It is a disappointing budget. I am not saying this from the corporate sector’s point of view that nothing much has been provided to stimulate reforms but saying this from local governance point of view. This is a democracy and to make the democracy truly participatory and result oriented, people at grass roots level need to be empowered economically. While one understands the finance minister’s concerns to improve and keep the macro fundamentals strong, one does not really understand as to how it can be done without addressing and strengthening the micro foundations of our Democracy. The micro foundations are the effective local governance institutions which are the back born of our democracy. If the local governance institutions are empowered through increased budgetary allocations, they can plan and implement their economic activities according to the needs of the people at grass roots. Further, certain fundamental economic activities like agriculture are closely and positively linked with the effective functioning of local bodies in rural areas. That is precisely why the Panchayati Raj Act, 1992 included development of agriculture as one of the functions of Panchayat Samities. It is a well known fact now that many Panchayats in India are starved of funds and functionaries to carry out their constitutionally mandated functions. To make the matter worse, the present budget does not provide anything at all to strengthen the functions of Panchayati Raj Institutions by way of increased funding. Viewed from this angle, I find the union budget 2012-13 as yet another attempt to strengthen the ruling government’s intention to centralise the country both politically and fiscally instead of decentralising it.
