Though the Karnataka government has taken many legislative measures to decentralise powers to rural local bodies during the last three decades, fund allocations in gram panchayats (GPs) are most influenced by the elite, according to a research paper of the World Bank. Men and ‘upper’ caste individuals in GPs ensure that their preferences are represented better in allocation of funds, it said.
“Funding is least representative of the needs of women and Scheduled Castes and this a clear indication of an elite bias in funding allocations in elected GPs of Karnataka,” said the report.
Better in elected bodies
However, interestingly, women and people of Scheduled Caste communities see their preferences in GPs slightly better represented in elected GPs than their counterparts in administrator-led GPs, said the research paper “The added value of local democracy evidence from a natural experiment in India” (2023) authored by Abhishek Arora, Siddharth George, Vijayendra Rao, and M.R. Sharan.
The research brought together a set of administrative dataset-budgetary allocations from 6,000 villages, more than a million public works projects, local bureaucratic attendance, welfare benefits, and a primary survey of more than 11,810 households to estimate the impacts of local democracy in Karnataka.
Greater citizen participation
The study indicated that local democracy outperformed appointed administrator regimes. Elected leaders allocate funds more in line with citizen preferences and respond faster to citizens’ acute needs. This is because elected leaders reside in the villages they govern, allow greater citizen participation in decision-making, and induce more effort by local bureaucrats. “Appointed administrators, on the other hand, are often outsiders,” the study said.
The study elaborated this with the example of the surge in demand for NREGA work after the COVID-19 induced lockdown was lifted in the State. The study noted that GPs with elected leaders saw 15% more person-days under the job scheme. Researchers also found that elected members are likelier to engage with citizens on a continuous basis, holding more village meetings for taking decisions.
“We find that elected leaders hold more general body and standing committee meetings which are likely to see greater public participation and delegation of tasks, respectively,” the researchers pointed out.
Less ‘home bias’
On the other hand, administrators in GPs help to overcome “home bias” and they get familiar with village matters by engaging with citizens and local bureaucrats in participatory forums. Before elections, the government has appointed administrators in some GPs. They found that local bureaucrat attendance was higher by 10% in GPs led by elected leaders.
