Why democratic decentralisation has shown little progress in few states? Discuss the mechanisms for establishing good governance at local level. (200 Words)
Refer - Financial Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 5 years
KEY POINTS
· The functions assigned are unclear, funds uncertain and inadequate, and decision-making functionaries are mostly drawn from the state bureaucracy.
· Local bodies do not even have powers to determine the base and rate structure of the taxes assigned to them.
· The states have not cared to create institutions and systems mandated in the Constitution, including the appointment of the State Finance Commissions, and even when they are appointed, states have not found it obligatory to place their reports in the legislature.
The local bodies are not clear about delivering local public goods, with the prominent agenda of implementing central schemes obscuring their functions.
· One of the major shortcomings in the scheme is the absence of clearly defined revenue sources for local bodies. There is no separate list of tax bases assigned to them in the Constitution, and they have to depend on the state governments to levy the taxes that the states choose to devolve.
· Part IX was inserted into the Constitution with Article 243 (A to O) specifying matters such as the constitution of local bodies, elections and the functions to be devolved under Schedules 11, 12, and 243 (I and Y) mandating the appointment of the State Finance Commissions by the Governor every five years to balance their functions with funds.
· The major defect of the entire process is that the ownership and responsibility for local governments rests squarely with the state government .
· It is entirely left for the states to decide, what and how much powers and functions should be devolved to the third level.
· There are no easy mechanisms to ensure compliance of even the provisions prescribed in the Constitution by the states.
· The Union Finance Commission cannot directly transfer funds to local bodies; its job is only to augment the consolidated funds of the States to supplement the resources of local bodies.
Mechanisms of Good governance
· In terms of a legal framework, it is important to specify a separate list of functions and sources of revenue to local bodies to create clarity of functions and independent sources of finance.
· There should be clear mechanisms to ensure that the states comply with the Constitutional provisions, particularly in the appointment and implementation of the recommendations of the SFCs.
· The top-down process must be supplemented with the bottom-up effort. Sustainable decentralisation comes from people’s demand for decentralisation.
N.k 5 years
Review ...
Thanks
IAS Parliament 5 years
Good answer.Not required to elaborate about good governance. Keep Writing.
