The Political Economy of Decentralisation in Sikkim : Strengthening Gram Panchayat Planning and Budgeting

The objective of democratic decentralization is to enable institutions at the grassroots level to take decisions in matters related to the day to day life of the people. Transparency and accountability do not happen on their own: they have to be promoted and delivered by performing institutions. In Sikkim, the focus on empowering the Panchayats (local governments) was initiated in 2002-3 with the devolution of specific functions, transfers of more grants and posting suitable personnel to the Panchayats. But attitudinal changes take long to obtain, and resistance to such changes and processes are inevitable and deep rooted. This Report opens roads of thinking for improving and accelerating the decentralization process in Sikkim with a view of better participative democracy, budget accountability and governance.