{"id":1571,"date":"2020-04-24T11:58:56","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T11:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/?p=1571"},"modified":"2020-04-27T13:29:54","modified_gmt":"2020-04-27T13:29:54","slug":"how-democratic-is-indias-grass-root-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/2020\/04\/24\/how-democratic-is-indias-grass-root-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"How Democratic is India\u2019s Grass-root Democracy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

By Gauri Pande<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Picture credits: Geetika Mishra<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

India, home to 1.3 billion people is also the world\u2019s most populous Democracy. Enshrined in\nits Preamble, democracy and equality serve as the foundations of the Indian Constitution, and\ntheir reflection is exhibited in the decentralised structure of the Indian Government. On 24th\nApril 1972, Panchayati Raj Institutions were enacted as active self-governing bodies, all\nacross India. Owing to the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution, PRIs in India were\nrecognized as pivotal to the progress of villages thereby aiding to the vision of a\ncomprehensively developed nation. Panchayati Raj nevertheless, is not peculiar to a post-\nindependent India. Traces of local democratic institutions can be found in the epics like\nRamayana and Mahabharata where a retiring King would choose his successor with the help\nof his assembly, keeping in mind the needs and considerations of his subjects. In \u2018Kautilya\u2019s\nArthashastra\u2019, several mentions have been made regarding the then semi-autonomous\ngovernments, where a headman of the Village Panchayat would preside over the judicial and\nlegislative functions of that village. Sir Charles Metcalfe had named Indian Village\nCommunities \u2018Little Republics<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Picture credits: Geetika Mishra<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Article 40 of the Indian Constitution requires the states to organise Village Panchayats and to\nconfer on them powers and authorities which may be necessary for them to act as units of\nself-government. The idea envisaged behind the provisions of the establishment of PRIs is\nthat the core spirit of Democracy lies in the values of self-governance and equitable\nparticipation of all citizens. Since there are no provisions prescribed concerning specific\npowers which shall be provided to such institutions, panchayat laws vary from one state to\nanother. In the judgement, State of U.P. V Pradhan Sangh Kshettra Samiti<\/em>, the Hon\u2019ble Court\n\nheld that Article 40 of the I.C. which discusses Village Panchayats must have four grounds to\nanalyze its competence:-<\/br>\n1. Village Panchayats need to be Self-Governing,<\/br>\n2. They must include either direct or Elective Participation of those it governs,<\/br>\n3. The people must have an effective say in the conduct of affairs of their respective\nPanchayats,<\/br>\n4. It shall not just provide a mere sense of satisfaction but also experience in governance\nof one's affairs.<\/br><\/br>\nIt is to be assumed that as long as the above four criteria are functional, a village panchayat is\npotent to manage the affairs of that village.\nHowever, anybody who understands the doctrine of Democracy can deduce that a nation\u2019s\ngovernment can only be as good as its people. Bertrand Russell said, \u201cDemocracy is where\nfools have a right to Vote and Dictatorship is where fools have a right to rule<\/em>\u201d, headlining the\nimplicit fallacy which exists in almost each and every democratic structure – Universal Adult\nSuffrage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Picture credits: wikimedia.org<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ordinarily known as the Right to Vote, adult suffrage allows the public to choose their\nrepresentatives through elections. Article 325 and 326 of the I.C. ensure that Right to Vote\nisn\u2019t just a Statutory Right but also holds a Constitutional validity, making it paramount in\nour democracy. Socrates, who was the most compelling critic of Democratic Institutions,\nbelieved that giving a man the right to vote without educating them enough to make an\ninformed decision is as dangerous as letting a group of people sail a ship directly into a storm.