IN RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT By the time this issue reaches you, I will have relinquished the positions of Director of Common Cause and editor of this journal. I am, therefore, taking the liberty of striking a personal note in my last leader. I crave the indulgence of the readers of this journal for this departure from the established norm of devoting the lead article to an issue of topical interest. I have had the good fortune to enjoy the confidence and unstinting support of the members of... Read More

Common Cause has had an abiding interest in the theory and practice of local self government. It has been our firm conviction that given its continental dimensions and diversities our democratic polity will be able to achieve its full potential only when local communities are adequately empowered and given the means to take charge of their destinies. In the year 2007, after an exhaustive study of actualization of the framework of democratic decentralization, which had been incorporated in the... Read More

Common Cause has had an abiding interest in the theory and practice of local self government. It has been our firm conviction that given its continental dimensions and diversities our democratic polity will be able to achieve its full potential only when local communities are adequately empowered and given the means to take charge of their destinies. In the year 2007, after an exhaustive study of actualization of the framework of democratic decentralization, which had been incorporated in the... Read More

(Abstracted from the original)   Precept, Practice and Potential People’s engagement with local self-government in India has a long history, but its evolution through various regions of the country over time has taken many forms - from management of community resources like grazing lands, village commons and water, to local dispute resolution and regulating the customs and practices of the constituent population. Its most important attribute was that it was more or less auton... Read More

Inaugural session Welcome Address: Mr. Kamal Kant Jaswal, Director, Common Cause Shri Kishore Chandra Deo, Hon’ble Union Minister for Panchayati Raj and Tribal Affairs, Prof. K. C. Sivararmakrishnan, Chairman, Centre for Policy Research, Dr. George Mathew, Chairman, Institute of Social Sciences, Smt. Loretta Vas, Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, members of the Governing Council of Common Cause, eminent chairs of sessions and distinguished panelists, l... Read More

Chairperson- Dr. George Mathew, Chairman, Institute of Social Sciences (ISS) Dr. Mathew complimented Common Cause for its initiative in organizing the seminar on Local Self Government. He noted that in his inaugural address, the Minister for Panchayati Raj and Tribal Affairs had elaborated on the many positive steps taken by the Union government in implementing the mandate of the 73rd Amendment. However, there was no room for complacency in an undertaking like democratic decentralization... Read More

Dr.Roy emphasised the need for a greater debate on the issue and quoted the German Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer who had famously said that all truths pass through three stages: they are first ridiculed, then violently opposed, and finally accepted as self-evident. Dr. Roy observed that as predicated by the above truism, when the PRIs were given a new avatar, there was no dearth of skeptics. There were many who ridiculed; there were numerous misgivings and reservations. Many questions were ... Read More

Prashant Bhushan: Mr. Bhushan, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court, observed that people do not vote for individuals but to form governments. Hence, they do not vote for candidates who have no chance to win. The first problem that arises from this behaviour is that only those parties that have money and muscle power and are mostly corrupt, are perceived as serious contenders in the race for power The second problem is that even if people were able to bring to power a party of honest individuals dedic... Read More

The Constitution of India provides for a three tier system of government at the Union, state and district levels. While great emphasis is laid on the powers assigned to the Central and state governments with concurrent powers also listed where both these political entities could jointly function, with overriding powers invested in the Central Government, the third tier of our democracy, panchayats and the ULBs, have been victims of long neglect. In fact, it was only after the 73rd and 74thA... Read More

* Rajan Kashyap A democracy rides on effective governance at three levels, at the centre, in the states and by the local community. Nations such as the USA and UK derive their strength from grass root institutions, variously termed as counties, city councils or boroughs. These elected local bodies in towns and villages wield authority for taxation, development and regulation, police administration, and even adjudication in respect of local laws. After the tragic events in the USA of September... Read More