Rural and Urban Local Bodies
Rural local bodies were known as Panchayati Raj. Each village or group of villages in some states has a Gram Panchayat. They are directly elected by all adult population living in that ward or village. It meets once or twice or thrice a year to approve the annual budget of the gram panchayat.
A group of gram panchayats is sometimes grouped together to form a panchayat samiti or block or Mandal. They are elected by all panchayat members of the area. All the panchayat samitis or mandals form a Zilla Parishad. The Zilla Parishad chairperson is the political head of Zilla Parishad.
Local government bodies exist in urban areas also. Municipalities are set up in towns. Big cities are constituted into municipal corporations and both municipalities and municipal corporations are controlled by elected bodies consisting of people representatives. The municipal chairperson is the political head of the municipality. Such an officer in a municipal corporation is called a mayor.
This new system of local government is the largest experiment in democracy conducted in the world. 36 Lakh elected representatives in panchayats and municipalities in approximately the country. The constitutional status of local government has helped to deepen the democracy of the country. Women’s participation has also increased.
However, it also has some challenges pertaining to elections being held regularly but the gram sabha’s are not held regularly. Most state governments have not transferred significant powers to local governments, nor have adequate resources.
How is Federalism Practiced in India?
Federalism refers to a system of government, in which powers have been divided between the center and its constituent parts as the states and the provinces. It refers to the institutional arrangement to accommodate two sets of politics, one at the central level and one at the regional level.
In this article, we will cover Types of Federalism, How is Federalism practiced in India? Features of Federalism, Federalism government examples, federalism MCQs, and many more.
Table of Content
- Types of Federalism
- Features of the Federal System of India
- How does Federalism work in India?
- Decentralisation in India
- Rural and Urban Local Bodies
- Federal Features of Indian Federalism
- Unitary Features of the Indian Federalism
- FAQs on Federalism in India
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