ABSTRACT
Abstract The Police Act of 1861, a colonial relic, still continues to govern the police in India. This legislative instrument is viewed with a degree of mistrust by the public, which has resulted in a mutual alienation of the police and the public. Analogous to the police station is another local institution that has created a drastic change in local governance. The Panchayats were a result of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, whose objective was to deepen
Introduction ........................................................................................................ 222 Rationale and Statement of the Problem ......................................................... 225 Objectives of the Study ...................................................................................... 226 The Context ......................................................................................................... 227 Methodology ....................................................................................................... 229 Case Study: Two Gram Panchayats .................................................................. 230
Observations .................................................................................................. 230 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 232 Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 235
Reports and Commissions ........................................................................... 235 Books ............................................................................................................... 235 Articles ............................................................................................................ 237 Newspapers ..................................................................................................... 237 Websites .......................................................................................................... 238
the democracy through the decentralization of powers to the local bodies. While this act decentralized the power to the Panchayats, the local police stations, on the other hand, remained a closed archaic institution.
