UNIT 6 STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY

THROUGH GOVERNANCE*
Structure
6.0 Objectives
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Democracy: Definition and Features
6.3 Constitution of India and its Contribution to Strengthen Democracy through
Governance
6.4 Governance: Concept and Operationalisation
6.5 Strengthening Democracy through Governance: Measures
6.6 Conclusion
6.7 Glossary
6.8 References
6.9 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

6.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this Unit, you should be able to:
• Define democracy;
• Enumerate the features of Constitution of India that strengthen democracy;
• Explain the concept of governance and its operationalisation ; and
• Discuss various measures taken for strengthening democracy through governance.

6.1 INTRODUCTION
In 1947, India became nation of equals and chose to be a democratic State. It ordained
itself to have a government by popular choice by giving keen attention to the existing
melodies and pitfalls in socio-economic arena and to rectify the same through various
public policy measures. Our founding fathers decided that in such a diverse country, all
aspirations needed to be heard and reconciled. India since Independence has taken a
number of measures to ensure growth and development of the country. The efforts
taken immediately after independence in 1947 have given many positive results. The
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country has increased, industrial production
went up along with developments in health, education and other areas. The population
of India in 1947 was 340 million. Only 12 per cent of the population in India was
literate in 1947 which was around 41 million people. According to 2011 Census, India’s
population is 121 crore and the literacy level has reached 73 per cent of its population.
India’s Gross Domestic product (GDP) in 1950 was $30.6 billion and this increased to
$2.54 trillion in 2017. It is now the fifth largest economy in the world. India has accounted

* Contributed by Dr. G. Uma, Assistant Professor, School of Gender and Development Studies,
IGNOU 83
Governance and for only 3 per cent of the World’s Gross Domestic Product (WGOP) at the time of
Development Independence. India now accounts for 8.5 per cent of WGDP (source IMF) in 2017.
It has produced about 50 million tonnes of food grains in 1947. Now there is a fivefold
increase in food grains production.
At the time of Independence, the incidence of poverty in India was about 80 per cent
or about 250 million. In 2017, the number of people below the poverty line (consuming
less than 2,200 calories a day) was around 269 million. The percentage of people who
are below the poverty line has come down to 27.5 per cent in 2015-16. By looking at
the above data, one can aver that, India is progressing steadily in every field. In this
situation, it is significant for the learners to appreciate the contribution of governance
towards strengthening democracy and development. In subsequent sections, we shall
discuss about how democracy has been strengthened through governance. We shall
now first define democracy and explain its features.

6.2 DEMOCRACY: DEFINITION AND FEATURES

Democracy is a system of government under which people either directly or through
their representatives govern the country. The representatives of the people of various
institutions such as parliament, state assemblies and local self governments get elected
at periodic intervals in a democratic State. Democracy considers ‘will of the people’ as
supreme. Apart from exercising their political power, all citizens are considered as equals
and they have freedom to exercise their choice to participate in development activities
in the chosen field such as economy, politics, education etc. Also the citizens get an
equal opportunity to get access to education, become learned, and informed by giving
constructive criticism to government or their representatives. Learned citizens are an
asset to the country because they can contribute to its overall development.
In a democratic State, citizens on attaining minimum required age get an equal opportunity
to vote and contest in the elections. Regular elections, freedom of speech, participation
in the political activities and expression of opinion and rights are also significant features
of the democracy. The rights of the individual are not about exercising their power
during election, it encompasses the right to discuss, give opinion and participate in a
sustained manner. Free discussion, association and periodic elections make democracy
stronger and successful. Democracy provides an opportunity for political participation,
political equality and right to people when situation demands to choose alternative
government. In a democratic set up every individual in the society shall be allowed to
express their opinion. At the same time, everyone in the democratic space is expected
to respect each other’s opinion. It is the duty of the law-making institution to make
necessary laws for every citizen to enable them access education, required health
facilities, freedom to use common resources, ensure equality between men and women
and other genders, equal opportunity to work, freedom from exploitation and so on.
Apart from getting rights, it is important for the citizens to discharge their duties and
responsibilities. Participation in the governance process, exercising adult franchise, fulfilling
responsibilities and getting required education makes democracy stronger. The political
parties, civic organisations, pressure groups and so on provide space for individual to
be part of it where they can represent and share their concerns and opinions.
There has been initially some skepticism among political thinkers about the sustainability
of democracy in countries which are multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religious
nature. According to J.S. Mill, ‘‘democracy is next to impossible in multi-ethnic societies
and completely ‘impossible in linguistically divided countries”. Robert Dahl opined that
“the widespread poverty and illiteracy are anaethema to ‘stable democracy’” (Lijphart,
84
1996). India has challenged such contentions and is able to demonstrate that it can
survive, withstand troubles, sustain and survive. Now we shall discuss about the Strengthening
Constitution of India and its contribution in strengthening democracy. Democracy
through
Governance
6.3 CONSTITUTION OF INDIA AND ITS
CONTRIBUTION TO STRENGTHEN
DEMOCRACY THROUGH GOVERNANCE
In the previous sections, we outlined India’s developments in various fields and features
of democracy. Let us now discuss about Indian Constitution and its contribution towards
establishment of modern administrative units for the country’s governance. The
framework of governance, which we have adopted in 1947, has given fruitful results in
strengthening democracy as well as ushered in improvements in the various fields. The
long struggle to over throw colonial government has brought out the significance of
establishing good governance especially in line with the famous quote of Abraham Lincoln
‘of the people, by the people and for the people’. Gandhiji pointed to the establishment
self-governance at the village and the panch, while Ambedkar looked at the creation of
district and state-level institutions to break the power of locally dominant castes.
In India, on attaining independence, the then socio-economic changes and the rapid
developments in the world led to the adaptation of modern public administrative system.
The independent modern State adopted strategies that not only addressed administrative
challenges, but also attempted to strengthen democracy.
The framers of the Constitution have addressed the country’s geographical, socio-
economic and cultural diversities and added aspirations of every section of the population
in the Constitution. It is the fundamental legal document of a democratic country which
lays down the principles for its governance. The Indian Constitution, which came into
force on 26th January, 1950 has given a framework for governance and has assigned
clear cut roles for executive, judiciary and legislature.
The aim of the Constitution which is clearly stated in the preamble gives direction for
strengthening democracy. India on adopting the Constitution has become a sovereign,
Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic State. It has also given to all the citizens of
India, social, economic and political justice; liberty of thought and expression, belief,
faith and worship; equality of status and of opportunity and to promote among all
fraternity; assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the nation. It lays down
fundamental rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy which reflect the core
values of the Indian Constitution. Fundamental rights are justiciable rights. It protects
citizens from arbitrary prejudicial State actions. The Directive Principles of State Policy
further make the citizens realise their potential by making State to formulate appropriate
laws and policies for the socio-economic development. It attempts to ensure social
justice to the socially backward communities. Article 38 of the Directive Principles
states:
“The State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing a social order
in which social, economic and political justice shall inform all the institutions of the
national life”.
We shall discuss few laws and policies related to education, health, and employment in
the subsequent section. The Indian Constitution treats all equally irrespective of their
caste, class, gender and place of origin. The Constitution of India provides democratic
political framework with three interrelated structures namely executive, legislature and,
judiciary to protect the rights and privileges of its citizens.
85
Governance and Along with above said features, it has given direction to modernise bureaucracy and
Development adopted parliamentary form of government with quasi federal structure. Presently India
consists of 28 States and 8 Union Territories. Each State is divided into districts which
have various small administrative and development units like block, Tehsil and village.
The lowest administrative unit in the rural areas is village and in the urban area is town.
The organic divisions of country into various units are helping citizens to connect
themselves to the nearest government structure to contribute meaningfully for
strengthening democracy and the development of the country. Similarly, establishment
of various divisions at the central and state levels have contributed towards effective
administration. The integration of above said features in the Constitution gives clear
direction to the administrative structures. This has given positive results, strengthened
democracy and has created confidence among numerous ethnic, religious and linguistic
groups for their participation in the political and administrative activities to strengthen
democracy.

