Authority of assignment from district government to village governments: A case study of three villages in Insana Sub-District, Timor Tengah Utara District, Indonesia

The study aimed to explore authority of assignment that can be delegated by a district government to village governments. Three villages in Insana sub-district, Timor Tengah Utara (TTU) district, Indonesia were chosen as the examples. In-depth interview method was employed to collect data from the study participants who were recruited using purposive sampling technique. The collected data were analysed thematically guided by a qualitative data analysis framework. Results indicated that the management of primary education, the construction and maintenance of irrigation, the identification of non-habitable houses of rural communities and the development of habitable houses for villagers, the prevention and control of livestock diseases and the distribution of livestock for villagers in needs, and the protection of women and children from violence, were the authorities that can be delegated to village governments. The main reasons were that such authorities were ineffectively and inefficiently implemented by the TTU district government due to the lack of financial and human resources. The study findings indicate the needs for regulation at district level that assigns such authorities to village governments and regulates budget allocation to support the implementation of the authorities at village level.