P.Chidambaram on District Governments

Excerpt from A View from the Outside by P.Chidambaram (Written on Nov 30, 2003)

If we cannot have smaller states, we could have smaller, and viable, units of administration that are charged with the sole responsibility of delivering these public goods. A mandal or a panchayat samiti is too small for these purposes. A district as the unit seems more viable and governable. Today, at the district level, the entire administration is in the hands of bureaucrats. It is time to ponder over an alternative model - fully elected district administrations, responsible for the delivery of selected public goods and answerable to a district-level assembly of elected representatives. The result is that there will be 5,000 units of administration, but the people may also get water, roads and sanitation.