6.4 GOVERNANCE: CONCEPT AND

OPERATIONALISATION
We shall start this section by defining ‘Governance’. We have already discussed about
this in detail in Unit 2 of this Course. Governance refers to ‘the traditions and institutions
by which authority in a country is exercised,’ including: the processes by which
governments are selected, monitored, and replaced; the capacity of the government to
effectively formulate and implement sound policies; and the respect of citizens and the
state for the institutions that govern social and economic interactions among them
(Kaufmann, Kraay, & Zoido-Lobatón, 1999). India has taken numerous measures to
strengthen democracy through governance.
As we have seen in the previous section, the Constitution of India has contributed
towards the democratising the State. Still, India and many developing countries have
faced governance and the balance of payment crisis in 1980s. It has necessitated India
to introduce new set of economic and political reforms. The emergence of the concept
of good governance as postulated by the World Bank brought new development
discourse. The indicators for good governance include transparency, accountability,
and rule of law, administrative efficiency, and also being pro-women, pro-poor, pro-
environment. There are various factors and structures in the society that prevent women,
marginalised and other sections to participate and bring meaningful changes in democracy
and development. In this situation, it is pertinent to make citizens empowered to bring
meaningful changes at all levels in the government. The above-mentioned good
governance indicators may certainly contribute for democratising the State further.
India post-independence, has realised the need of improving the socio-economic
conditions of the country. As we have discussed in the preceding sections, it has adopted
a large number of welfare measures along with developing the economy through State
led interventions. It has also addressed social justice through various legislative measures.
The efforts taken immediately after independence through policies have given desired
results. The percentage of people under the “poverty line” has decreased from nearly
half of the population in the 1960s to a little over a quarter during the past decade. We
shall reflect upon some of the measures taken in the five-year plans to address the same
in the next section. The economic crisis in the 1989 and the introduction of neoliberal
economic policies in 1990 have posed new challenges to the administrative structures.
The growing regionalism and addressing location specific problems in various areas
have brought in developmental challenges. Environmental degradation due to rapid
86 economic development has created challenges to the administration. The country has
realised the significance of deepening of democracy by giving power to the people to Strengthening
decide and solve their issues. Democracy
through
The initiatives in the realm of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are Governance
ensuring the involvement of bringing citizens and community in the processes of
democracy and governance. We shall be discussing these in detail in Unit 8 of this
Course.
Check Your Progress 1
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answers.
ii) Check your answers with those given at the end of the Unit.
1) Explain the important features of democracy.
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2) What are Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy?
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6.5 STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY THROUGH

