Against Panchayats, For Mayors

Two items I just read in the newspapers sit oddly side by side. 

First: A news report titled "Jammu & Kashmir gets self-rule via panchayat polls." The elections were held in "16 phases" - so it could be the same people voting in each phase. We cannot trust any government propaganda that comes from J&K.

The second is an opinion piece titled "Cities are India's future." Below is a long quote from the article, written by a German businessman:

According to the report on 'India's Urban Awakening' by McKinsey Global Institute, in the next 20 years, India will have 68 cities with a population over one million - up from 42 today. That is nearly twice as many cities as all of Europe. India's urban population will increase from 340 million to 590 million. To put it in global terms, about 10% of humanity will reside in Indian cities. 

There is room for this sort of demographic change. Only 30% of Indians live in cities, in comparison with 74% of Germans and 82% of Americans. 

And the change holds great promise for India. The McKinsey study predicts that Indian cities could generate 70% of net new employment, produce more than 70% of Indian GDP, and quadruple the national per capita income. Best of all, these new, modern cities could create an enormous increase in the number of middle-class households. It is estimated that 91 million urban households will be middle class by 2030, up from 22 million today. 

Without question, successful urban development represents India's best opportunity to maintain its current economic momentum and to achieve a prosperous, dynamic future. 

The author then proceeds to discuss how Germany and India could find "synergistic partnerships" to deal with the "infrastructural demands" that will arise: 

Those demands include creating billions of square metres of roads, over 7,000 kilometres of subways and metros, endless sewage and water systems and so much residential and commercial space that it is equivalent to building two cities the size of Mumbai every year. 

So, what is the future? And what is Liberty? Is panchayati raj "self-rule" - when all the sarpanches are poor people who inevitably become clients of The State because they are dependent on State funding for all their "schemes"? Or are mayors of independent cities and towns real self-rule, because such mayors are inevitably rich members of the urban bourgeoisie? Allow me to elaborate by  recounting what I experienced in Srinagar, Kashmir.

As I walked along the Dal Lake one misty afternoon, I encountered a local inhabitant who, in the course of the conversation, remarked that the new tiles paving the footpath were not as good as the older ones. Who changed them? I inquired. The answer: The Chief Minister of the State. To me, this seemed to be the task of a Mayor.

On another occasion, I heard a plea from a local youth NGO requesting the Finance Minister of the State for some aid in starting a library in the city. Again, I thought that a Mayor of Srinagar would have been the right person to ask.

In my view, cities and towns are the future, yes. But then the "vision of Free India" must change from panchayati raj to mayors; from "self-sufficient village republics" to "self-governing and free trading cities."

J&K will never be "free" with panchayats. On the other hand, a Free Srinagar, a Free Jammu, and a Free Leh will deliver the people real freedom.

Ditto for the rest of the country.

Think about it like this: Would you rather elect an MP or an MLA and send him off to parliaments in Nude Elly or the State Capital, or would you rather elect a Mayor to look after your own city or town and be responsible as well as responsive to local issues, and to the local population?

There - you have the answer. 


Democracy means the diffusion of power - not its centralisation in a PM, a PMO and a Planning Commission.

The Indyeah of the future needs mayors, not sarpanches.


Think of a hundred City Mayors, and ten thousand Town Mayors.


That is the future to aim at.