Estrategias para la puesta en práctica de los conocimientos

Decentralisation of Power

♦ The state act on Panchayat Raj and Gram Swaraj takes forward the national agenda for decentralised governance and provides legal status to Gram Sabha in all villages of the state.

The decision-making mechanism has also been institutionalised through the constitution of standing committees of Gram Sabha. The corresponding devolution of administrative powers that have been affected through departmental orders has theoretically strengthened the position of PRIs and the Gram Sabha in the state. In fact, the act attempts to generate an enabling environment for the communities to institutionalise self-governing systems.

♦ Effective power is at the district level with the bureaucrats. This is important to note as these institutions are becoming increasingly important for channelling government development activity.

♦ Field information showed that at all three levels elected members are in place in accordance to the provisions in the state act. Women, schedule tribe and caste groups are also represented as per the regulations. At all levels the PRIs had also appointed the officials. These reflect a realignment of power rather than shift of power.

The creation of these new democratic institutions and has not eroded the traditional rural power.

It is shifting and re-aligning to maintain its position in the emerging political order. The old power groups/individuals have legitimised their power by becoming elected members or by backing those who are willing to act as a front. The later is common in areas where the general castes dominate and seats are reserved for the minority Schedule Tribes and Castes and Other Backward Castes. The gender relations have not altered either. In a majority of cases, the husband of the women member/leader runs the show. This raises questions of accountability between elected member and the electorate.

Accountability

♦ The state government has divided the functions and functionaries between Panchayats and state sector to strengthen PRIs, especially the Gram Sabha. However, as also noted in other research

(Manor: 1995,2000; Blair: 2000), the loyalties and allegiances of the functionaries allocated to the Panchayat sector remain with the state administrative sector. This is primarily because they see these district postings as temporary and rely on their departmental line managers for career progression. This requires a critical change in attitude and orientation of bureaucrats. Perhaps the criteria for assessment of performance of officials and their monitoring system should also be reviewed to note the level of support provided to PRIs. Alternatively, the less perfect comprise model working in Karnataka could be looked at.

Not interested in good governance

♦ The elected members at all three levels of PRI, while aware of the powers devolved to them, are clearly not fully informed about their expected roles and functions. It also seems that little effort has been made to learn the procedures, processes and guidelines for local governance.

Part of this problem could be attributed to the confusion that stems from the various amendments to the state act. The other reasons are: they do not see the need to do so, as they rely on the other social and traditional network. This point is elaborated in the next chapter.

The continued dominance of the traditional power groups in the democratic institutions means that elected members, particularly the Presidents (Sarpanch) of the Panchayats very often rely on already existing social and economic network and patronage. This has two effects. One, the Panchayat leaders interact informally, without informing other members. Two, they do not see the need to engage fully with the democratic processes or provide feedback to the lower level institutions.

Development schemes and projects

♦ One of the principal functions of the PRIs is to draw up annual plans for their respective areas.

None of the Panchayats have so far undertaken any planning activity. This is explained by the fact that most development schemes are top-down and inflexible, giving the Panchayats limited scope for planning; and by the limited planning capability of the Panchayats.

♦ A large number of projects are being run by different donor agencies and line departments. All have set up separate structures for project implementation without involving the Panchayats.

This has further limited opportunities for gaining experience in project implementation.

Developing new non-farm activities

♦ It is clear that planning capability is poorly developed at all levels of the PRIs. It is also apparent that except for implementing the projects funded by the Basic Services scheme, the Janpad and Gram Panchayats have little experience in executing projects. Even at the district level the administrators and politicians work within the framework of schemes determined at national level. Any policy intervention for promoting non-farm/economic activities working through PRIs must be preceded by capacity building among legitimate elected members.

There are no major developmental activities taking place under the various schemes through the PRIs. The village level institutions are more familiar with the soft components of development.

There is no experience or capability among PRIs to promote new economic activities. These

institutions could increase the uptake on health, education, local infrastructural and environmental programmes, by making it possible to adapt programmes to local conditions and preferences. These are fundamental to promoting non-farm activities.