In a democracy, the ultimate executive authority for all purposes lies with the political executive which is accountable to the people through Parliament. However, like in any large organization Government also has to function through a hierarchy of functionaries to carry out defined tasks at different levels and in different locations.

This necessitates on practical considerations the delegation of authority and responsibility to the civil servants at different levels in government. Such delegation is in line with the principles of subsidiary which helps to take government closer to the people. The principles of sound management demand that authority and responsibility should go hand-in-hand.

It has been observed that there is an increasing tendency in government departments to centralize authority and also after having first delegated authority downwards, to interfere in decision making of the subordinate functionaries.

This is an unfortunate trend and it is for those holding leadership positions in government both in the political executive and in the civil services to correct it since such centralization leads to inefficiencies and poor service delivery. It is also for the legislature to correct this trend by means of legislative enactments in certain critical areas as has been done for local bodies through Constitutional amendments (73rd and 74th) followed by State laws.

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There is perhaps a perception that decentralization and delegation of authority to field functionaries may lead to more corruption and abuse of power. The Chapter on Relation between the Political Executive and Civil Servants-Accountability and Disciplinary Procedures in this Report has provided for an elaborate mechanism for enforcing accountability among civil servants at all levels.

Therefore, once these mechanisms are in place, there is no reason for decentralization to be held back. In both decentralization and delegation the underlying principle is that powers delegated should be exercised by the authority to which the delegation has been done. Also, the exercise of such delegated authority should be allowed without any formal or informal interference.