Characteristics of India’s local governance model after The Constitutional Amendments in 1992

Abstract

Local governance plays an important role in ensuring effective state management and promoting grassroots democracy. In India, since independence in 1947, the political system has shifted towards building a modern local government system. In 1992, India adopted the 73^rd and 74^th Constitutional Amendments thereby establishing a three-tier local governance model in rural and urban areas. Based on the synthesis and analysis of secondary sources, this paper analyzes some notable features of the Indian local governance model from 1992 to date. The paper asserts that the Indian local governance model has the following notable features: strong legal and institutional base; variations among states; and dependence of financial and human resources on the higher levels of government.