Local self governments are the crucial basis for our democracy. The Constitutional status of local self governments adds more significance to their functioning. There are, however, a few critical concerns in the working of local self governments in India.
Major problems and challenges may be mentioned as below:
- Lack of clear demarcation of powers and functions of local bodies
- Allocation of funds and needs assessment are not matched
- Role of caste, class and religion in decision making at the local self governments
- Poor accountability of elected members and officials at the grassroot levels of democracy
