Introduction

Two real stories make the case for local government better than any abstract argument. Geeta Rathore, from Jamonia Talab Gram Panchayat in Sehore district, Madhya Pradesh, was first elected Sarpanch in 1995 from a reserved seat; her work impressed the village enough that in 2000 they re-elected her from a general, non-reserved seat. As Sarpanch, she used the Panchayat's collective energy to renovate water tanks, build a school building, construct village roads, fight domestic violence and atrocities against women, and encourage afforestation and water management -- all decisions taken and driven at the local level, close to the people they affected. The second story is about the woman President (Sarpanch) of the Gram Panchayat of Vengaivasal village in Tamil Nadu. In 1997, the Tamil Nadu government allotted land falling within this Panchayat's area to 71 government employees, and the District Collector directed the Panchayat to pass a resolution endorsing the allotment. The President and the Panchayat refused, the Collector then ordered the land acquired anyway, and the Panchayat took the matter to the Madras High Court. Although a single judge upheld the Collector's order, the Panchayat appealed, and the Division Bench reversed that ruling -- holding that the government's order was not just an infringement of the Panchayat's powers but a violation of the constitutional status local governments now h …