Gandhiji's idea of village self-rule needs to be scrapped: Justice Muhamed Mustaque

Challenges in governance are far more complex today and the idea of village self-rule and the panchayati raj system as envisaged by Mahatma Gandhi needs to be scrapped, Kerala High Court judge Justice A Muhammed Mustaque remarked on Monday. .Pertinently, he called for greater centralisation of various aspects of administration and governance, saying that localisation and decentralisation have not yielded the desired results. .The judge made this statement in open court though he clarified that it was his personal view. "It is my personal view that the kind of idea of a village that Gandhiji envisaged which is now incorporated constitutionally, should be scrapped because there is more complexity in governance. Back then, only small things needed to be done. But the challenge is much bigger now for local authorities. Town planning is a big challenge, just look at the kind of litigations. Waste management is another big challenge. These cannot be done at a grassroots level. We have that subsidiarity principle but we must have a centralised authority to oversee it.".Citing the example of waste management, Justice Mustaque highlighted how the decentralised system, which now exists in Ernakulam district (where the High Court is located), has proved to be ineffective. "Every panchayat cannot undertake waste management; we should have a larger body to manage the entire district or larger areas. In Ernakulam district, different local bodies cover Kakkanad, Thrikakkara, Ernakulam city, etc. for waste management even though it is all in the same vicinity. These are the challenges we face. As a result, what is happening? We are not able to solve issues like waste management. There is a larger level of complexity in governance now. I don't think sending someone from a ward election is going to be enough. It is high time we changed that," the judge said. .Even revenue collection, such as from property and building taxes, is affected due to this localised approach, Justice Mustaque added. He said that the complexity of governance has changed drastically since Gandhiji envisaged the the grama swaraj system (village self-rule) and that the system must now be reformed to meet current needs. "Back then, Gandhiji envisaged small issues being solved by grama swaraj. That has changed now, we need to change these things...Governance has become a big challenge....(Reforms) are badly needed even more in the rest of the country. I don't think in some remote village in Uttar Pradesh or Bihar, those who get elected would provide such services properly. I don't think what we envisaged in the1950's should remain the same in 2025," Justice Mustaque explained. .Justice Mustaque made the observation when a bench comprising of him and Justice P Krishna Kumar were considering a batch of appeals moved by the State government against the 2024 judgment of a single-judge which had declared as illegal the delimitation exercise carried out in eight municipalities -Mattannur, Sreekandapuram, Panoor, Koduvally, Payyoli, Mukkam, Feroke and Pattambi and one Panchayat- Padanna in Kasaragod.The single-judge had also declared the Kerala Municipality (Second Amendment) Act, 2024, the Kerala Panchayat Raj (Second Amendment) Act, 2024, along with the government notification and the guidelines issued by the Delimitation Commission, as inoperative and invalid.The single-judge had observed that the delimitation of local bodies in 2015 had been based on the 2011 census, and thus, the amendments made to the Acts in 2024, to increase the number of seats, was improper. Several other petitions pending before the Court also dealt with the same issue and were tagged with the State government's appeals and listed before the division bench today.