Malawi'’s agricultural sector is critical to its economy, employing around 77% of the population and accounting for 23% of gross domestic product (GDP). The majority of workers in agriculture are smallholder farmers, many of whom cultivate less than one hectare of land. Despite its importance, the sector faces significant challenges, …
Kerala's decentralised experience has demonstrated that democracy is more than just balloting. But deepening democracy is a continuous quest for justice and freedom. While participatory democracy has powerful theoretical arguments, its empirical basis continues to be weak. This article explores how far local governance in Kerala has deepened democratic practice …
Sanitation continues to remain India's biggest failure with a large proportion of the nation's rural population still defecating in the open says this India Rural Development Report 2012-13 The dynamics of political, economic and social change in rural India are complex and have been gaining prominence. In this context, the …
The Panchayati Raj System of Haryana that had been created by the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act (1994) creates an illusion that it is Gram Panchayat centric. The Act had given to it almost all the 29 subjects which had been listed in the 11th Schedule of the Indian constitution.
Jammu and Kashmir has been able to progress gradually in improving the Panchayat Acts, starting from electing the panchayat members by show of hands to direct elections by the people and empowering elected members by means of defining certain powers. However, their functioning in practice demonstrates the glaring deficiencies in …
While it is widely agreed that an important goal of Panchayati Raj is to ensure better implementation of government's rural development programmes by ensuring participation of people, it is also important to assert that the role of Panchayati Raj Institutions at various levels is certainly not restricted to blind acceptance …
The Andhra Pradesh is one of the two states in the country to initiate democratic decentralisation process on the lines of Balawanta Rai Mehata Committee Report in 1959. The process of decentralisation in the state can be broadly divided into six phases. In every phase, the successive government, except during …
One of the key tests to real empowerment of panchayats lies in the ability of local self-governing institutions to finance their own expenditures through internal generation of resources. Based on an analysis of three villages in Tamil Nadu, this paper argues that many gram panchayats are today in a position …
Maharashtra is the first state in the country to launch state-wide reforms by empowering communities represented by Village Panchayat and VWSC to plan, design, execute and manage investment in drinking water and sanitation sector. This has entailed moving from top driven to bottom driven decision-making and involving beneficiaries at all …
The Round Table Meeting (RTM) for Bhutan is the most important forum for policy dialogue and aid coordination between the Royal Government and its development partners. Held once every two and a half years, the last RTM for Bhutan, the 10th, was held successfully in Thimphu, Bhutan, from 17th -18th …
The functions which the state governments devolved to the gram panchayats according to the 73rd constitutional amendment comprise important activities for the development of villages. One of the most important argument for decentralization-the government is more attentive and responsive to local peoples' needs-is of great importance for the development of …
The 73rd Amendment recognizes Gram Sabha as a constitutional body. This means that all the development plans of the panchayat have to be approved by the Gram Sabha.
What has been the impact of reservations for women, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in panchayati raj institutions? In case the reserved seat is for a woman, it is usually the wife or daughter-in-law of the old sarpanch who is made to sign papers, while the husband or the father-in-law …
The wider democratic role of panchayats was very much in evidence on April 8, 2011 at a conference on 'Agriculture and Panchayats in Rajasthan in the Specific Context of Agreements with Multinational and other Big Agribusiness Companies'. In this conference panchayat leaders from 14 districts of Rajasthan unanimously called upon …
While the outcomes of the Lok Sabha and the state assembly elections have been well documented and analysed, little is known about the electoral geography in urban areas. In discussing the conflicting interests of local politics and urban development, this article places the definition and understanding of what is “urban” …
The main objective of the paper is to assess the status of urban decentralization in the state of Jharkhand in India and to relate it to some major implications on service delivery. We find that while some of the functions are assigned to the local bodies on paper, none of …
TO BRING in transparency at the panchayat level, Punjab is planning to reintroduce direct election, in which village residents choose their sarpanch. The state had switched to indirect election in 2008. Under the system elected panchayat members chose a sarpanch among themselves. Indirect election makes it easy to remove a …
The objective of this study is to review the analytical literature on the relationship between decentralisation and development, bring out the impact of decentralisation on economic development from experiences both within the country and worldwide, and identify the preconditions and reforms needed to strengthen and deepen the panchayat system to …
In recent months, the BJP-dominated Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Congress-led Delhi government have been outdoing each other in floating proposals and schemes for better governance. The MCD is in the throes of implementing a new Residents' Welfare Committee (RWC) scheme. Not to be left behind, the Delhi …
Anna Hazare’s hunger fast last week for probity in politics captured the news agenda and unleashed a nationwide frenzy. Declarations of victory may be premature since the real work of drafting a law on the Lokpal is only just beginning. Corruption is not an abstract evil that can be combated …
