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Copyright of European Journal of Development Research is the property of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Since the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic, governments across the world including India, a South‐Asian country is busy 'strategizing', 'managing' 'containing' the crisis to restrict its spread. But given the vastness and diversity of the Indian territory, one pan Indian model of is not possible and the states have been working in consonance with the centre in a matter of 'cooperative federalism' and are implementing various micro models of Covid 19 governance. This paper explores the micro models of governance strategies taken by states in India namely, Kerala located in its Southern coast and Odisha in the Eastern coast which have been experiencing disasters be it health or natural calamities. Inspite of the differences in social development indicators between both the states, they have managed to keep the death rates lower in the initial phases of the outbreak in comparison to other states. This is reflected in the strategies they took in controlling the pandemic like "preparedness" "decentralisation", "community participation". However, inspite of deploying various governance models, the gradual unlocking led to the explosion of positive cases as a result of which the challenges to deal with the pandemic still looms large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertical integration, which creates strategic linkages between national and sub-national levels, is being promoted as important for climate change adaptation. Decentralisation, which transfers authority and responsibility to lower levels of organisation, serves a similar purpose and has been in place for a number of decades. Based on four case studies in semi-arid regions in Africa and India, this paper argues that vertical integration for climate change adaptation should reflect on lessons from decentralisation related to governing natural resources, particularly in the water sector. The paper focuses on participation and flexibility, two central components of climate change adaptation, and considers how decentralisation has enhanced or undermined these. The findings suggest that vertical integration for adaptation will be strengthened if a number of lessons are considered, namely (i) actively seek equitable representation from marginal and diverse local groups drawing on both formal and informal participation structures, (ii) assess and address capacity deficits that undermine flexibility and adaptive responses, especially within lower levels of government, and (iii) use hybrid modes of governance that include government, intermediaries and diverse local actors through both formal and informal institutions to improve bottom-up engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the link between decentralisation in school management and student achievement levels in secondary schools in India. It employs observational data from two school surveys conducted as part of the Young Lives project in the southern Indian states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to create a measure of decentralisation as a latent construct. The relationship between decentralisation and students' abilities in mathematics and English is measured using linear mixed effects models. Contrary to the expectations in much literature, we find a negative association between decentralisation and students' scores on Maths and English assessments, even when controlling for a variety of individual and school characteristics. The results from the analysis therefore problematises decentralisation initiatives such as school-based management to improve student achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a state-nation, where the we-feeling of the disjunct units is harmonised for the statewide political community, the Indian federal system is designed to harmonise diversity. The research objective is to establish that a certain degree of financial autonomy as self-rule and shared rule for the states and cohesion in the intergovernmental financial relationship is indispensable for achieving the goals of federalism for India, i.e., distributive justice. It shows that the argument of creating an efficient and integrated market through tax harmonisation, which restricts the states' autonomy, also impedes the social interests of its citizens. Further, amidst the global push for decentralisation by the supranational governing bodies and the rise in citizens' demand for regionalism, this research revisits federalism as a bottom-up institution to preserve the interests of citizens. To achieve its objective, the paper will present the historical events and perspectives relevant for framing the Indian federal structure in its present shape and form. It analyses the financial relationship between the Centre and the states in the post-independent India till the present time. This exploration reveals that federalism was moulded for India to attain a consensual and peaceful political arrangement and not to attain economic efficiency solely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the complexities involved in 'enabling' the provision of housing in developing countries. In conventional thinking the enabling strategy focuses on the ability of the private sector, specifically the 'markets', to deliver housing. Enabling has been promoted as consisting of, primarily, decentralisation, privatisation, deregulation and demand-driven development. The focus of the policy prescriptions is to reduce the 'damaging' involvement of the state. This paper presents evidence from slum redevelopment programmes in Mumbai, India, to demonstrate that enabling is likely to be much more complicated. Paradoxically, enabling housing provision through market mechanisms may require four levels of seeming policy contradictions - both decentralisation and centralisation; both privatisation and public investment; both deregulation and new regulations, and both demand-driven and supply-driven development. In other words, enabling is likely to require a different type of state involvement, not necessarily less state involvement. A complex and more sophisticated role of the state is necessary to provide the institutional support for well functioning property markets, as well as to capture the opportunities high value property markets provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence on urban governance has expanded but is fragmented and inadequate. It fails to articulate the complexity of urban governance in a way that would facilitate effective urban transitions. Using a conceptual-cognitive lens, this article describes a method to move away from governance solutions based on functional silos to those based on multidimensional, sustainable systems. Based on a combination of concepts from public policy, governance, public administration, and urban service management, it frames the problem of urban governance as a comprehensive conceptual-cognitive map of the domain. The study validates the