ABSTRACT
After independence of India from colonial rule in 1947, the Constitution advocated for a centralized federal parliamentary system; the panchayat system, an alternative form of political and economic organization, was encouraged within these limits. However, the centralizing policy framework faced challenges, beginning with the introduction of the Community Development Program (CDP) in 1952. After a series of policy framework reviews, the government of India introduced the Seventy-Third and Seventy-Fourth Amendments to the Constitution and enacted them in 1993. The passage of these amendments marked a new era in the federal democratic structure of the country and provided constitutional status to the panchayati raj institutions (PRIs). Today, decentralization is recognized as a key element in contemporary development discourse around the world. Almost all countries, both developing and developed, have adopted decentralization and strengthening local governments in their development policy agenda for improving governance.
