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We have had three decades of decentralized local governments. Next month will mark the 30th anniversary of panchayati raj, when the 73rd and 74th amendments gave Constitutional status to rural panchayats and urban municipal councils. The conventional wisdom is that panchayati raj is a great idea, the amendments were faulty and while local government has created tens of thousands of local politicians, improvements in local governance itself have been marginal.

We have had three decades of decentralized local governments. Next month will mark the 30th anniversary of panchayati raj, when the 73rd and 74th amendments gave Constitutional status to rural panchayats and urban municipal councils. The conventional wisdom is that panchayati raj is a great idea, the amendments were faulty and while local government has created tens of thousands of local politicians, improvements in local governance itself have been marginal.

The idea of decentralizing power and situating it close to citizens has appeal. Yet, whatever political theory advertises, it must pass the empirical test. The crop might be bounteous, but it must grow on Indian soil. After 30 years, can we really claim that we are better off with panchayati raj than without it? Even its most fervent proponents will argue that this barrel is half-full. Only if you scrape the bottom, I would add.

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The idea of decentralizing power and situating it close to citizens has appeal. Yet, whatever political theory advertises, it must pass the empirical test. The crop might be bounteous, but it must grow on Indian soil. After 30 years, can we really claim that we are better off with panchayati raj than without it? Even its most fervent proponents will argue that this barrel is half-full. Only if you scrape the bottom, I would add.

The argument that the amendments had flaws or its implementation was undermined by Indias political economy avoids confronting more fundamental issues. In any case, as Ambedkar said, However good a constitution may be, if those who are implementing it are not good, it will prove to be bad. However bad a constitution may be, if those implementing it are good, it will prove to be good." So we are back to the question of whether the crop of panchayati raj can grow well in the soil of Indian society. There are four broad reasons to challenge the assumption that grassroots democracy delivers.

First, as Ambedkar argued, there is an absence of fraternity at all levels of Indian society. People of an Indian village or town do not have a shared sense of civic community. There is, instead, an intense inter-group competition for resources, status, power and opportunities. Politics is primarily devoted to pursuing and managing this competition and, as a consequence, is poorly equipped to manage common resources or delivering quality public services. Can panchayati raj create the fraternity that is essential to its success? The empirical evidence suggests it does not: on the contrary, to the extent that caste and community identities are poles around which political mobilization takes place, it has perhaps created the opposite.

Second, the claim that local politics will lead to better governance must contend with the reality that Indian voters do not connect their electoral decisions with the delivery of better public services or economic development. The number of politicians who have been re-elected based on their track record of improving law-and-order, building infrastructure and raising growth is small. Populism, corruption, caste and communal mobilization are far more effective in winning elections at the state and national levels. Why should it be any different at panchayats or municipalities? After all, its the same electorates.

Third, people dont expect panchayati raj institutions to be accountable because the link between paying them direct taxes and receiving public services is weak. If you pay a part of your income to the local council to pay for schools, roads and hospitals, and if you are convinced that there is a connection between them, you are likely to hold the councillors accountable. This happens, to some extent, in urban resident welfare associations, where the payer-to-voter ratio is high. But it does not happen in panchayats and municipalities, as the direct taxpayer-to-voter ratio is very low.

Local governments can raise more revenues under various heads under their purview. But they dont. Their own revenues as a share of their total budget have been declining over the last decade. We can blame centrally sponsored schemes and non-decentralization of state finances for this, but how do you explain lack of interest in collecting property and other taxes that municipalities ought to? As Arvind Subramanian told me, The closer the government is to the people, the more unwilling it is to raise taxes." The downshot is that broadening the tax base is tantamount to narrowing the electoral base. Why would panchayati raj be more accountable for its governance responsibilities?

Finally, the lack of a republican consciousness among our citizens cannot be ignored. Democratic institutions are about role-playing: mayors, officials and magistrates are not exemplary individuals parachuted from another planet. They are ordinary citizens given constitutionally ring-fenced roles to play. It is not that we are incapable of playing these roles, but rather, nobody spends any effort educating citizens on their roles and responsibilities. Civic education is woefully short of demographic growth.

Indias raucous public sphere is filled with demands for a lot of things: one that is conspicuously missing is demand for decentralization. When was the last time there was a public agitation for more power to the panchayat"? Why, Bengaluru has not had a municipal corporation for over two years and people are going about their daily lives as usual.

Like they say about democracy, we could argue that panchayati raj is the worst form of government except for all the alternatives. I think thats a cop-out. Instead of worshipping at its altar, we should be thinking of more effective models that can improve grassroots governance in Indian conditions in the information age.

Nitin Pai is co-founder and director of The Takshashila Institution, an independent centre for research and education in public policy

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It is time to ask if the panchayati raj model really works for India | Mint - Mint