Local Governments in Rural West Bengal, India and their Coordination with Line Departments
In India, the 73rd constitutional amendment of 1992 decentralises agriculture, irrigation, health, education along with 23 other items to the Panchayats, the village level self-government body. It is envisaged that the three-tier Panchayat system at the District, Block and the Village level would co...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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UTS ePRESS
2011-12-01
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| Series: | Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance |
| Online Access: | https://learning-analytics.info/journals/index.php/cjlg/article/view/2411 |
| _version_ | 1818512681554935808 |
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| author | Bhaskar Chakrabarti Raghabendra Chattopadhyay Suman Nath |
| author_facet | Bhaskar Chakrabarti Raghabendra Chattopadhyay Suman Nath |
| author_sort | Bhaskar Chakrabarti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In India, the 73rd constitutional amendment of 1992 decentralises agriculture, irrigation, health, education along with 23 other items to the Panchayats, the village level self-government body. It is envisaged that the three-tier Panchayat system at the District, Block and the Village level would coordinate with different ‘line departments’ of the government for planning various schemes and their implementation. In West Bengal, a state in eastern India, where the Panchayats were revitalised before the constitutional amendment, the initial years were marked by strong coordination between the Panchayats and other departments, especially land and agriculture, making West Bengal a ‘model’ case for the Panchayats. However, where service delivery through the Panchayats has been criticised in recent years, the disjuncture between Panchayats and the line departments is a cause for alarm. In this paper, we search for the causes behind the low level of coordination between government departments and the Panchayat at each tier. We analyse the complex process of organisational coordination that characterises decentralisation, and show how decision making in local governments is nested within various levels of hierarchy. The study focuses on the formal structures of coordination and control with regard to decision-making between the Panchayats and the line departments. We show how these processes work out in practice. These involve lack of role definition, problems of accountability, and politics over access to resources and relations of power within, as well as outside, the Panchayat. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T23:50:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9474a0371ea141b9bbd7870928bb614e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1836-0394 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T23:50:16Z |
| publishDate | 2011-12-01 |
| publisher | UTS ePRESS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance |
| spelling | doaj.art-9474a0371ea141b9bbd7870928bb614e2022-12-22T01:28:47ZengUTS ePRESSCommonwealth Journal of Local Governance1836-03942011-12-018-910.5130/cjlg.v0i8/9.24111581Local Governments in Rural West Bengal, India and their Coordination with Line DepartmentsBhaskar Chakrabarti0Raghabendra Chattopadhyay1Suman Nath2Indian Institute of Management CalcuttaIndian Institute of Management CalcuttaHaldia Government College, West BengalIn India, the 73rd constitutional amendment of 1992 decentralises agriculture, irrigation, health, education along with 23 other items to the Panchayats, the village level self-government body. It is envisaged that the three-tier Panchayat system at the District, Block and the Village level would coordinate with different ‘line departments’ of the government for planning various schemes and their implementation. In West Bengal, a state in eastern India, where the Panchayats were revitalised before the constitutional amendment, the initial years were marked by strong coordination between the Panchayats and other departments, especially land and agriculture, making West Bengal a ‘model’ case for the Panchayats. However, where service delivery through the Panchayats has been criticised in recent years, the disjuncture between Panchayats and the line departments is a cause for alarm. In this paper, we search for the causes behind the low level of coordination between government departments and the Panchayat at each tier. We analyse the complex process of organisational coordination that characterises decentralisation, and show how decision making in local governments is nested within various levels of hierarchy. The study focuses on the formal structures of coordination and control with regard to decision-making between the Panchayats and the line departments. We show how these processes work out in practice. These involve lack of role definition, problems of accountability, and politics over access to resources and relations of power within, as well as outside, the Panchayat.https://learning-analytics.info/journals/index.php/cjlg/article/view/2411 |
| spellingShingle | Bhaskar Chakrabarti Raghabendra Chattopadhyay Suman Nath Local Governments in Rural West Bengal, India and their Coordination with Line Departments Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance |
| title | Local Governments in Rural West Bengal, India and their Coordination with Line Departments |
| title_full | Local Governments in Rural West Bengal, India and their Coordination with Line Departments |
| title_fullStr | Local Governments in Rural West Bengal, India and their Coordination with Line Departments |
| title_full_unstemmed | Local Governments in Rural West Bengal, India and their Coordination with Line Departments |
| title_short | Local Governments in Rural West Bengal, India and their Coordination with Line Departments |
| title_sort | local governments in rural west bengal india and their coordination with line departments |
| url | https://learning-analytics.info/journals/index.php/cjlg/article/view/2411 |
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