GOVERNANCE: MEASURES
We have seen the contribution of Constitution to strengthen democracy by its creating
appropriate administrative units, laws and governance process in the previous sections.
Now let us discuss about measures taken by the government to strengthen democracy
through governance process. The Government of India has taken a series of steps
towards strengthening of democracy and make citizens participate in the democratic
and development processes.
It started with Community Development Programme (CDP) launched in 1952 with the
aim of bringing about overall development of rural areas through people’s participation.
During the First Five Year plan itself the National Extension Service (NES) Programme
was introduced in 1953 to address the needs of marginalised, and poor in rural areas.
In the CDP, women extension workers like mukhiya sevikas and gram sevikas and
mahila samajams were organised for welfare and training activities. The erstwhile
Planning Commission in 1957, appointed a committee headed by Balwantrai Mehta to
study the CDP and NES programme to assess the extent of people’s participation and
to recommend ways to ensure this. The Committee recommended three-tier Panchayati
Raj System in the country with Zila Parishad at the district level, Panchayat Samiti at the
block/tehsil/taluka level and Gram Panchayat at the village level. Thus the three tier 87
Governance and system of panchayati raj came into existence. The Sixth Five-Year plan is watershed
Development for deepening development activities to all. It adopted multidisciplinary and multipronged
approach for all in the areas of health, education and employment. It gave special
emphasis on literacy and education of the women and marginalised. It referred to the
need for increasing enrollment of girls at the elementary level, promotion of functional
literacy and encouraging women’s education in backward areas. The Seventh Five-
year Plan too adopted multi pronged strategy. The plan assessed the success of the
Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) and concluded that the women have
not benefitted from this programme. Hence, the Eighth Five Year Plan further expanded
the development activities. The introduction of the concept Self Help Groups (SHGs)
and its formation in various parts of the country strengthened democracy. This was
introduced in the ninth plan. The SHGs have developed linkages with various institutions
and structures in the society and they were able to foster democratic participation. The
Tenth Five Year Plan set monitorable targets like reducing poverty and increasing literacy,
ensuring that all villages must have sustained access to potable drinking water within the
plan period, providing gainful and high quality employment over the tenth plan period.
The 11th Five Year Plan emphasised on inclusiveness in the policy making. Like previous
plans, it has also set monitorable targets. The 12th Five Year Plan took cognisance of
the complexities of development in the diverse countries like India and the progress that
can be achieved through government action along with the contribution of various players
in the society like non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and private sector. It gave
emphasis to inclusive growth and bringing different stakeholders together to achieve
growth and development.
The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts (CAAs) enacted in 1992 have created
permanent constitutional structures at the rural and urban areas such as panchayats and
municipalities to make people participate in the process of governance to deepen
democracy. The features of 73rd and 74th CAAs such as creation of Gram Sabha,
reservation of seats for women, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs)
at all levels and all positions, uniform five year term for rural and urban local bodies,
constitution of election commission at the state level to conduct local bodies’ elections
exclusively, power to levy taxes, collect and appropriate taxes within their jurisdictions,
constitution of State Finance Commission (SFC) to share revenues, further contributed
towards strengthening of democracy. The 74th CAA introduced a significant feature in
the Constitution. Articles 243G and 243W of 73rd and 74th CAAs make provision for
urban and rural local bodies to prepare plans for economic development and social
justice at their levels. Article 243 ZD of the 74th CAA requires the establishment of a
District Planning Committee (DPC) which will consolidate the plans prepared by the
rural and urban local bodies and draft a development plan for the district as a whole.
The features of 73rd and 74th CAAs facilitate the citizens to participate in the process of
governance to strengthen democracy. The acts provide space for deliberation for
strengthening democracy.
According to the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, it is mandatory to establish the
lowest structure namely “gram sabha” in every gram panchayat. Each state in India
notifies the orders to the panchayats to conduct meetings of the gram sabha at regular
intervals. All eligible voters can participate, deliberate and make decisions. The gram
sabha gives space for women and marginalised to bring their interests in the larger
democratic space. The decisions are taken with the participation of all in the larger
interest and it becomes collective decision. In India, after independence, the State has
concentrated more on welfare programmes and introduced a number of measures to
address the needs of the citizens, and bring them closer to administration.
88 In India, tribal communities are the most marginalised sections of the society. They have
remained comparatively isolated from the mainstream development process and maintain Strengthening
an uninterrupted long tradition of well knit, cohesive social structure and value system Democracy
through
backed by their own customs and traditions. They have also several indigenous traditional Governance
institutions to resolve their conflict and manage their resources and socio-political life
(Saxena, 2018). In 1996, to strengthen the grassroots level local bodies and provide
self government by tribals, Part XI of the Constitution that deals with panchayats has
been specially extended to the tribal areas through an Act of Parliament called Panchayats
Extension to Scheduled V Areas Act (PESA) 1996. Under this, special treatment has
been given to the social, political, cultural and economic aspects of tribal life.
The Government of India has changed its strategy after 12th Five Year Plan and
established the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) by replacing
the erst white planning commission through a resolution of the Union Cabinet on January
1, 2015. It is the premier policy ‘Think Tank’ of the Government of India that provides
the necessary policy inputs and technical advice to the central and state governments to
take the country forward. According the government, there are governance challenges
in the 21st century to address the needs of all. There have been significant developments
