India, Feb. 23 -- India's founding fathers famously disagreed on many policy issues. But most of them agreed on the need to build a strong centralised State. Fearful of fissiparous tendencies in a diverse country, they voted for a Constitution that empowered the Union government at the expense of the states, and virtually ignored local governments. India's embrace of economic planning after Independence further centralised policymaking in the country.

Local governments received statutory backing only after the liberalisation of the economy in the early 1990s. The 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments were aimed at empowering village and city governments to deliver local public goods such as sanitation and waste management. The constitu...