A DISSERTATION PAPER ON
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF
LOCAL SELF GOVERNMENT IN URBAN
AREAS
This dissertation is submitted towards the practical fulfilment of the requirement for
the Degree of Bachelors in Political Science
SUBMITTED BY: -
ALIVA PRIYADARSHINI
Under the guidance of
Dr. Madhusmita Rout
Assistant Professor,
Department of Political Science
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
RAVENSHAW UNIVERSITY, CUTTACK
CERTIFICATE
Certified that the dissertation entitled “Opportunities And Challenges of Local self-
Government In Urban Areas” submitted for the award of degree of under graduation in
Political Science of Ravenshaw University in record of research work carried out by Aliva
Priyadarshini, Roll No-21BPS007. The work has been completed under my supervision and
guidance. No part of this work hass been submitted for other degree. The assistance and
cooperation received during course of this research and in completing the work have been
acknowledged.
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DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the dissertation project work entitled “Opportunities And Challenges of Local
Self-Government In Urban Areas” submitted to the Department of Political Science, Ravenshaw
University is a record of an original work done by me under the supervision of Dr. Madhusmita Rout.
ALIVA PRIYADARSHINI
21BPS007 DATE:
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I express my deep sense of gratitude to Dr. Madhusmita Rout for her able guidance and
encouragement in every step in preparing this report.
I extend my heartful thanks to our (H.O.D) Dr. Netajee Abhinandan, Dr. Jaijneswar Sethi, Dr.
Omkar rout, Shyam Sundar Hemrom and all faculty without whose support my dissertation
would not have been possible.
Aliva Priyadarshini
21BPS007
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CONTENTS
ABSTRACT 6
CHAPTER 1: INRODUCTION 7
CHAPTER 2:
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ABSTRACT
The concept of Panchayati Raj is unquestionably Indian in origin. Panchayati Raj bodies,
which are genuine and effective democratic decentralized institutions, provide ample
opportunities for a large number of rural people to take genuine and effective participation
in the development and democratic decision-making process and to infuse in the minds of
the rural people a spirit of self-help, self-dependence and self-reliance and to obtain the
experience in the art of local self Government .Under Panchayati Raj institution Urban local
self Govt. have been playing an important role in order to monitor these urban development
programmes. These institutions have been helpful in identifying real beneficiaries in order to
get maximum benefits out of these schemes. A number of hurdles and constraints and
deficiencies are also responsible for failure of these rural development programmes. In this
paper, an attempt has been made to examine various issues, aspects and dimensions related
to Urban Local Self Institutions. It has been sought to analyse changes in the rural society
and its impact on socio-economic transformation due to panchayat, political participation,
and political mobilization etc. There are number of factors responsible for created hurdles in
performing the role of Urban local self institutions. These are casteism, groupism and
factionalism, which resulting to bitter infightings, allegations and counter-allegations, mutual
suspicions and rivalries etc.
Keywords: Panchayati raj institution, participation, awareness, governance, urban local self
govt, knowledge.
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RIVIEW OF LITRETURE
The Ashok Mehta Committee (1978)1 was set up to enquire into the working of the Panchayati Raj
Institutions and to suggest measures for strengthening them soon to enable centralized planning and
development in order to be effective. The Committee suggested that the formation of structure,
functions, and utilization of financial, administrative, and human resources on Panchayati Raj
Institutions should be determined on the basis of emerging functional necessity of administration of
rural development.
Ram Narayan Prasad in his book “Urban Local Self-Government In India”
highlights the challenges and shortcomings of democratic decentralization in countries like India,
where power is devolved to local bodies such as Panchayats and Nagarpalikas. Despite the intention
to empower marginalized communities and address widespread poverty and illiteracy, the reality
often reflects a different picture like dominance of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, degeneration
of Power to the powerful, rise of authoritarianism and corruption, political will and paucity of funds,
limited grassroots participation.
"Good Governance in Local Self-Government" by S.S. Dhaliwal may delve into various challenges
faced by urban local self-government bodies such as infrastructure deficiencies, financial constraints,
political interference, administrative inefficiencies, corruption and nepotism, urban poverty and
Inequality, Environmental degradation, lack of citizen participation. Overall, "Good Governance in
Local Self-Government" likely provides insights into the multifaceted problems faced by urban local
self-government bodies, aiming to identify solutions and strategies for improving governance
outcomes in urban areas.
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