Local Governance: Summary | Indian Polity for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Core Principles of Local Governance

• Subsidiarity- functions shall be carried out closest to citizens at the smallest unit of governance possible and delegated upwards only when the local unit cannot perform the task.
• Citizen centricity- Citizen is the heart of a democratic system. Therefore all governance institutions, particularly local governments should be judged by the satisfaction of citizens and the direct empowerment of people.
• Democratic Decentralisation- Decentralisation is a potent tool to counter the phenomenal asymmetry in the locus of power and the imbalance in the exercise of power.
• Delineation of Functions- In a federal democracy, the roles and responsibilities of various tiers of government have to be clearly defined. In all federations, this is usually done through a constitutionally mandated scheme.
• Devolution in Real Terms- Devolution, to be real and meaningful, demands that local governments should be effectively empowered to frame regulations, take decisions and enforce their will within their legitimate sphere of action.
• Convergence- In large, complex governance structures compartmentalisation is inevitable. But as governance is brought closer to the citizens, this fragmentation should yield place to convergence based on the recognition that the citizens’ needs and concerns are indivisible. Even in an otherwise efficient and honest administration, isolated functioning of disparate government agencies and departments complicates the citizen’s life immeasurably.

Summary of Recommendations

• Principle of Subsidiarity
  (i) Article 243 G should be amended as follows: Legislature of a State shall, by law, vest a Panchayat at the appropriate level with such powers and authority as are necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-government in respect of the matters listed in the Eleventh Schedule
  (ii) Article 243 W should be similarly amended to empower urban local bodies.
• Constitution of the State Election Commission: State Election Commissioner should be appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of a collegium, comprising the Chief Minister, the Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly and the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly.
• State Finance Commission (SFC): Each State should prescribe through an Act, the qualifications of persons eligible to be appointed as Members of the State Finance Commission. They should link the devolution of funds to the level/quality of civic amenities that the citizens could expect. This could then form the basis of an impact evaluation.
• Capacity Building for Self-Governance: organisation building requirements as also the professional and skills upgrading of individuals associated with these bodies, whether elected or appointed. There should be special capacity building programmes for women members.
• Outsourcing: State Governments should encourage local bodies to outsource specific functions to public or private agencies. Outsourcing of activities should be backed by monitoring and oversight of outsourced activities
• Decentralised Planning– A District Council should be constituted in all districts with representation from rural and urban areas.
• Accountability and Transparency– Audit committees may be constituted by the State Governments at the district level to exercise oversight regarding the integrity of financial information, adequacy of internal controls, compliance with the applicable laws and ethical conduct of all persons involved in local bodies. Local body Ombudsman should be constituted for a group of districts to look into complaints of corruption and maladministration against functionaries of local bodies, both elected members and officials.
• Information and Communication Technology: should be utilised by the local governments in process simplification, enhancing transparency and accountability and providing delivery of services through single window.
• Space Technology– Space technology should be harnessed by the local bodies to create an information base and for providing services.
• Personnel Management in PRIs– Panchayats should have power to recruit personnel and to regulate their service conditions subject to such laws and standards as laid down by the State Government.
• PRIs and the State Government– The provisions in some State Acts regarding approval of the budget of a Panchayat by the higher tier or any other State authority should be abolished.
• Position of Parastatals– Parastatals should not be allowed to undermine the authority of the PRIs. There is no need for continuation of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA). Following the lead taken by Kerala, Karnataka and West Bengal, the DRDAs in other States also should be merged with the respective District Panchayats (Zila Parishad).
• Resource Generation by the Panchayats– A comprehensive exercise needs to be taken up regarding broadening and deepening of the revenue base of local governments. Innovative steps taken by the States and the PRIs to augment their resources must be rewarded by linking Central Finance Commission and State Finance Commission grants to such measures. States may reward better performing PRIs through special incentives.
• Transfer of Funds to the Panchayats– Except for the specifically tied, major Centrally Sponsored Schemes and special purpose programmes of the States, all other allocations to the Panchayati Raj Institutions should be in the form of untied funds. The allocation order should contain only a brief description of broad objectives and expected outcomes.
• PRIs and Access to Credit- For their infrastructure needs, the Panchayats should be encouraged to borrow from banks/financial institutions. The role of the State Government should remain confined only to fixing the limits of borrowing.
• Local Area Development Schemes– The flow of funds for all public development schemes in rural areas should be exclusively routed through Panchayats. Local Area Development Authorities, Regional Development Boards and other organizations having similar functions should immediately be wound up and their functions and assets transferred to the appropriate level of the Panchayat.
• Local Government in the Fifth Schedule Areas– Union and State legislations that impinge on provisions of PESA should be immediately modified so as to bring them in conformity with the Act.
• Office of the Mayor/Chairperson for cities– Chairperson/Mayor should be directly elected by popular mandate through a city-wide election. The Chairperson/Mayor will be the chief executive of the municipal body. Executive power should vest in that functionary. The elected Council should perform the functions of budget approval, oversight and framing of regulations and policies. In municipal corporations and metropolitan cities, the Mayor should appoint the Mayor’s ‘Cabinet’.
• Leveraging Land as a Resource: Municipal bodies should have a periodically updated database of its properties. IT tools like GIS should be used for this purpose. This database should be in the public domain; Land banks available with the municipalities as well as with the development authorities should be leveraged for generating resources for the municipalities. However, such resources should be used exclusively to finance infrastructure and capital expenditure and not to meet recurring costs.
• Water Supply– Urban Local Bodies should be given responsibility for water supply and distribution in their territorial jurisdiction, should meter all water connection within a time frame. Installing a hierarchy of metering systems could help in identifying pilferage. Payment of water charges should be made hassle free through use of Information Technology. As far as possible all water connections should be metered, and if necessary targeted subsidy should be provided to the poorest sections.
• Sewerage Management– Sanitation, as a matter of hygiene and public health, must be given due priority and emphasis in all urban areas. In all towns, advance action for laying down adequate infrastructure should be taken to avoid insufficiency of services.
• Solid Waste Management and Scavenging– In all towns and cities with a population above one lakh, the possibility of taking up public private partnership projects for collection and disposal of garbage may be explored. This should, however, be preceded by development of capacity of the municipal bodies to manage such contracts.
• Urban Transport Management– Urban Transport Authorities, to be called Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities in the Metropolitan Corporations, should be set up in cities with population over one million within one year, for coordinated planning and implementation of urban transport solutions with overriding priority to public transport.
• A Critical and Urgent Area of Reform – Real Estate– There is urgent need to bring in legislation to regulate the Real Estate sector
• Re-Forming Mega Cities– Public-Private Partnership projects for redevelopment of inner city areas need to be encouraged through a transparent and well structured regulatory regime of incentives and penalties.
• Developing 25-30 World Class Mega Cities in India– Government should prepare an action plan to redevelop about 25-30 cities (having a population of more than a million) to achieve international level amenities and services as modern megacities of the future.
• Measures for Poverty Alleviation – Employment– After identifying the urban poor through surveys, a mission mode approach would need to be adopted for alleviating urban poverty in a time-bound and systematic manner. The urban local bodies may also have their own poverty alleviation schemes with adequate backward and forward linkages converging with the other poverty alleviation schemes. The thrust of the urban poverty alleviation schemes should be on upgradation of skills and training.
• Slums in Urban Areas and Land Use Reservation for the Poor– There has to be total redevelopment of slum areas. While redeveloping, it should be ensured that adequate provision has been made for schools, health centres, sanitation etc.

