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16 April 2013
‘The Times of India’ in its issue of 15
April [can you believe: it is currently the
largest circulation English newspaper in the world?], carried a
thoughtful editorial-page lead article on India’s local level elected institutions,
which have come to be known by the name Nehru gave them in the 1950s – ‘Panchayat Raj’. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Panchayati-raj-or-collector-raj/articleshow/19545157.cms
These institutions are part of an
ancient Indian heritage, which fell into disuse over time, and were destroyed
under British rule. But even after their official revival, they have sadly been
under-used, in effect given little authority, because Indian officials and
local level politicians, are loathe to share power with them. The latter much
prefer weak institutions that can be manipulated, which can neither demand
accountability, nor hold officials and politicians responsible for misuse of
funds and gross misgovernance.
But the story is not altogether dismal.
In many villages and local communities, information technology has empowered
the Panchayat institutions, despite
obstacles. Some officials have also been supportive. The Right to Information
Act (now part of what Indians call an ‘RTA movement’) has also shown many
communities that they can demand accountability. Young activists, even college
students visit distant villages to spread the word; ten years back, while in
college, our grand-daughter spent some weeks of hot summer in small villages that
had no electricity, as a volunteer with some 20 others working in one such movement.
A related development is the Indian
government’s move to shift to direct bank transfers of cash payment to those
‘Below the Poverty Line’. The concept is borrowed from Brazil’s Bolsa Famila. The aim is to do away with
subventions of food and fuel, which reach the poor only in a small percentage
of the original intended payment, thanks to ‘leaky buckets’, in the memorable
words of Arthur Okun. Rajiv Gandhi as PM once said that barely 10% of the funds
reach the poor.
This is one of the development dramas
of India, organically linked with similar processes under way in much of Asia,
as well as Africa and Latin America, part of the transition of traditional
society into a modern age.
As often, the glass is only half-full.
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