framework through expert feedback and the mapping of the literature on urban governance in India between 2018 and 2020. The monad map and theme map emphasise the ontology's applicability as a methodological tool for evidence generation. The analysis reveals a need to reconfigure urban governance pathways to work towards a sustainable future. The article concludes by offering new conceptual constructs of governance pathways to enhance the policies and practices that shape such transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to examine the extent to which the capital city of Delhi has gained financial autonomy over the years. In order to better understand its progress, the paper compares the periods before and after the submission of the Third State Finance Commission Report of Delhi. The main findings suggest there have been some efforts to reduce reliance on transfers from upper tiers of government and to strengthen 'own revenues' at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). A greater diversification of tax and non-tax revenue sources is responsible for this improvement. In the second period, other tax sources such as corporation tax and electricity tax gained in importance. Non-tax revenues were also strengthened by higher collection of certain components such as conversion charges. However, own revenues have been inadequate to meet growing expenditure requirements, resulting in high revenue expenditure gaps. Further, the growth in Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP has not led to a rise in own revenues for MCD. Rather, the paper finds that higher GSDP and its tertiary sector components are associated with higher expenditures in MCD. As far as local revenues are concerned, higher GSDP is associated with higher transfers, but has no discernible impact on own revenues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decentralised governance is generally believed to facilitate pro-poor economic development. The process may however be captured by elite and become counterproductive if implemented without acknowledging the disparities in asset-ownerships and entitlements, strengthening accountability mechanisms, and building capacities at various levels. This paper evaluates delivery of various social protection programmes in two Indian states following different decentralisation mechanisms. Drawing on our empirical observations and research we argue that village panchayats need to incorporate mechanisms to enhance participation of the poor, and the women, in its institutions. This may enhance accountability and transparency in the functioning of panchayats and may make them more relevant to the deprived population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper is based on a field study, on the role of Community Participation in School Education, conducted in the two villages of Haryana State, India. The study shows that interaction between Village Education Committee, community and certain social economic condition has led to major improvement in educational performance in one village. Special focus is on the relevance of community participation and cooperative action at the ground root level. But in second village, the social conditions, local politics and lack of mobilisation etc. are different factors which have made the concept of community participation a failure. Social exclusion in form of gender discrimination and caste hierarchy remain the common hindrances in both villages in community participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Music - when created, performed and responded to - has been considered somewhat paradoxical because of its simultaneity of location between the individual and the social identities. If this analogy is extended to individual (read local/national) and social (read dominant/global), an own-language popular music intersects with its dominant/global practices rendered through music's unique characteristic, its porosity. Given that identities are at once tactically and strategically situated and continuously evolving in relation to their situated environments, this porosity generates problems of identifying the local/ity and identity of situated voices. In this paper, I examine the emergence of a local Extreme metal group Rudra who performed their own compositions at the Outdoor Theatre of the Esplanade. Using their emergence at this highly publicised public space and relying on my e-interviews with the group, their privately held material, newspaper articles and local as well as international interviews posted on the group's website, I consider Rudra's multiplicity of identities, despite the varying levels of consonance and dissonance of these identities. By situating their practice in the local, and by extension, global (Anglophone dominated) practices, I suggest a consideration of their multiplicity of identities as that emerging through a series of socio-cultural, historical and political processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, decentralisation has become the dominant paradigm for environmental governance. This paper explores the linkages between green governmentality approaches to subjectivity and Gramscian notions of hegemony to examine recent efforts in Rajasthan, India to decentralise groundwater governance through targeted formal regulations and outreach activities, such as water awareness campaigns ( Jal Abhiyaan). The latter seeks to alter the beliefs and practices of farmers by institutionalising their support for state groundwater conservation efforts, including privatisation. The paper draws on household surveys and interviews with farmers and government agents to examine the relationship between the political economic motivations for and practices of state subject-making and differential resistance to these efforts based on farmers’ multiple subject positions. Findings suggest, first, that the state is motivated through its monetary and advisory relationship with donor agencies, such as the World Bank. Through both outreach activities and coercion, it attempts to gain ‘consent’ for its proposals, which devolve state control rather than truly decentralising decision-making, to make self-conducting and willing subjects of specifically neoliberal groundwater conservation. But, second, these attempts are being resisted by some farmers through protests, informal discussions, non-participation, and the collectivisation of access to groundwater and irrigation through irrigation partnerships. Third, resistance to these efforts, or support for them, is different between farmers based on their multiple subjectivities (caste, class and ecological conditions). The paper advances both our understanding of the processes of environmental subject-making and of the devolution of environmental governance, by integrating the lessons from governmentality and Gramscian approaches to social power and subjectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Navi Mumbai, perhaps world''s largest new town, was born with a specific purpose: to decongest Mumbai (previously Bombay) and become an alternative haven for the