Various measures have been taken to enhance the accountability of elected representatives in the panchayats, and to make the institutions of decentralisation more responsive to the people. This was also expected to achieve more in terms of development and benefits to the people who needed them....

Karnataka’s panchayats have several groups which, in the past, did not find representation in political institutions. Now, through affirmative action, they do. In the context of representing people’s interests, representatives elected through open or reserved constituencies have not been...

Panchayats have provided the opportunity for the widest section of rural society to participate in local governance. Social conditions, however, ensure that only a section of the village people actually acquire and wield power. Political power, built through patronage, political experience, and...

Live performance of local government—including both political representatives and the bureaucracy. Conceptually there is little disagreement on the political and administrative dimensions of accountability, and their relation to the institutions of local government. Transparency and...

The "Panchayat Jamabandhi" is an innovative administrative mechanism to bring in transparency and accountability in administration at the Grama Panchayat level. Under this new mechanism, citizens are given an opportunity to access documents and files of the grama Panchayats thereby making the...

Decentralised governance has been conceived as an instrument for promoting development. It is expected to facilitate effective people’s participation, enhance degree of transparency and ensure greater accountability. This paper examines the relationship between decentralised governance and...