ABSTRACT
Parliament is considered to be the cornerstone of democracy. The process through which this democracy is deepened and institutionalised at the grassroots is through local governments. In India these local governments, known as Panchayati Raj Institutions, were constitutionally mandated as part of democratic decentralisation through the Seventy-Third Amendment of the Constitution in 1993. India has one of the most elaborate provisions for local governments in its Constitution, yet there is very little literature that explores the interface between these two institutions. In general it is assumed that in a federal system the interface between the highest policy making body in the country and the lowest self-governing units should be minimal but the reality is more complex. This exploratory chapter attempts to unpack and understand the complexities that drive the interface between Parliament and local governments in India both from a theoretical perspective as well as from a practical stand point.
