Proposal for a Fundamental Re-ordering of Political Organization with Primacy Attached to Gram Sabha (Village Assembly)

This essay had been prepared by the author for a seminar on ‘decentralization and local governance’ held at IRMA. Written in a philosophical vein, it raises fundamental questions about the form and nature of political organization and suggests an alternative. Relying on the biological metaphor of ‘holocoenotic linkage’ the essay makes a special plea for gram sabha centric re-ordering of the polity which alone could ensure the fullest expression of citizens in participatory governance.