Panchayati Raj System in India : A Symbol of Participatory Democracy and Decentralized Development Book

Contents: List of contributors. 1. Introductory note/M.R. Biju. 2. People’s participation in Gram Sabha through Gram Swaraj: evidences from villages of Madhya Pradesh/Yatindra Singh Sisodia. 3. Participatory development through democratic decentralisation: the Kerala experience/S. Gregory and Jancy Gregory. 4. Sociology and participatory democracy of Panchayat System: The Tharu case/Bir Pal Singh. 5. Pancho Aur Ward Sabha Ka Raj: a remedy for large unwieldy Gram Sabhas and dominating Sarpanchas/Meenakshi Hooja. 6. People’s participation and perception in the Panchayati Raj Elections (2006) in Andhra Pradesh/H.D. Dwarakanath and H.S. Vagesh. 7. Local body polls (2005) in Kerala/M.R. Biju. 8. Paradigm shift in Panchayat elections: a case from Kerala/K. Gireesan and Jos Chathukulam. 9. Panchayati Raj and people’s participation in tribal areas/E.A. Narayana. 10. Participatory planning and Janmabhoomi Programme in Andhra Pradesh/Y. Gurappa Naidu. 11. Women and grassroot politics: theoretical issues and social concerns of Kerala women/Manu Bhaskar. 12. Women leadership in Rural Tamil Nadu: impact of Seventy Third Constitution Amendment Act/M. Pargunan. 13. Empowerment of rural women: role of Information Technology/C. Siva Murugan and V. Anbumani. 14. Socio-economic determinants of women leadership at the grassroots: a case study of Andhra Pradesh/K.C. Smitha. Index.

"Rural development programmes are designed to facilitate a multi-faceted growth of the rural poor by extending the benefits development to them. It aims at the improvement of their living standards by providing them opportunities for the fullest utilization of their potential through their active participation in the process of goal-oriented change. Rural development also tends to reduce migrational pressure on cities and towns. It also enables the use of human and national resources in the rural areas and to reduce area-wise differences.

The government has initiated a number of programmes to resolve the chronic problems facing village in India. As we have adopted policies of liberalization and globalization since 1991, we will have to look at the rural development from a holistic angle rather than from the angle of compartmentalization between the urban and rural development, particularly became of fast changes which are taking place in all spheres of life with market driven economy." (jacket)