Everyday politics and grassroots governance in urban India with special reference to Kolkata urban agglomeration
By: Dutta, Sayak and Butola, B.S
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Material type: 
BookPublisher: Urban India: A Journal of the National Institute of Urban Affairs Description: 40(3), Jul-Dec, 2020: p.37-50.Subject(s): Urban local governance, Everyday politics, Democratic participation, Participatory governance, Decentralized democracy
In:
Urban India: A Journal of the National Institute of Urban AffairsSummary: Academic interest in governance studies have moved steadily towards decentralization and grassroot governance. Although the role of political participation in local governance is universally noted, meager attention is paid to the unseen and invisible forms of political interaction that often tend to evade formal enquiry. The present paper is an attempt to explore the extent and nature of everyday politics in urban local governance. It focuses entirely on the elected part of the government from or around the city of Kolkata. Fifteen people who have held the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) post within the last three terms were studied via a series of unstructured, in depth interviews. It was found that MLAs wield considerable statutory and non-statutory authority in developmental decision makings within their constituency. Interaction with people of the constituency emerged as the primary mechanism through which MLAs come to know the issues of their region. Even though both regular meetings with common people as well as more infrequent discussion with the civil society was noted by the interviewees, people who had a closer relationship to the ruling political party were found to have a greater influence over the decision making of MLAs. – Reproduced
| Item type | Current location | Call number | Vol info | Status | Date due | Barcode |
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Articles
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Indian Institute of Public Administration | 40(3), Jul-Dec, 2020: p.37-50 | Available | AR125394 |
Academic interest in governance studies have moved steadily towards decentralization and grassroot governance. Although the role of political participation in local governance is universally noted, meager attention is paid to the unseen and invisible forms of political interaction that often tend to evade formal enquiry. The present paper is an attempt to explore the extent and nature of everyday politics in urban local governance. It focuses entirely on the elected part of the government from or around the city of Kolkata. Fifteen people who have held the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) post within the last three terms were studied via a series of unstructured, in depth interviews. It was found that MLAs wield considerable statutory and non-statutory authority in developmental decision makings within their constituency. Interaction with people of the constituency emerged as the primary mechanism through which MLAs come to know the issues of their region. Even though both regular meetings with common people as well as more infrequent discussion with the civil society was noted by the interviewees, people who had a closer relationship to the ruling political party were found to have a greater influence over the decision making of MLAs. – Reproduced
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