Making local govt. strong

At a timely roundtable titled national budget and local government which the Autonomous Union Parishad Advocacy Group -- a select group of politicians, economists, technocrats and advocacy experts -- organised on Monday, breathed some fresh air into an otherwise stale, on-going off-going, public discourse on local government system.

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We have learned by now that elected bodies by themselves do not constitute a strong local government system per se. Nor can a pyramidal, bottom upwards structuring of it with connective layers be of any help in strengthening the system.

It is of paramount importance that quintessentially the local government institutions are autonomous and self-governing. So long as they are subjected to the meddlesome influence of MPs and bureaucrats, the realisation of their full potential will remain a far cry. It is true they will continue to be critically dependent on central government funding till such time as they are able to generate funds locally. That does not mean the purse-strings should be pulled by the central government, or worse, there would be any discrimination against the local government representatives perceived to be belonging to the opposition political parties. There we need a safeguard like autonomy to be built into the very system.

An independent local government system is indispensable for a fair, just and even-handed utilisation of increasing budgetary allocations to this vital sector of our national life. It is also a sine qua non for participatory democracy and good governance, which too we have learned the hard way after a long mental detour. It is high time we formulated laws to reduce executive control over local government institutions.