In the terms of an economy, decentralization means
redistribution of the power of decision making from Center to the lower levels
of government in the hierarchy. For example, the redistribution of power from
center or central-government to the panchayats in the states. Decentralization
has always attracted historians as theme of their writings. Poor economic condition, rise in government
expenditure and free-market ideology contributed to reinforce the idea of
decentralization of government functions. It aims to foster competitions
between different services, seek help of the private sector and privatize some
services and functions. Government decentralization has two parts, the
political part and the administrative part. Political decentralization means more
power to citizens or their elected representatives. There are many types
administrative decentralization, delegation, de-concentration, devolution and
disinvestment, but, here, we are concerned with devolution. In devolution the
power of decision-making, finance and many functions are handed over to local
and state government. Fiscal decentralization means shift of the power to raise
revenue and expenditure from center to the lower level of the government.
Better health for socially and economically challenged sections of the society
is one of the objectives of Millennium-Development-Goals underscored by
United-Nations in the year 2000. Poor health is one of the impeding factors
which affect education and the quality of human-capital in many developing countries;
thereby any investment made to improve health of the vulnerable segment of the
country is likely to have a positive impact on human capital, national income
and per-capita income. Decentralization of power from the central-government to
the local government can improve the health outcomes in a region. Several
studies have showed the importance of decentralization of governance and is a
subject of debate among social scientists, historians, policy-makers and
politicians...
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