Importance Of Local Self Government

Local Self Government during Ancient Period Ever since the Vedic period, the village has always been well known to be a collective and monolithic entity. the village administration, from the earliest Vedic age, was carried on under the tutelage Gramani, the village head-man. He was a nominated to be the head-man and the leader of the village. In the early Vedic times, the villagers managed the simple affairs of the village themselves. Originally, it seems that the villages were practically free from central control and were self-governing. The Gramani (headman) and other villages were appointed by the community and were accountable to them.

Villages, in early days, were republic in nature. The village administration was generally

This resulted in the task of preparing any sort of blueprint for the local level. With regard to the status and role of the rural local self-governments there was no consensus among the top leaders While Gandhiji On the one side favoured the idea of Village Swaraj with an emphasis on strengthening the village Panchayati to the fullest extent, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar along with some other leaders, on the other side, opposed this idea. The autonomy of Panchayats disappeared gradually with the establishment of local civil and criminal courts, revenue and police organisations during the British rule. The increase in communications, the growth of individualism and the operation of the Ryotwari (landholder wise) system as against the Mahalwari (village tenure system) system also played their role in no small measure and contributed to the slow death of the Panchayats .

The provincial autonomy under the Government of India Act, 1935 marked the evolution of Panchayats in India. Popularly elected governments in provinces, these governments enacted legislations to further democratise institutions of local self-government. But the system of responsible government at the grassroots level was least