HSS F362: Local Governance and Participation

Lecture 5 : 27-8-2024

Mohan Kumar Bera

BITS Pilani Goa Campus
Decentralised Planning
Surce: Sundaram, 1997
 Introduction
• Decentralised planning is a kind of percolation of planning activities or process
from the Centre to the sub- state levels, i.e., district, sub-division, block and
village level.
• Since the inception of First Plan (1951-56), the importance of decentralised
planning was emphasised in order to achieve active people’s participation in the
planning process.

• In 1957, the Government appointed Balwant Rai Mehta Committee which

recommended constitution of elected statutory local bodies with its required
resources, power and authority along with a decentralised administrative
system operating under its control.

• In 1969, the Planning Commission issued some guidelines on the introduction

of district planning. Again in 1977; M.L. Dantewala working group
recommended specific guidelines for the introduction of block-level planning.

• After that Ashok Mehta Committee has also submitted its report on Panchayati
Raj in 1978.
 Introduction
• The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, finally presented its Report on
Decentralisation of Development Planning and its implementation in the states in 1983.

• In 1984, the Group on District Planning submitted its report and this was considered as
the basis of proposals on decentralised planning under the Seventh Plan.

• Accordingly, the Planning Commission of India introduced the decentralised planning in

the country for the first time during the Seventh Plan. From the very beginning, India has
adopted the system of centralised planning with little variation.

• But with the passage of time there has been radical departure in the planning process in
India from a centralised to a decentralised one where the decision making in the
planning process has been reversed from top-to-bottom type to a system of bottom-to-
top type.

• Thus the decentralised planning is a kind of planning at the grass-root level or planning
from below. Planning process in a country is having various tiers, viz., centre, state,
district, sub-division, block and village.
 Introduction
• Under decentralised planning emphasis has been given on the introduction of district
planning, sub-divisional planning and block-level planning so as to reach finally the
village level planning successfully.

• In India, Governmental activities are being performed right from the central to states
and then to local, i.e., to the districts level (Zilla Parishads), taluk level (Panchayat
Samities) and also to the village level (Gram Panchayats). But it now being observed
that this type of centralised planning process is not at all conducive to optimum
utilisation of plan resources.

• Thus in order to realise a better response, the Planning Commission of India

introduced the decentralised planning since the Seventh Plan. Although in most of the
states of India, the decentralised planning was extended to district level but in some
states like Assam, West Bengal etc. the same plan was decentralised up to sub-division
level.

• Accordingly, in order to conduct the planning activities at the sub-divisional level, the
Sub­division Planning and Development Council was formed in every sub-division of
some states with public representatives from different levels.
 Introduction
• This council prepares various developmental plans for agriculture, irrigation,
elementary education, road building, social afforestation, fishery, industrialisation,
community development etc. of different sub-divisions of various states.

• These Councils are then entrusted to submit the required estimates of developmental
works of different departments and then prepare and implement sub-divisional plan
as per the approved outlay.

• Decentralised planning is very much important in a country like India, where majority
of our population live in rural areas. These types of plans raise the involvement of the
people in implementing the plan.

• Moreover, decentralised planning is being prepared in the light of local problems and
on the basis of local resources potential. Thus under the present economic scenario,
the decentralised planning is considered as most important strategy in respect of
planning for economic development.
 Developmental Planning

• What is Development?
• Acording to the United Nations Development Program uses
development is 'to lead long and healthy lives, to be
knowledgeable, to have access to the resources needed for a
decent standard of living and to be able to participate in the life
of the community. ‘

• Achieving human development is linked to a third perspective of

development which views it as freeing people from obstacles that
affect their ability to develop their own lives and communities.
• Development, therefore, is empowerment : it is about local
people taking control of their own lives, expressing their own
demands and finding their own solutions to their problems.
 Evolution of Decentralised Planning

• India adopted economic planning with the launch of the First Five Year Plan
in 1951.

• At the beginning of this unit that our Five Year Plans have been mainly
centralized plans. But even then, from the very first plan onwards attempts
have been made by the government to introduce some degree of
decentralization into the planning process by strengthening local level
planning.

• Sometimes such attempts have been strong and visible. At other times, they
have been weak and dormant. Thus decentralized planning has evolved in
India in fits and starts over the years.

• Its evolution can be divided into five phases for a brief examination.
 Evolution of Decentralised Planning : Phase
– I: The Community Development Phase
• The period includes the First Five Year Plan (1951-56) and the Second Five Year Plan (1956-61).

• During the First Plan the Community Development (CD) programme was started with great
enthusiasm to give concrete shape to Gandhi’s ideal of a self-reliant village.

• Significantly, the programme was started on October 2, 1952 in 55 selected blocks of the
country to coincide with the birthday of the Mahatma. It was designed as a people’s
movement.

• According to the then ministry of Community Development, Government of India, “The

initiative for Community Development programme comes from the people themselves. Village
Communities not only choose the priorities according to which the problems are to be tackled,
but they also undertake the major responsibility for implementing them. The role of the
Government is to assist all these activities at every stage. Officials guide and help the villagers,
provide technical advice and organise supplies, services and finance”.

• The programme was implemented through the National Extension Service. In practice,
however, the method adopted for the purpose was “top-down” in which all the directions
came from the centre. But such directions neither reflected local needs, nor came with the
necessary financial and technical resources. Therefore, the members of the community did not
 Evolution of Decentralised Planning :
Phase -II: The Panchayati Raj Phase
• This (1960-70) phase marks the creation of the Panchayati Raj institutions
following the recommendations of the Balwantrai Mehta Committee set up to
study the working of the CD projects.

