Book Review: M. V. Nadkarni,N. Sivanna and Lavanya Suresh,Decentralised Democracy in India: Gandhi’s Vision and Reality

The first part of this book is an attempt to bring back the neglected debate on the Gandhian idea of a democratic decentralizing process in the context of a state, market and civil society paradigm, and the second presents the historical narration of the functioning of local bodies in India. In the first three chapters, the authors highlight the Gandhian notion of democratic decentralization while contesting two frameworks: the ‘principle of subsidiarity’ and the ‘principal-agent theory’. The first one refers to devolution of functions from citizens to community and community to local governance. The second one is a top-down approach, emphasizing the centralized authority with an ‘agency’ at the local level to carry forward the agenda of the centralized political system. From the authors’ perspective, these frameworks are relevant in the context of the hierarchy of institutions, whether they are operating from bottom-up or top-down.

However, in the Gandhian framework, Gram Swaraj is not the lowest tier of governance. In the view of the authors, Gandhi was not interested in a pyramid type of hierarchical governance system. Gandhi saw the entire governance system as a web with multiple centres harmonized in widening or ‘oceanic’ circles, operating on the principle of equality and mutual respect (pp. 3–4).

The authors claim that the Gandhian notion of decentralization is, essentially, ‘power from the people’ rather than ‘power to people’. For Gandhi, Gram Swaraj is the embodiment of freedom both at individual and collective level. Apart from focusing on the Gandhian idea of Panchayati Raj institutions, the authors also bring out the political thought of Gandhi, such as his critique of Western democracy, swadeshi, ahimsa, sarvodaya, satyagraha, swaraj and the state.

From the fourth chapter onwards, the discussion is on the historical account of decentralized democracy in India. The narration of the historical process reveals that there are at least four phases in the origin, growth and development of Panchayati Raj institutions. The first phase was right from the indigenous origin of panchayats in the ancient period, passing through medieval and up to arrival of the British colonial rulers. The second phase was the British colonial period, in which village-level institutions were used as instruments for revenue collection. The third phase was about mobilizing the people for the Gram Swaraj, as part of the national movement led by Indian National Congress and Gandhi, up to the constitutional amendments of the 1990s. The fourth phase consists of developments after the entrenching of local self-government in the Constitution.

There is an elaborate discussion of the provisions of 73rd amendment and subsequent changes at the national level. These changes include (a) conflicting and compromising relations of the newly emerging local representatives versus the traditional elite, MLAs and MPs on the one hand and bureaucrats on the other; (b) a deepening process of democracy through increased numerical strength of the elected public representatives and participation of the people in the decision-making exercise; (c) increase in the developmental allocations from various sources to realize the 29 subjects, which are devolved to local bodies; (d) promotion of the inclusive governance by accommodating the marginalized groups and initiatives for poverty reduction; and (e) the need to address the issue of natural resources and environmental protection by panchayats as it has become the concern of the local community.

Chapters 8 and 9 deal with the historical process through the various ruling monarchial dynasties, colonial period and evolution of Panchayati Raj rules and regulations in Karnataka after Independence. The chapters also describe the best practices in the functioning of local bodies through introduction of Karnataka State Panchayat Acts since the 1980s, for example, district level government and conformation of the new amendments in 1993. The field-based inputs from Karnataka have been providing substantial evidence about the emerging practices in terms of devolution of functions, funds and functionaries. Chapter 10 deals with decentralized democracy in urban areas. Apart from providing a comprehensive picture about the 74th Constitution Amendment Act, it also highlights the kind of services which are being provided in the urban areas.

The book concludes in Chapter 11, with the argument that the 73rd and 74th amendments have been immensely important for providing space for the historically marginalized social groups, and women, in the public sphere, with constitutionally mandated positions, such as sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat, and president of the block panchayat and Zilla Parishad. The book presents evidence that there has been an increase in the investment for rural and urban areas through local government institutions. However, that does not mean the full-fledged realization of the Gandhian notion of Gram Swaraj. There is a partial attempt to achieve the objective of Gram Swaraj, but there is lot to do in the future. But, as the authors note in the concluding chapter, the makers of the Constitution did not accept the Gandhian notions, and situated local self-government within the framework of a British-style parliamentary democracy.

Overall, the first part of the book—Gandhi’s vision of democratic decentralization—is an interesting one for the readers as it provides new insights. But the second part of the book is nothing but a duplication of the existing literature; however, it is a useful book for those unfamiliar with the topic and for scholars to use as a reference text.