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LG, the way we are seeing it, is the devolution of electoral representation to
the lowest level, the end-point of the continuum from top to bottom.
Examining the experiences at intermediate levels might yield some useful
insights. Recall that a mass demand for electoral representation was not part
of the Indian independence movement. Pratap Bhanu Mehta characterised
independence as “simply the outcome of a negotiation between India’s elites
on the one hand, and colonial powers on the other.”
If citizens are not clamouring for LG, would it work or what might it morph
into instead?
This suggests the need for a nuanced approach. Perhaps a generic LG cannot
be imposed from above but has to be consonant with local realities. My
research supports this inference. I surveyed water supply systems in fairly
large villages in Punjab at a time when community management was in the
news based on the success of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in the
Northern Areas. I asked village residents if they would prefer managing the
water system themselves. They answered negatively, based on a facet of their
lived reality to which insufficient attention is paid in design recommendations.
While well aware that the service provided by the government department was
sub-par, they did not wish something as vital as water to become hostage to
village politics divided sharply along biradari lines.
If this is true, we might find that even within Pakistan LG would work better
in GB than in Punjab. In the latter, however, it could actually be harmful at the
local level where the marginalised are easily identifiable and their numbers
not large enough to offer protection. Given all the caveats, we might do better
to first deepen democracy at the intermediate levels where there is at least a
little, though not much, more safety in numbers. Thus, it might make sense to
lay more stress on the demand for smaller provinces and province-level status
for major metropoles.
There is no arguing that the potential benefits of LG are huge but we need to
reflect more on appropriate design and avoid transplants that the body politic
is likely to reject. We might also benefit from deepening democracy in steps,
taking care first of the dysfunctional intermediate levels via proportional
representation before plunging all the way down.