Direct Vs Indirect Election to Grama Panchayat President: Reflections and Implications

N Sivanna,Nayanatara Nayak,V T Hungund,Narayan Billava

doi:10.25175/jrd/2017/v36/i2/116407

Abstract

This discussion paper is a qualitative analysis built on opinions. Though there is no one-to-one link between performance and service delivery of grama panchayats (GPs) and method of election to GP president, the paper talks about opinions, which support direct election. There is a discussion going on at the policy level in States like Karnataka whether to go in for direct election of the president of the gram panchayat or not. Although the overall preference of stakeholders and people is for direct election, the empirical data and the opinions of those with whom we interacted fail to clearly bring out the justification for direct or indirect election of GP president. The reasons are many: the differences in structure and size of the panchayats across selected States, linkages with higher level of PRIs, their financing mechanism and devolution of powers. In the absence of counterfactuals with similar panchayati raj system in States with direct election it is difficult to say which system is better than the other. Though the differences are not very significant, resource mobilisation, efficiency in delivery of services and utilisation of funds appear to be better in States with direct election. And, quick decisions, higher social auditing, higher social equity, satisfaction with election system and low incidence of no-confidence motion, dominance of caste are also the features noted in States with direct election. On the other hand, cooperation and collective decision, weightage to the institution rather than the individual, competition among members for getting benefits to their wards are some of the merits of indirect election. After weighing the merits of both the systems, direct election clearly stands out as a preferred system.

Highlights

This discussion paper is a qualitative analysis built on opinions
While several forces have been at work since time immemorial against the poor and the disadvantaged, a participatory development mechanism as conceived under the auspices of the constitutional amendments mentioned above is envisaged to counter such forces. It is in this context that one needs to understand the efficacy of introducing direct election of the grama panchayats (GPs) president, the leader who brings the people together under a common shade to perform and achieve what is valued at the level of social aggregation
The discussion was initiated using a checklist with open-ended questions focusing on the relevance of gram sabha, satisfaction over the existing system of election, expectations of villagers from the president, implementation of programmes in the village, extent of transparency in the activities of the gram panchayat, influence of caste in elections, money power, their participation in gram sabha, opinion on introducing direct election to GP president and functioning of the proposed system, etc., with people represented by political parties, village elders, women and youth

Summary

Introduction

This discussion paper is a qualitative analysis built on opinions. Though there is no one-to-one link between performance and service delivery of grama panchayats (GPs) and method of election to GP president, the paper talks about opinions, which support direct election. While several forces have been at work since time immemorial against the poor and the disadvantaged, a participatory development mechanism as conceived under the auspices of the constitutional amendments mentioned above is envisaged to counter such forces It is in this context that one needs to understand the efficacy of introducing direct election of the GP president, the leader who brings the people together under a common shade to perform and achieve what is valued at the level of social aggregation. When numbers are large, such proxies of choice by a smaller group said to represent the large numbers of people are adopted with obvious limitations Another major issue of public choice in a democracy is the aggregation of preferences of the people so that clear signals are derived to select a particular alternative out of several alternatives or choose a particular option in a binary framework, all based upon the preferences of the people. Governments in Karnataka, Punjab and Kerala have been talking about direct elections to GP president

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Conclusion