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Panchayats in India are an ancient heritage. Generally, the
panchayat then used to be the arbitrator in intra-village and,
sometimes, inter-village level feuds. Panchayat also used to be
the main organisational forum for the village-level cultural
functions. For a long time, Metcalfe's classical phrase 'village
communities are little republics' used to enlighten as well as
reflect the spirit of scholars and political leaders who laid
stress on the autonomous and self-regulating character of the
little communities. Even Karl Marx, with his economic approach,
would treat the little communities as 'units of production', and
show surprise at the resilience and self-dependent character of
the village communities in India.
There can be
two approaches to the study and formulation of the concept of
Panchayati Raj — normative or empirical. The normative
theorist would like to construct an ideal conceptual model
according to his own vision and aspirations. The empiricist, on
the contrary, would be interested in studying the concept in
operation, in identifying the gap between the ideal and the
real, in indicating the operational trends that appear to
influence or modify the concept in practice or even to push back
new conceptual horizons and finally, in projecting an
empiricist's view of the emerging concept of Panchayati Raj.
A stage may,
thus, be reached when the empiricist may come to press for an
altogether new conceptual model, or at any rate, to make a
serious plea for re-orienting the ideal construct in the light
of emerging operational trends.
In the present
work a serious attempt has been made to assess and examine as to
whether any such ailment is diagnosed at the micro level and if
at all it is diagnosed, to suggest remedial measures for the
better and effective functioning. However, before we could
directly jump on the micro analysis, the attempt has been to
present a theoretical-analytical as also the empirical analysis
as prevailing at the macro level. The present work has not
followed the beaten track.
The present
study is also an attempt towards judging the effectiveness of
rural development programmes and whether the benefits of these
programmes are reaching the target groups. Besides, the volume
also attempts to study as to why the two institutions of
decentralised development i.e. Panchayati Raj institutions and
decentralised planning, failed in achieving their goals and to
what extent they have become capable of overcoming the past
problems within the new constitutional framework. To support
their findings, the authors have taken into account both the
macro and micro picture of the system as it operates. While the
microanalysis deals with the scenario of two districts only, the
findings have the scope of generalisation for the whole of the
country as the human nature and political-administrative set up
remains almost the same through out the country.
A useful book for those who are
interested in the study of functioning of grassroots
institutions vis-à-vis development programmes. It may equally
be liked by the general readers interested in studying the rural
scenario as also the academics, public administrators and
practitioners.
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