\nIn a country like India where Elections are a lot less about the morals of development and a\nlot more about affluence and corruption, Democracy becomes a tool of the annihilation of the\nvery ideals it stands for. Panchayati Raj Elections are not estranged to that concept. Indian\nVillages, where a majority of the population is still illiterate, the theory of Conformity Bias\nbecomes the strongest apparatus for cajolery. Commonly known as herd mentality,\nconformity bias is the tendency of behaving like those around you rather than using your own\nrational judgement. Unlike the educated community which has a choice of making an\ninformed decision, the na\u00efvet\u00e9 of village demos openly subjects them to exploitation as\nvoters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Picture credits: Geetika Mishra<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Another deterrent to egalitarianism in PRIs is our nation\u2019s ingrained patriarchy. While it is\nnot just India where dreams of most female political aspirants are quelled under male\nchauvinism, the harrowing state of India\u2019s grass-root democracy adds another facet to that\nbias. Despite the incessant attempts made by the Government to involve active participation\nof women in Politics such as Constitution\u2019s 73rd Amendment, Article 15(3) which is a\nprovision of permissive nature granting states authority to make laws benefiting women and\nchildren, Article 243(D)cl.(2)(3)(4) which reserves 1\/3rd to 50% seats for women in PRIs, the\nencapsulated patriarchy dictates all apprehensions of parity. Reservation for women is not the\nsame as active participation of women and it has tragically introduced the concept of \u201cProxy\nWomen\u201d in PRIs. The term Proxy Women speaks of a pattern where elected female\nrepresentatives are supposed to do the bidding of male members rather than taking their own\ndecisions. The males of influential families in most villages wheedle the females in their\nfamilies to contest Elections and once they win, their roles and responsibilities are consumed\nby men. Studies of Gram Panchayats in various districts reiterated that in furtherance to\ninterlineated patriarchy, lack of education and unawareness of laws safeguarding the political\ninterests of women are the leading reasons for mediocre involvement of women in Politics.\nThose who try to break forth such conventions often end in a rout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The above expositions demonstrate that no matter however many provisions are created by\nthe legislature to ameliorate the status of villages, the issues encompassing such democratic\ninstitutions are too stringent to be metamorphosed unless people are acquainted with their\n\nrights. Capitalising on the gullibility of voters is an implied arrangement in Indian Politics\nand the only way to reverse it is to ensure grass-root educational development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gauri Pande has finished her Bachelors and Masters degree in Philosophy from\nDelhi University and after working with a Think Tank \u2013 CPRG, is now getting a Law Degree\nfrom Law Faculty, Delhi University<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The heart of any Democracy lies within the people, and the heart of India lies in her villages. But how effective is democracy at the grass-root? Find out more in this article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"quote","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[925,930,939,967,966,957,958,944,936,763,962,520,431,924,64,933,954,920,964,950,922,946,971,952,972,948,923,961,157,808,942,937,941,945,935,940,947,926,951,965,108,932,921,927,931,969,934,963,968,973,955,970,928,938,943,960,949,959,956,929,953,107],"class_list":["post-1571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-quote","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polity","tag-24th-april-1972","tag-73rd-amendment","tag-arthashastra","tag-article-153","tag-article-243dcl-234","tag-article-325","tag-article-326","tag-article-40","tag-assembly","tag-citizens","tag-conformity-bias","tag-constitution","tag-corruption","tag-decentralised","tag-democracy","tag-developed-nation","tag-dictatorship","tag-doctrine-of-democracy","tag-egalitarianism","tag-elective-participation","tag-equality","tag-equitable-participation","tag-female-representatives","tag-governance","tag-gram-panchayats","tag-honble-court","tag-i-c","tag-illiterate","tag-india","tag-indian-constitution","tag-judicial","tag-kautilya","tag-legislative","tag-little-republics","tag-mahabharata","tag-panchayat","tag-panchayat-laws","tag-panchayati-raj-institutions","tag-panchayats","tag-patriarchy","tag-politics","tag-post-independent-india","tag-preamble","tag-pris","tag-progress","tag-proxy-women","tag-ramayana","tag-rational","tag-reservation-for-women","tag-responsibilities","tag-right-to-vote","tag-roles","tag-self-governing-bodies","tag-semi-autonomous-governments","tag-sir-charles-metcalfe","tag-socrates","tag-state-of-u-p-v-pradhan-sangh-kshettra-samiti","tag-statutory-right","tag-universal-adult-suffrage","tag-villages","tag-vote","tag-women","post_format-post-format-quote"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1571"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1651,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571\/revisions\/1651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}