Twenty-five Years of the Constitution Seventy-fourth Amendment Act (74th CAA),1992: Promise and Performance

Abstract

The Constitution (Seventy-fourth Amendment) Act, 1992, completed 25 years of implementation. All states in India amended the municipal laws in conformity with the Act and are implementing them. As a consequence, provisions have been made to hold urban local body elections regularly, reservations to women and weaker sections, constitute election and finance commissions, and district and metropolitan planning committees. However, a closer analysis, after 25 years of its implementation, brings out certain deficiencies. The states seem to be half-hearted to decentralise democracy, reluctant to empower urban local bodies, functionally and financially and unwilling to clothe them with autonomy. It is time to revisit the Act, review its performance based on 25 years of experience and suggest measures to achieve the objectives that lay behind its enactment.