Local Democracy in Praxis: The Success of Duare Sarkar Programme in Connecting Local Peoples with the Government in West Bengal.

Abstract

Local democracy motivates and impels citizens into decision-making at grassroots levels, ensuring accountability, inclusivity and responsiveness in governance. These are means through which people affect decisions, policies, distribution of resources, and the development of the locality in their everyday life. Duare Sarkar is a recently government-launched initiative in West Bengal, bringing this government closer to the people since these services would reach those disappointed, lower class, and rural people. The program induced by the state government is between citizens and the administration, with local resourcing and being a community exercise, and through technology, an efficient service delivery system put in place. Through holding camps and digital podiums, the initiative has created services around health, education, financial assistance, and social security to be availed by all citizens without leaving any out. Therefore, the initiative not only increased accessibility but also further strengthened the trust between citizens and government. By inclusivity, above all, of course, by transparency and citizen involvement, Duare Sarkar became a transformative model of participatory governance-shaped inculcating local democratic practices in West Bengal.