The emergence of Coronavirus disease across the globe has resurrected the criticality of local government institutions (LGIs). Globally, nationally and locally, the response to the crisis of COVID-19 is largely a centralised one including the lockdown.
The reluctance and political unwillingness of national governments across the globe to empower local governments have taken a heavy toll on the economy, polity and society. This has made the lockdown an inevitable option for the governments to go for it in spite of its huge expenditure in terms of employment loss and people’s livelihood.
To illustrate, according to the estimates of International Labour Organisation (ILO), the lockdown measure has affected 2.7 billion workforces constituting 81% of the global workforce. In USA alone, 3.3 crore people have lost jobs just in just two months. This figure is 12.2 crore in India. Set in this context, it is necessary to understand the importance of local governance in containing the pandemic in its current and future forms.
Being closer to the citizens, the LGIs are uniquely placed and equipped to respond to the crisis situations in a timely manner. The delay in the national governments’ approach and response to the crisis has drawn the countries to force measures like lockdown. It is sad that even during such crisis situations, empowerment of local governments was ignored or neglected in spite of the potential of the LGIs to address the pandemic in an effective way both economically and ecologically.
The decentralised governance is necessary not just to deliver goods and services effectively but also to contain the spread of virus. The LGIs and civil society organisations (CSOs) can act as preventive barricades for the virus containment in following ways:
1. Accurate information provider: As a first step, the LGIs along with CSOs and local media (both print and electronic), can quicken the dissemination of information related to the virus, its symptoms and measures to be taken to contain the virus spread further. They can also play the role of monitoring by preventing the spread of false information or rumours. If possible, this information can be disseminated in the local language.
2. Ensuring the effective delivery of food and medicines: The LGIs and CSOs have to play a key role in ensuring the effective delivery of food, medicines and other essentials to the common public and to the needy. They also need to oversee that the benefits will reach the needy only, especially the foodgrains, medicines (sanitisers, masks) and other such requirements.
3. Engage Self-Help Groups (SHGs): The LGIs can mobilise local SHGs in distributing food supply and even in preparing food items locally. This will strengthen to ties between the SHGs and LGIs.
4. Coordination between departments: The LGIs, CSOs can bring coordination between various departments such as health, water supply, sanitation, Public Distribution System (PDS) and civil supplies to ensure timely delivery of food and other necessities.
5. Strengthen internal committees: The LGIs, along with the support of local district administration, need to empower the GP committees such as health, water and sanitation and hygiene monitoring. This is imperative to contain further spread of the virus in the village and among the community.
6. Developing crisis management plans: A crisis management plan must be included in the annual budget and the Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDP). There must be a mandatory fund allocation for crisis management.
7. Coordination among departmental heads: The LGIs can work towards bringing an effective coordination among various departmental heads such as nutrition, health, water and sanitation. The effectiveness of the LGIs’ response depends upon the smooth coordination.
8. Mobilisation of local resources: There is a need to mobilise local resources such as food, water and medicines during the crisis situation not only to contain the virus spread but also to prevent the same.
9. Identifying the needs of people such as senior citizens, single parents, differently-able persons, widows etc. Efforts should be made to ensure food, water and medicine and other necessities for these people.
Decentralised approach
The dispersed nature of the virus demands a decentralised approach and local governance at the panchayats and municipalities than the centralised mechanism at the state or national levels. The trend and pattern of the virus spread across the globe and in India indicate that the urban areas are affected more than the rural parts. Even within the urban area, only a few areas show more virus spread than the other areas.
In the context of decentralised governance, even progressive states such as Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Tripura need much more to be done to empower the LGIs. However, the LGIs in Kerala have performed well in containing COVID-19. The large size of GPs, better awareness among the citizens, neighbourhood groups such as Kudumbasree, People’s Planning Campaign (PPC) and adult literacy programmes are some of the factors contributed towards the successful prevention of the virus spread in Kerala.
The COVID-19 episode provides a loud message to the political and bureaucratic elites about the immediate need of the devolution of powers and authority to the LGIs. This is more so in the case of urban local governance. The local governments in India are made to be highly dependent upon the Union and state governments for their sustenance and survival.
The subjects delineated in the XI and XII Schedules of the Constitution are the functional domains of the LGIs. However, these functions are devolved without necessary financial, functionaries and critically the freedom or autonomy. Let us hope that the Union and state governments realise the potential of LGIs for the future well-being of the citizens.
(The writer is PhD Fellow, Centre for Political Institutions (Governance and Development), Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru)