NGO : Kabir
Location: Delhi
Budget: Rs 300000
Nov 2008 report of model being tried by residents of Ghaziabad, UP

Kabir our NGO partner in India has worked over the years to increase awareness and use of the Right to Information (RTI) Act by individuals and organizations. The primary goal of Kabir is to encourage a culture of transparency and accountability in government that allows for meaningful participation of citizens.

Ever thought of how panchayats and municipalities function? Imagine replicating the best functioning panchyat model in every region and help achieve good local governance.

Kabir our NGO partner in India has worked over the years to increase awareness and use of the Right to Information (RTI) Act by individuals and organizations. The primary goal of Kabir is to encourage a culture of transparency and accountability in government that allows for meaningful participation of citizens. The local-self governance project by Kabir aims to make a detailed study of the existing state of local self-governance in India. The study is already being conducted in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and will be extended to 6-7 more states including West Bengal and Goa. A report of the best practices of panchayats/municipalities will be compiled.  By analyzing this report the project aims to propose a model Panchayati Raj system for rural areas and a model municipal system for urban areas. These models will be presented before various constitutional and statutory bodies for discussion. In order to make a detailed report, RTI will be extensively utilized to obtain all the necessary information. Public debates and conferences will be conducted to discuss the findings of the report.

Some of the interesting questions the report aims to study in detail are

• Financial autonomy of different tiers of governance - How are taxes levied, collected and spent by different tiers of governance? Amounts devolved from Centre to States, States to Panchayats and Municipalities? 
  
• The role of Gram Sabhas. Do the State Panchayati Laws give adequate powers and resources to Gram Sabhas to ensure active participation of the people in governance or are these just formal structures empowering Sarpanches?
• Comparative Analysis of the Panchayati Raj and Municipal Systems in various states. It is proposed to study the Panchayati Raj and Municipalities systems including laws, rules and practices of different states across India and identify the good and bad practices in the same.
• Best Practices from International Experiences. It is proposed to study the experiences of other countries in the area of local self governance and identify good practices which we can emulate.