Recent Schemes by Government

Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA)

• It is a central government scheme that aims at making rural local bodies self-sustaining, financially stable and more efficient.
• It seeks to address critical gaps that hinder success of Panchayats by enhancing their capacities and effectiveness, and promote devolution of powers and responsibilities.
• Its intended objective is to train and build capacity of elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
• It will be implemented during the period from April 2018 to March 2022 with an outlay of Rs. 7255 crore.

Smart Cities Mission

• It is an innovative and new flagship initiative by the Government of India by enabling local development and harnessing technology as a means to create smart outcomes for citizens.
• It will cover 100 cities and its duration will be five years from 2015 to 2020.
• The Mission is implemented by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD).
• SCM will be operated as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) where in the central Government proposes to provide financial support up to Rs. 100 crore per city per year.

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)

• Five hundred cities have been selected under AMRUT
• The Mission will focus on the following Thrust Areas:
  (i) Water Supply.
  (ii) Sewerage and septage management.
  (iii) Storm Water Drainage to reduce flooding of Non-motorized Urban Transport.
  (iv) Green space/parks.

Deen Dayal Antyodaya- National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY- NULM)

• To reduce poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor households by enabling them to access gainful self employment and skilled wage employment opportunities,
• To provide the shelter equipped with essential services to the urban homeless in a phased manner.
• To address the livelihood concern of the urban street vendors by facilitating with suitable space, institutional credit, and social security and skills to the urban street vendor for accessing emerging market opportunities.

Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016

• It seeks to protect home-buyers as well as help boost investments in the real estate industry.
• Its objective is to make known the status of building approval, to enable customers to make accurate decisions.
• The Act aims to take steps to promote affordable housing for everyone.
• RERA requires any project that has 8 dwelling units or is at least 500 sq m in the area to be registered with the regulatory authority.
• On registering with the authority for every project, the builder gets a login and password using which he goes on to fill in details of the project.
• This is meant for the end-consumer to review and evaluate.
• Registration details will also have to include clearances obtained, such as highway- and environment-clearances.
• An important benefit is that the builder is eligible to receive only 10% of the money as advance before the agreement with the consumer is inked.
• Further, 70% of payment has to be put into the designated account for the
• project (like an escrow).

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) Programme (PMAY- Urban)

• Launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA), in Mission mode envisions provision of Housing for All by 2022, when the Nation completes 75 years of its Independence.
• Mission seeks to address the housing requirement of urban poor including slum dwellers through following programme verticals
  (i) Slum rehabilitation of Slum Dwellers with participation of private developers using land as a resource.
  (ii) Promotion of Affordable Housing for weaker section through credit linked subsidy.
  (iii) Affordable Housing in Partnership with Public & Private sectors. o Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction/enhancement.

Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM): It is a nation-wide campaign in India for the period 2014 to 2019 that aims to clean up the streets, roads and infrastructure of India’s cities, towns, urban and rural areas.

• The objectives of Swachh Bharat include eliminating open defecation through the construction of household-owned and community-owned toilets and establishing an accountable mechanism of monitoring toilet use.
• The mission has two thrusts:
  (i) Swachh Bharat Abhiyan rural – which operates under the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation
  (ii) Swachh Bharat Abhiyan urban, which operates under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.