{"id":221194,"date":"2023-01-05T19:44:40","date_gmt":"2023-01-05T14:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=221194"},"modified":"2023-01-05T19:48:20","modified_gmt":"2023-01-05T14:18:20","slug":"the-values-of-local-self-governance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/the-values-of-local-self-governance\/","title":{"rendered":"The values of local self-governance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source<\/strong>– The post is based on the article \u201cThe values of local self-governance\u201d <\/strong>published in The Hindu <\/strong>on 5th January 2023<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Syllabus: <\/strong>GS2- Devolution of powers and finances up to local level and challenges therein<\/p>\n

Relevance<\/strong>– Issues related to panchayat and municipalities.<\/p>\n

News<\/strong>– The article explains the working of local self-governance in India. It also explains the normative basis of local self-governance.<\/p>\n

What is the normative basis of local self-governance?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Local self-governance is linked to the idea of subsidiarity<\/strong>. It is based on two broad arguments.<\/p>\n

First, it provides for efficient provision of public goods<\/strong>. Governments with smaller jurisdictions can provide services as per the preferences of their residents.<\/p>\n

Second, it promotes deeper democracy<\/strong>. Governments that are closer to the people allow citizens to engage with public affairs more easily.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s decentralisation agenda is also driven by these values. The 73rd and 74th amendments <\/strong>require States to give powers to local bodies to enable them to function as institutions of self-governmen<\/strong>t.<\/p>\n

These amendments also provide for the regular conduct of local elections<\/strong>, reservation of seats<\/strong> for backward sections. They also institute participative forums<\/strong> like gram sabhas in panchayats and ward committees in municipal corporations.<\/p>\n

What are the issues with local governments in India?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Despite the constitutional mandate, local governments operate with limited autonomy and authority<\/strong>. It may be attributed to the inherent limitations<\/strong> of the 74th amendment.<\/p>\n

There is failure on parts of State governments and courts to implement and interpret the amendment in letter and spirit<\/strong>. States have been provided with discretion regarding devolution of powers and levying of local taxes.<\/p>\n

State governments are reluctant to implement the 74th amendment<\/strong>. Cities are economic powerhouses<\/strong> and controlling urban land is important for financing State governments and political parties.<\/p>\n

How recent order of Patna High Court is pathbreaking?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

It declared some provisions of the Bihar Municipal (Amendment) Act, 2021<\/strong> as unconstitutiona<\/strong>l.<\/p>\n

The 2021 amendment had transferred the powers of appointment<\/strong> of Grade C and D employees from the of the municipality to the State government. The court held that these provisions violate the 74th Amendment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

How can the local governments and federalism\u00a0 be strengthened?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

As centralising tendencies<\/strong> are increasing in India, there\u2019s also been a renewed assertion of federalism. However, this assertion of State rights is hardly articulated as value-based normative claims<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Hence, debates on federalism<\/strong> should include larger discussions on how power should be divided and shared between governments at the Union, State, and local level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source– The post is based on the article \u201cThe values of local self-governance\u201d published in The Hindu on 5th January 2023. Syllabus: GS2- Devolution of powers and finances up to local level and challenges therein Relevance– Issues related to panchayat and municipalities. News– The article explains the working of local self-governance in India. It also… Continue reading The values of local self-governance<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":8,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1698470712},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}