Democratic decentralization and political empowerment of the rural people: Role of Panchayati Raj Institution in Assam
Author(s): Dadul Dewri
Abstract: Democratic decentralization refers to the devolution of the power of the government democratically means to the people at the grass root level. To establish democracy in its true spirit decentralization of power is necessary. India, being a democratic country is trying to implement the democratic decentralization through the Panchayati Raj Institutions. The father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi always favoured for a decentralized India. Following the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi the Panchayati Raj System was constituted to decentralize the power to the grass root level. However, a uniform constitutional structure of the Panchayati Raj Institutions was provided in the constitution of India through the 73rd constitution amendment in the year 1992. Assam is one of the pioneering states to introduce Panchayati Raj Institutions. Today, the Panchayati raj institutions are constituted democratically in the state. It is playing important role in implementing various developmental schemes in the rural areas of Assam. But the Panchayati Raj Institutions in Assam are also facing many challenges like influence of party politics, lack of adequate power, lack of efficiency of the elected representatives etc. Despite the Panchayati Raj Institutions must be empowered to perform as a real grass root government to establish social justice in the rural areas of the state. In this paper an analysis has been made about the role of the Panchayati Raj Institutions for the political empowerment the rural peoples of Assam.
Dadul Dewri. Democratic decentralization and political empowerment of the rural people: Role of Panchayati Raj Institution in Assam. Int J Political Sci Governance 2025;7(8):170-174. DOI: 10.33545/26646021.2025.v7.i8b.634
