For Panchayats the Dawn Is Not Yet

For Panchayats the Dawn Is Not Yet K S Krishnaswamy MATTERS relating to Panchayat Raj have been evoking renewed interest among both political and non-political circles in recent months for several reasons. Extra-territori- ally, the break-up of USSR, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia together with the global hegemony of the US in political and economic spheres have heightened the pressure for de-centralisation of decision-making everywhere. This pressure has been particularly heavy on erstwhile ' planned economies', in which governments participated extensively in the economic sphere. India has been no exception; indeed it has been the recipient of special attention in this regard, and has been actively 'liberalising' and 'globalising' since mid-1991. A severe cut in public investment and welfare expenditures has been accompanied by decontrol and deregulation favouring the private industrial and commercial sectors. This has inevitably led to a sharpening of the demand for decentralisation of 'general government' also.