multitudes that throng Mumbai from different parts of India. Much has been written about this new town and its gigantic task. At different stages of growth, scholars and citizens have tried to assess the success rate of this metro-scale alternative. Not a chance-erected-chance-directed city, the concept originated as an outcome of intense brainstorming by highest-level think tank of Maharashtra state, which laid down the fundamental principles of metropolitan planning in India, and put it into practice. These pioneering principles found nourishment in the socialistic/liberal leaning of the rulers of post-independence era. Three decades have passed since its inception. Meanwhile, a big event of our times, the globalisation phenomenon, has swept the world. Looking back to evaluate the achievements of the city, this paper posits that success and failure of Navi Mumbai (previously New Bombay) cannot be evaluated in isolation from the ambient regional/metropolitan principles and practices and inherent trends. The paper posits that since the globalisation phenomenon has reached the Indian shores in 1991, there has been a gradual dissolution of the fundamental socio-politico-economic values and principles associated with the post-independence era. In Maharashtra, there has been a perceptible reversal in the regional/metropolitan planning principles and industrial policies in comparison to the trend that was set in the early 1960s. For Navi Mumbai, it has meant the dissolution of its very cause of existence. Many of its stated objectives are perhaps not relevant any more. The paper postulates that both Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, in different degrees, are showing signs typical of a city with global aspirations. In a reversal of previous principles of decentralisation, a host of policies and initiatives are trying to restore Mumbai to its primate glory of the past, the ground realities notwithstanding. Contrary to the aspirations of the bygone era, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai are no longer complementary cities; they are competitors eyeing the global market. The success/failure of Navi Mumbai can be understood better in the context of this changed atmosphere, against fresh parameters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The need to enhance the relevance and quality of pre- and in-service teacher education in India has long been recognised in official commentaries. Despite the structural innovation of District Institutes of Education and Training to enhance systemic responsiveness to local contexts, training messages mediated through DIETs are largely not having the expected impact on classroom processes. Using qualitative data generated from six case study sites, this paper examines in-service training in DIETs and how they have responded to teacher development challenges. It finds that formal teacher education continues to have low ‘ecological validity’, and highlights tensions in the recruitment and technical expertise of DIET staff, and in their attitudes towards elementary teachers, that constrain engagement with local contexts. The paper then considers several aspects of elementary teachers’ local knowledge which underline the need for a review of the dominant ‘skills and knowledge’ approach to teacher development pursued by DIETs. It argues that training must shift its focus from skills to an engagement with the pressing question of teachers’ will to adopt training messages in current contexts. The paper closes with discussions of how teachers’ professional agency can be promoted, and further considerations of how teacher education can be strengthened in pursuit of quality in a context of decentralisation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of FME Transactions is the property of University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper raises two questions. (1) How does one explain the massive mandate given to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) -led Left Front on industrialization in the West Bengal assembly elections of 2006 receiving a setback from the same electorate in panchayat elections of 2008, just two years later? (2) Did the primary contradiction lie between the practice of rigid democratic centralism of the Community Party of India (Marxist) and the logic of democratic devolution of power of the panchayati raj institutions, or between agriculture and industry in a predominantly small peasant economy? It is argued that the primary contradiction lay in the pervasive political oppression of the hegemon, in the manner in which land was acquired rather than in the acquisition of agricultural lands per Se. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2003, an autonomous hill-development council was formed in the border district of Kargil, located in the strife-torn state of Jammu and Kashmir. The council signalled Indian government's continued attempt to grant political autonomy to marginalised communities living on India's frontiers. This paper discusses how Brogpas, a small ethnic community living along the disputed line-of-control, appropriate discourses of cultural distinction to stake claims in the council. By analysing Brogpa engagements with the discourses and logic of the hill-council, it discusses the emergent relationship between cultural recognition and citizenship in postcolonial India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After independence, the Union Government realised the fact that the delivery system is not functioning effectively; it also realised that without people's direct and responsible participation through panchayats, purposeful development in the desired manner is not possible. As a result, the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act was enacted in 1993 which has initiated a fundamental restructuring of governance and administrative system of the country, based on the philosophy of decentralisation of power to the people. After a decade and more of panchayat raj in India, post-73rd Amendment, there has been a matter of debate and speculation about its performance and impact. The pioneering and innovative initiatives of Madhya Pradesh Government in strengthening and institutionalising decentralised rural self-governance in the post-73rd Amendment phase generated immense interest among the observers and experts who were keen to understand the significant change in the pattern of governance at the grassroots level. This paper makes an attempt to analyse the functioning of panchayat raj in Madhya Pradesh and comprehend the implications and processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of Grain Panchayats in the delivery of health care services in Himachal Pradesh from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. It highlights the weak points in the chain linking panchayats to rural health care delivery. In an environment where the functional effectiveness of statutory village bodies seems to be low, particularly in the crucial area of primary health, new measures have to be taken up to redress the situation. The paradox of successful