in technology. . By looking at the rapid changes at the various levels, the government
has decided to reform the existing administrative units to address governance issues.
Elections are an important means of ensuring citizen participation in governance. Also it
helps in making government accountable and responsive to the citizens. It establishes a
two-way relationship based on trust and accountability between those who govern and
who are governed. As we have already mentioned in this unit, India has parliamentary
form of democracy with regular elections at parliament and state assemblies. The elections
are conducted based on Constitutional provisions supplemented by laws made in the
parliament. The major laws related to elections are Representation of People’s Act,
1950 and 1951 (Gill, 2009). The elections for lok sabha and state assemblies have to
be conducted once in five years. The elections are based on universal adult franchise
with citizens having attained the age of 18 being eligible to vote. The process of elections
is carried out by the Election Commission of India. Regular elections based on universal
adult suffrage have helped the citizens of India to exercise their choice and it is a measure
towards deepening of democracy. The electoral empowerment has brought scheduled
castes (SCs), scheduled tribes (STs) and other socio religious minorities in the various
social strata into the electoral fray. Differential and horizontal electoral mobilisation of
socially marginal groups has resulted in policy changes that further helped in deepening
of democracy in India. Over the past three decades, formation of pressure groups and
the various regional political parties and their coalition with national level parties have
helped address the issues of marginalised like SCs, STs and women. Regular elections
have broadened democracy and the voters turn out increased over a period. In the first
general election in 1952, 61 per cent of the electorate has exercised their franchise. In
2014 general elections, 60 per cent of men and 56 per cent of women voters exercised
their choice to elect their representatives.
In India successive governments have introduced various schemes and programmes to
promote the welfare of all citizens and to bring them in the governance process. Let us
discuss some of them.
The scheme “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)” was launched in November 2000, in
partnership with the states to universalise elementary education. SSA was conceived at
the end of the ninth five year plan to improve the educational status in the country
through interventions designed to ensure accessibility, reduce gender and social gaps,
and strengthen the quality of learning. In continuation of SSA programme, the 86th
Amendment Act of the Constitution in the year 2002 inserted Article 21 A in the 89
Governance and Constitution of India to provide free and compulsory education for all children between
Development the age of six and fourteen years. This is a fundamental right. Based on the 86th
Amendment Act, the State has enacted the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education (RTE) Act, 2009. It has brought equity and equality among all children in the
country. As we mentioned earlier, one of the major principles of modern democracy is
to provide access to education to all their citizens to strengthen democracy. The major
areas for improvement listed in the RTE Act 2009 are:
1) Ensuring the availability of teaching-learning materials and aids;
2) Appointment of required number of trained teachers and ensuring their continuous
availability for comprehensive evaluation;
3) Formation of school management committees;
4) Maintenance of pupil–teacher ratio (PTR) and teacher–classroom ratio (TCR)
and, student–classroom ratio (SCR);
5) Provision of facilities such as library, mid-day meals, and incentives for children.
The Act directs unaided private schools to admit compulsorily and enroll 25 per
cent students from economically and socially weaker sections of society. It makes
provision for the improvement of infrastructure facilities like buildings, playground,
boundary wall, safe drinking water and separate toilets for girls and boys.
The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched in 2005 to provide, accessible,
affordable and quality health care to the rural population, especially vulnerable groups.
The objectives of the mission are to establish fully functional community-owned,
decentralised health services by integrating other issues like water, sanitation, education,
nutrition, social and gender equality. The above-mentioned two programmes, like many
others, have been implemented to ensure the participation of all the stakeholders in the
process of governance.
The State has taken an affirmative action in the form of laws and policies to ensure the
participation of citizens. One significant programme related to affirmative action is
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme/Programme (MGNREGS). It
is a rights-based national level rural employment guarantee programme. It was enacted
by legislation on 25 August 2005 and implemented in February 2006. The programme
guarantees a minimum number of days of unskilled manual labour to each rural household
seeking employment in India. Under the progamme 30 per cent of the work is allocated
to the women. The gram panchayats are the implementing agencies at the village level.
It needs to conduct gram sabha meetings regularly to finalise the work and identify the
beneficiaries. The programme also guarantees an unemployment allowance if work is
not provided to the employment seekers. It is considered as one of the largest social
safety net programme.
There are many schemes and programmes being implemented to strengthen democracy
especially at the grass root level. There is need to ensure maximum participation of
people especially in panchayati raj institutions through initiating new reforms and
strengthening the existing systems.
Check Your Progress 2
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answers.
ii) Check your answers with those given at the end of the Unit.
90 1) Explain the features of 73rd and 74th CAA.
 ..................................................................................................................... Strengthening
Democracy
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Governance
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2) List the major areas of improvement listed in RTE Act.
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6.6 CONCLUSION
We have discussed the features of democracy, Constitution of India, the process of
governance and measures to strengthen democracy in India. As we have mentioned in
this Unit, the framers of Indian Constitution have ensured to incorporate necessary
clauses to strengthen democracy. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the
process of governance has ensured to take democracy forward to the lowest unit of the
administration and all citizens. Not only the government structures, other institutions
and organisations do play a vital role in democratising the State.

