Grassroots Democracy and Local Governance Issues: Perspective from Rural India

Abstract

Objective: This paper aims to focus on grassroots democracy in India and also to find out the role local self-government for the development of rural India and its challenges to govern.   Methods: The methodological path taken by using the secondary based data to find out the local government system and governance in India. The method approach was qualitative descriptive research.   Results and conclusion: The Panchayati Raj system of local self-government was introduced by the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution of India which influenced the village life extensively as one of the most important units of democratic decentralization. Seventy-third Constitutional Amendment Act, ‘Empowering People for Prosperity´, brings out a significant change in the attitude, behavior and performance of the rustic folk in India. There are more than 250,000 local government bodies across India with nearly 3.1 million elected representatives. This paper reveals forward states provide good governance through the local government in the core areas of development with execution of plans in rural India and on the other hand, backward states are lack in governance due to nature the corruption laden politics exist in those states.   Implication of the research:  This study sums up with the significance of grassroots democracy and its role in the development of rural India and at the same time to highlights the hurdle in the governance ecosystem of local governments in rural India.   Originality/value: The value of this study lies in its focus on a relatively aspect of grassroots governance system in India. It addresses a significant gap in the current literature, providing fresh insights into governance system in rural India and the strengthen the grassroots democracy.