Why in news?
Maharashtra cabinet has recently approved a proposal for direct election of the village sarpanch, the head of the gram panchayat, who was earlier elected indirectly by elected representatives.
Why direct elections are proposed?
- The 73rd and 74th amendments created Panchayat at Village levels and Municipalities and Municipal Corporations in towns and large cities.
- The amendments aimed for division of powers and functions.
- It called for a 3 tier system.
- All the members of these three level are elected.
- Further, the chairperson of panchayats at the intermediate and district levels are indirectly elected from amongst the elected members.
- However the resources and the powers continue to be vested with the state governments, which are reluctant to delegate them to LSGs.
- So the proposals are made for direct elections of LSG authorities to bring into materialize the vision of the institution.
What are the problems with the office of mayor?
- Head of the municipal corporation, the mayor, functions merely as a ceremonial authority.
- Executive decisions are largely carried out by the municipal commissioner appointed by the state government.
- Short tenure of mayors in many states which is hardly enough to create lasting changes in a large metropolis.
- Sometimes, directly elected mayors run into corporations dominated by members of rival political parties creating difficulty in day to day governance.
What should be done?
- A private member bill suggested a provision for a mayor-in-council that would be nominated by the directly elected mayor.
- Such a council, with an executive role, has existed in Kolkata and has performed reasonably well.
- Direct elections for Mayor will go a long way in accomplishing the goals of democratic decentralisation.
Source: Livemint