6.7 GLOSSARY
Community Development Programme: It was the first major development
programme launched by the government of India in 1952 the core objective of which
was the overall development of rural areas and peoples’ participation. It was formulated
to provide an administrative framework through which the government could reach to
the district/tehsil/taluka and village level.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The GDP measures the value of economic activity
within a country. It is the sum of the market values, or prices, of all final goods and
services produced in an economy during a period of time.
Pressure Group: A pressure group is formed by likeminded people who seek to
influence public policy to promote their interests. It attempts to influence government
policies through protests, demonstrations and so on.
Social Safety Net: It is a collection of services provided by a community of individuals
or State. It works in conjunction with other poverty reduction programmes the primary
the goal of which is to reduce poverty. It includes unemployment benefit, welfare and
so on.

6.8 REFERENCES
Agnes, F. (2015). Constitutional Debates. MWG010 Women and Political Process.
New Delhi, India: IGNOU.
91
Governance and Andrews, M. (2008). The Good Governance Agenda: Beyond Indicators without
Development Theory. Oxford Development Studies. 36(4): 379-407.
Appadorai, A. (2006). The Substance of Politics. New Delhi, India: Oxford University
Press.
Census of India (2019). Retrieved from www.censusindia.gov.in
Gill, M.S. (2009). The Electoral System of India. New Delhi, India: Election
Commission of India.
International Monetary Fund Data. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.imf.org/en/
Data
Jain, R.B. (2001). Towards Good Governance: A Half Century of India’s Administrative
Development. International Journal of Public Administration. 24(12):1299-1334.
Kaufmann, D., Kraay, A. & Zoido-Lobaton, P. (1999). Governance Matters. World
Bank Policy Research Working Paper 2196. Washington, D.C., USA: The World
Bank.
Mill, J. S. (1948/1864). The Representative Government. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
Saxena, N.C. (2018). Programme Delivery Through Panchayats. The Monthly Journal
of Kurukshetra. 66(9).
Singh, K. R. (2015). Electoral Systems and Political Parties. MWG010 Women and
Political Process. New Delhi, India: IGNOU.

6.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

EXERCISES
Check Your Progress 1
1) Your answer should include the following points:
• Democracy considers ‘will of the people’ as supreme.
• All citizens are considered as equals.
• All adults by attaining minimum required age get an equal opportunity to vote
and contest in the elections to exercise their rights.
• Regular elections, freedom of speech, opportunity to participate in the political
activities and giving values to the individual opinion and rights are also significant
features of the democracy.
2) Your answer should include the following points:
• Fundamental Rights are justiciable rights.
• It protects citizens from arbitrary prejudicial State actions.
• The Directive Principles of State Policy further make the citizens to realise
their full potential by making State to formulate appropriate laws and policies
for the socio-economic development.
• It ensures social justice to the socially backward communities.

92
Check Your Progress 2 Strengthening
Democracy
1) Your answer should include the following points: through
Governance
• Creation of gram sabha.
• Reservation of seats for women, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled
Tribes (STs) at all levels and all positions.
• Uniform 5 year term for rural and urban local bodies.
• Constitution of Election Commission.
• Power to levy taxes, collect and appropriate taxes within their jurisdictions.
• Constitution of State Finance Commission (SFC) to determine principles to
share revenues.
2) Your answer should include the following points:
• Ensuring the availability of teaching-learning materials and aids.
• Appointment of required number of trained teachers and ensuring their
continuous availability for comprehensive evaluation.
• Formation of school management committees.
• Maintenance of pupil–teacher ratio (PTR) and teacher–classroom ratio (TCR)
and, student–classroom ratio (SCR).
• Establishment of facilities such as library, mid-day meals, and incentives for
children.

93