decentralisation involves, among other things, top-down initiatives for bottom-up implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Government of India launched the Good Urban Governance Campaign in September 2001. It is now being launched in the States and at local levels, with discussions envisaged among the local bodies, civil society, service providers and other stakeholders. The campaign proposes that good urban governance is characterized by principles of sustainability, subsidiarity of authority, equity of access to decision-making processes, efficiency in the delivery of public services, transparency and accountability of decision-making, civic engagement and citizenship, and individual security. The paper reports on the challenges facing the development of the partnerships necessary to the accomplishment of these goals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Clientelism may lead to the underprovision of services which are deemed suitable for decentralisation. Water distribution and drainage services, managed from a lower level of municipal authority, are liable to be affected by clientelism and consequent underprovision. Water quality, maintained from a higher municipal layer, is not likely to be affected by clientelism. Capture by politically influential and dominant social and religious groups is likely to take place for important services like water supply. The article suggests that awareness, measurability, importance and resource intensiveness of service are additional factors to be considered for assessing the suitability of a sector for decentralisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During its first year in power (2014–15), the government of Narendra Modi in India showed itself to be a precarious enterprise. The prime minister was beset by multiple antagonisms. He radically centralised power. This has enabled him to get some things done swiftly, but it has weakened him by choking off reliable information flows from below and by sowing discontent among his party and his supporters. An exercise in fiscal decentralisation to the state level in this federal system ran counter to his centralisation, but on close examination, it proved less than generous. His efforts to tackle two problems—bureaucratic paralysis and high-level corruption—contradicted one another. His efforts to transcend the ambiguities which ensnare every prime minister were unrealistic and triggered further discontent among party colleagues. Finally, his handling of religious polarisation became entangled in multiple antagonisms—between the expectations of Hindu nationalists (and his own legacy as a polariser) and his duty to maintain social cohesion; between political gains to be made from polarisation and political costs that attend it; between polarisers who sought to strengthen his hand and those who sought to polarise in order to undermine him. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

SUMMARY Decentralisation of powers and responsibilities from a higher to a lower level of government has been held out as an answer to a multitude of diverse political challenges. It is often assumed that as an organising principle, decentralisation reduces corruption by bringing government closer to the people. This article adds to the small literature dealing with the relationship between decentralisation and corruption by examining decentralisation of water supply from one level of sub-national government to another. It extends this literature by considering a dynamic situation and examining whether the relationship changes over time. The area of study covers the rural and semi-urban areas of two large Indian states. The study compares the level of corruption in piped water supply schemes run by centralised agencies and decentralised agencies. The study is based on experiential, not perception-based corruption measures We find that decentralisation increases corruption significantly in the immediate aftermath of decentralisation. At the same time, we observe that with time, this increase in corruption is reduced substantially, although the increase persists in the medium term. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study has assessed the progress of Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), which is implemented by pursuing decentralised delivery mechanism. Based on the macro and micro level data, Birbhum district of West Bengal in India has been chosen as the study area. The evidences suggest that the progress of the sanitation programme was hampered due to low allocation and utilisation of funds for demand generation and supply of materials. Furthermore, laxity of local government (Panchayats) and motivators in demand generation for sanitary facilities have also led to underperformance of the programme. Lack of affordability of low-cost toilets and lack of consciousness appeared to be the major constraints in the progress of the programme. Low participation in local government meetings has also been observed to have thwarted the progress of TSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While decentralisation is a much‐used term in development discourse, there is lack of clarity about how much autonomy should be granted to local agencies in programme implementation. This is particularly the case in the health sector in developing countries where decentralisation has resulted in the primary health centre (PHC) being identified as the focal point for the delivery of basic health services to rural citizens. An important element of primary healthcare reform has been the implementation of health information systems (HIS). These systems primarily account for monies spent to higher levels of administration and funding bodies rather than account for primary healthcare provision to citizens. In this article, we focus on various emergent processes of change that are occurring under the auspices of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in India to strengthen the interface between the PHC and the community. We present a case study of Gumballi PHC in Karnataka, South India. Our findings reveal ways in which these new processes can be supported by conceptualising the HIS as more than a mere reporting tool. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the introduction of urban decentralisation in Mumbai, neighbourhood level 'Wards Committees' became responsible for solid waste management in the city slums. One innovative program, the 'Slum Adoption Programme,' aimed at motivating slum residents to undertake the cleaning of their slums through community organizations, in partnership with municipal officials. The program could not fulfill its high expectations of cleaner slums and community participation as it was undermined through the manipulation of powerful local stakeholders-especially municipal councillors. Their powers had increased after decentralisation and they formed informal alliances with local leaders of undemocratic community organisations. Neither efficiency gains, nor participation by the urban poor was achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]