparency and accountability.

Government programmes like Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, Gramodaya Hamara Sankalp, and Gram Uday Se Bharat Uday aimed at empowering the panchayats are steps in the right direction.

Urban governance

• The 74^th amendment act gave constitutional status to municipalities. However, urban governance system remains neglected and there is not much change in quality of life in urban areas. This may be due to the following reasons:
  • No uniformity in municipalities. Many parallel agencies exist with overlapping jurisdictions.
  • Office of Mayor remains ceremonial. Real power lies with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) representing state bureaucracy.

So there is a need for structural reform in metropolitan planning and governance. In the words of Isher Judge Ahluwalia, “smart cities are not possible without smart municipalities”. Chinese model of urban governance where the provincial governments enjoy a lot of autonomy and attracts huge investments is a case in point.

Conclusion

Hence, the concept of ‘grassroot governance’ in Indian context is limited in scope and is of unrealized potential. The governance system in both rural and urban areas needs an overhaul.

The goal of ‘maximum governance and minimum government’ can only be realized if the people at the grassroots are actually empowered to create people-centric solutions for their own local problems.