• The Committee made an historic observation relating to decentralization: “So

long as we do not discover or create a representative and democratic
institution which will supply the local interest, supervision and care necessary
to ensure that expenditure of money upon local projects conforms with needs
and wishes of the locality, invest it with adequate power and assign to it
appropriate finances we will never be able to evoke local initiative in the field of
development.”

• According to the Balwantrai Mehta Committee’s recommendations the

Panchayati Raj system was to have three tiers at the village, block and district
levels.
 Evolution of Decentralised Planning :
Phase -II: The Panchayati Raj Phase
• At the village and block levels there were to be elected democratic bodies. At
the district level there was to be an advisory body under the Chairmanship of
the District Collector. MPs, MLAs and other important persons were to be its
members. The elected bodies were to be entrusted with planning and
development activities.

• Panchayati Raj institutions were set up in many states following this report. But
at the district level this institution was not regarded as a separate level of
government. No Panchayat Samiti or Zilla Parishd at the block and district levels
developed a proper development profile of the area. Political leaders
dominated the meetings at the Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad.

• All the development decisions were taken by the State and Central authorities.
Lower level units were given guidelines for target and programme
implementation from above.
 Evolution of Decentralised Planning :
Phase -II: The Panchayati Raj Phase
• These institutions suffered a great decline by the end of
1970s.The Ashok Mehta Committee appointed in 1977 to
review the existing situation of Panchayati Raj in the country
recommended a two-tier system.
 Evolution of Decentralised Planning :
Phase -III: The Special Programmes Phase
• During the 4th (1969-74) 5-Year Plan (1974-78) some important changes were
introduced to economic planning and development in the country. Up to this
time States were getting plan funds from the Centre in the form of assistance for
specific projects proposed by the State and approved by the Centre.

• But this system of disbursement of Central assistance for the States was changed
during the 4th Plan. Now the so called Gadgil Formula came into play whereby
block allocation were given by the Centre to the States on the basis of 30% grant
and 70% loan irrespective of schemes and priorities adopted by the States.

• The States now had to build up and strengthen their planning machinery to
utilize the funds.

• Around this time it was also realized that the economic growth achieved in the
country so far through the 5-Year Plans had not benefited all groups of society
and all regions uniformly.
 Evolution of Decentralised Planning :
Phase -III: The Special Programmes Phase
• A need for the launch of special schemes to specifically benefit these areas and
groups were felt. This led to the introduction of some special programmes in
the plan like the following:
– The Pilot Intensive Rural Employment Project (PIREP)
– The Small Farmers Development Agency Programme (SFDAP)
– The Marginal Farmers and Agricultural Labourers Agencies Programme
(MFALAP)
– The Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP)
– The Tribal Areas Development Programme (TADP)
– The Hill Areas Development Programme (HADP)
– The Minimum Needs Programme (MNP)
 Evolution of Decentralised Planning :
Phase -III: The Special Programmes Phase
• The emphasis in rural development was given on “target groups” and
“target areas”.

• The Development Block was viewed as the most suitable unit for this kind of
area planning.

• Activities suitable for the area were to be planned and implemented with
close involvement of the local people.

• A Working Group on Block- Level Planning appointed by the Government

under the chairmanship of Prof. Dantwala prepared guidelines for block level
planning.

• But later on, with the change of government and adoption of a new 6th Plan
(1980-89) the emphasis of local planning changed from the Block-level to the
 Evolution of Decentralised Planning :
Phase - IV : The District Planning Phase
• The Sixth and Seventh Five Year Plans during this period (1980-90) continued
with the special programmes in old and new forms.

• Decentralized Planning at the district and local levels were intensely discussed
during this period. The government set up a Working Group on District Planning
under the Chairmanship of C.H.Hanumanth Rao in 1982.

• The Working Group recommended a unified planning process at the district

level covering all sectoral programmes. It gave a detailed prescription for
organizing planning at the district level relating to methodology, institutions and
other prerequisites.
 Evolution of Decentralised Planning :
Phase - IV : The District Planning Phase
• The G.V.K.Rao Committee appointed in 1985 to recommend administrative
arrangements for rural development also pointed out that the district plan
should not be viewed simply as a segment of the State Plan.

• It should be conceived and executed at the district level and integrated

into the State Plan.

• Both the committees provided detailed guidelines to the states to

reorganize planning below the State level. Many state governments went
for decentralized planning in their own ways while following these
guidelines generally.
 Evolution of Decentralised Planning : Phase -
V : The Panchayati Raj Revival Phase
• Decentralized Planning depends to a great deal on the devolution of functions and
powers from government at the top to the local levels. The Panchayati Raj
institutions( PRIs ) form the lower level authorities in our country.

• It has been seen, however, that even when powers and functions are given up to
these institutions, something is held back for exercise by competing agencies. Very
often the weak constitutional position of the Panchayati Raj institutions was the
reason for this neglect.

• The Government has tried to strengthen the PR institutions by turning them into
constitutional units of self-government through the 73rd Amendment to the
Constitution in 1993.

• As many as 29 subjects have been identified for the PR institutions. Many States
have already devolved considerable number of functions and powers to these
institutions with the power to mobilize resources. At present the trend all over the
country is to move fast towards decentralized planning through PR institutions.
 Dimensions of decentralised planning

• There are four major dimensions of decentralization:

– (i) Functional decentralization,
– (ii) Financial decentralization,
– (iii) Administrative decentralization, and
– (iv) Political decentralization