Decentralisation Below the State Level-Need for a New System of Governance

Need for a New System of Governance Nirmal Mukarji Decentralisation below the state level involves making a choice between bureaucracy and democracy, in the sense that it can mean either the delegation of administrative powers to district officers or the devolution of political authority to district governments. Further, decentralisation below the state level cannot be viewed in isolation from the larger issue of reordering relations between the centre and the states. Democratic decentralisation as an idea has gained wide acceptance. Whatfxas not been adequately recognised, however, is that the effective implementation of the idea requires major changes in the system of governance. This paper attempts to focus attention on some of the changes needed.