Local government in India

[1] Various committees were formed to study the issues and make recommendations for the implementation of local governance in India.

In 1957, a committee led by Balwant Rai Mehta studied the Community Development Projects and the National Extension Service and assessed the extent to which the movement had succeeded in utilising local initiatives and in creating institutions to ensure continuity in the process of improving economic and social conditions in rural areas.

There are various reasons for such an outcome which include political and bureaucratic resistance at the state level to share power and resources with local-level institutions, the domination of local elites over the major share of the benefits of welfare schemes, lack of capability at the local level and lack of political will.

It was decided to appoint a high-level committee under the chairmanship of Ashok Mehta to examine and suggest measures to strengthen PRIs.

The states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal passed new legislation based on this report.

The Committee was of the opinion that a total view of rural development must be taken in which PRIs must play a central role in handling people's problems.

The Gram Sabha was considered as the base of a municipality decentralised, and PRIs viewed as institutions of governance which would actually facilitate the participation of the people in the process of planning and development.

In 1989, the National Front introduced the 74th Constitutional Amendment Bill, which could not become an Act because of the dissolution of the Ninth Lok Sabha.

All these various suggestions and recommendations and means of strengthening PRIs were considered while formulating the new Constitutional Amendment Act.

The idea which produced the 73rd Amendment[12] was not a response to pressure from the grassroots, but to an increasing recognition that the institutional initiatives of the preceding decade had not delivered, that the extent of rural poverty was still much too large and thus the existing structure of government needed to be reformed.

Part-IX of Indian Constitution is related to Local Government, under which Panchayat Raj was defined, then after 74th Amendment Municipal Corporation and council were included and defined by inducing Part IX-A, and in 2011, Cooperative Societies were included in Local Government by inducing Part IX-B in the Constitution.

It also inserted Article 43B in part IV of the Constitution as "The State shall endeavor to promote Voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional Management of the Co-operative Societies" and 3.

The diagram below outlines the three tiers of government : The local governance entities are broadly classified into rural, which are further sub-divided based on the size of population in case of the urban bodies and based on the size of population and hierarchy in case of the rural bodies.

The following 3 types of democratically elected urban local governance bodies in India are called municipalities and abbreviated as the "MC".

Various processes including rules for elections, recruitment of staff, and demarcation of urban areas derive from the state municipal acts.

The functions of the municipality, including those listed in the Twelfth Schedule to the Constitution, are left to the discretion of the state government.

Local bodies have to be bestowed with adequate powers, authority and responsibility to perform the functions entrusted to them by the Act.

[19] The result was intended to create greater participation in local government by people and more effective implementation of rural development programs.

[20] Defined in the Part IX of the Indian Constitution,[21][22] these are responsible for the 29 subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule including the "economic development, and strengthening social justice.

However, giving due consideration to the federal structure of India's polity, most of the financial powers and authorities to be endowed on panchayats have been left at the discretion of concerned state legislatures.

The local self-government institutions are responsible for managing local affairs, including infrastructure development, public health, sanitation, and urban planning, minor irrigations, fisheries, social forestry, small scale industries, social welfare, electricity, sports and cultural affairs, poverty alleviation, housing etc.

These functions can include areas like education, healthcare, rural development, infrastructure, and social welfare.

This meant that local governments gained the power to manage and oversee various administrative functions within their jurisdiction.

They could hire and manage local staff, execute development projects, and ensure the efficient delivery of public services.

This involved providing them with a share of tax revenues, grants, and funds from higher levels of government.

The establishment of PRIs and ULBs provided a framework for decentralized governance and promoted democratic participation at the grassroots level.