Revisiting Decentralised Governance of Natural Resources in India: Conceptual Binaries and Restrictive Policy Design

Abstract

In India, in the post-1990s, fresh and renewed attention has been given to promoting participatory decentralised governance of natural resources (DGNR). The current paper reviews research on the DGNR in India. The paper observes that DGNR has failed in implementing its several objectives, such as ensuring meaningful and effective local participation, incorporation of local knowledge and conservation of natural resources. The paper goes further to claim failure of DGNR in India is beyond procedural. The reasons for failure are deep-rooted in the conceptual assumption underlying policy design. The paper finds that some of the problematic conceptualisations predominantly resulted from policy designing from an objectivist strandpoint. The paper reviews the available literature on the decentralised governance in India and the state’s decentalised resource governance policies. The current paper claims that the current designing of decentralised governance of natural resources (DGNR) is restrictive in nature and limits effective participation of local community in natural resources governance. As an improvement to the current design, the paper argues for a reflexive understanding of human–nature relation to be incorporated into DGNR designing.