Why in News: Odisha’s 2025 Panchayat Samiti Accounting Procedure amendments shifted financial and administrative powers from elected Panchayat Samiti chairpersons to bureaucrats (BDOs, engineers, district officers).This has reignited the debate on democratic decentralisation vs bureaucratic centralisation.
Democratic Decentralisation vs Administrative Efficiency
- Constitutional Vision: 73rd Amendment (1992) sought to empower PRIs as “institutions of self-government.”
- Efficiency Argument: Bureaucrats can expedite bill clearance, reduce delays, and ensure technical scrutiny.
- Democratic Deficit: Excluding elected leaders weakens accountability to citizens.
- Local Innovation Loss: Excessive bureaucratic control discourages context-specific solutions by local bodies.
Autonomy of PRIs
- Financial Powers Shifted: Sanctioning authority now with BDOs and engineers, limiting chairpersons’ role.
- Violation of Devolution: Goes against the spirit of Article 40 (Directive Principle – organisation of village panchayats).
- Symbolic Weakening: Reduces elected leaders to ceremonial roles.
- Centralising Tendencies: Moves decisions upward, undermining subsidiarity.
Political Economy of Local Governance
- Partisan Calculus: State govts often weaken PRIs dominated by rival parties.
- Bureaucracy as Political Instrument: Bureaucrats may align more with ruling party than with local citizens.
- Resource Control: Curtailing opposition-led PRIs’ power over funds.
- Elections Undermined: Voter choice diluted if elected bodies lack real authority.
Bureaucratisation vs People’s Participation
- Upward Accountability: Bureaucrats answer to state govt, not local electorate.
- Reduced Citizen Trust: People see PRI institutions as powerless.
- Gender & Social Inclusion Impact: Women/SC/ST leaders (beneficiaries of reservations) lose effective powers.
- Technocratic Bias: Projects shaped by engineers/officials rather than community priorities.
Conceptual Implications
- Erosion of Subsidiarity Principle: Decisions taken at higher levels rather than closest to citizens.
- Democratic Deepening Blocked: Weakens grassroots political culture.
- Governance Paradox: Speed may improve, but legitimacy declines.
- Institutional Imbalance: Over-empowered bureaucracy vs under-empowered local democracy.
- Legacy at Stake: Undermines the larger project of decentralisation initiated since Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957).
Conclusion
The Odisha case is a microcosm of India’s governance dilemma: whether to prioritise administrative speed or democratic empowerment. For PRIs to realise their constitutional vision, reforms must strengthen financial autonomy, accountability, and genuine decision-making power of elected representatives, while balancing technical oversight by bureaucracy.
UPSC Relevance
GS Paper 2 – Polity & Governance
Democratic decentralisation and the 73rd Constitutional Amendment.
Mains Practice Question
Q. “Recent amendments to Panchayat rules in Odisha highlight the tension between administrative efficiency and democratic decentralisation.” Discuss the implications of shifting financial and administrative powers from elected representatives to bureaucrats in the context of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment.