Decentralisation and Local Governments: The Indian Experience

The idea of devolving power to local governments was part of the larger political debate during the Indian national movement. It had strong advocates like Mahatma Gandhi who felt that the panchayats had to be the basis of government in independent India. This volume maps the trajectory that decentralisation of government has taken in the decades following Independence and discusses the constitutional changes and policy decisions that make governance more accountable to and accessible for the common man. It presents a set of twenty-five readings that analyse the impact of the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, which gave autonomy to the institutions of both rural and urban governance.