Book review: E. Venkatesu (Ed.), Democratic Decentralization in India: Experiences, Issues and Challenges

Published date01 March 2020
DOI10.1177/0019556120907514
Date01 March 2020
Subject MatterBook Reviews
146 Book Reviews
Crucial Postulations
This book is crucial on five multifaceted accounts. First, it maps out the domain
of struggle outside the political structure to bring the change inside and outside.
Second, it links global economy and local concerns. How global and local must
respond to fight both in terms of envisaging struggles against caste, gender and
capitalism. Third, rejection of the neoliberal model of social sciences comes
implicitly. This book reminds us that commitment of social scientists is not only
towards professionalisation of the subject but also towards the democratisation of
society. Fourth, it analyses the struggle in a non-party manner. Fifth, it brings in
the question of the dialectic in a good sense. It discusses problems and highlights
actions thereon by the RCS and subjects RCS to critical evaluation.
This is a quintessential book to understand democracy and contemporary Gujarat.
Dhananjay Rai
Assistant Professor
Central University of Gujarat
Sector-29, Gandhinagar, India
E-mail: djpolitcs@yahoo.com
E. Venkatesu (Ed.), Democratic Decentralization in India: Experiences,
Issues and Challenges. New Delhi: Routledge, 2016, 269 + xxiv pp., `895.
DOI: 10.1177/0019556120907514
After nearly a quarter century of decentralisation starting with the 73rd and 74th
Amendments to the Constitution, a stocktaking of what has happened since then
appears necessary. This book review assumes significance in that context. The
edited volume covers wide-ranging issues on decentralisation in diverse states of
India and a period since the enactment of 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act.
This book has a Foreword by James Manor and Preface by G. Haragopal. The
editor himself has written two chapters in this book besides introducing it. While
the introduction describes contents of this book and provides a panoramic view of
the contents, the first chapter written by E. Venkatesu elaborates the committee
system in the panchayats. The second chapter by B. P. Syam Roy deals with
‘Democratic Decentralisation in West Bengal—A Devolution Perspective’. Roy
states that ‘in fact, the West Bengal Panchayats or the municipalities, like almost
all the states in India, have not been discharging, as yet, devolution based func-
tional responsibilities even after two decades of 73rd and 74th Amendments’. The
third chapter by Jawed Alam Khan entitled ‘Issues in Devolution of Functions,
Functionaries and Funds to PRIs: A Comparative Assessment of Uttar Pradesh,
Rajasthan and Kerala’ argues that:
the status of devolution to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) across states varies sig-
nificantly. In UP, decentralisation to Panchayats is still in a very nascent stage and
Panchayats of all tiers enjoy limited or no autonomy. In Rajasthan, there is a limited
autonomy to PRIs in the transferred activities. In Kerala by contrast, the PRIs have been
given maximum autonomy with each tier functioning in a coordinated manner.

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