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Madhya Pradesh Experiments with Direct Democracy
The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to transfer nearly all the powers previously exercised by gram panchayats to gram sabhas or periodic village mass meetings. This experiment may work well or prove a disappointment - but there is no doubting its audacity and its broader significance.
Something remarkable is happening in Madhya Pradesh. The state government has decided to transfer nearly all of the powers previously exercised by gram panchayats to periodic village mass meetings or gram sabhas. It has thus gone from representative democracy at the grass roots to direct democracy.
This experiment is a leap into the unknown. It may work well, or prove disappointing – but there is no doubting its audacity and its broader significance. Only one other Indian state, Rajasthan, has adopted a similar policy. But since the panchayati raj institutions in Madhya Pradesh have for several years been stronger than those of Rajasthan, the Madhya Pradesh case needs to be taken especially seriously.
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