Contents: Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction. I. The thematic dimension: 1. Rural development administration in India : some observations/S.L. Goel. 2. Rural development administration in the 21 century/A.K. Ahuja. 3. Rural development administration in India : the task ahead/M.K. Miglani. 4. Rural development administration : the cultural complication/S.N. Singh. II. The concepts and approaches: 5. Democratization, decentralization and rural development administration: a conceptual analysis/Harbans Pathak. 6. Politics of rural development : the electoral limits of economic change in rural India/P.C. Mathur. 7. Rural development administration in India : need for a Gandhian alternative/Saroj Malik. 8. Participatory rural appraisal--an appropriate approach for rural development/R.P. Singh and Nasib Singh. 9. Inclusive rural development, essentials and policy interventions/S.P. Singh. 10. Participatory approach to rural development administration in India : an overview/T.R. Kundu and Puran Singh. 11. Developing rural and farm sector in global perspective/Narender Singh. 12. Information technology and rural development administration/Diksha Dani. 13. Role of social capital for effective rural development administration--some preliminary comments//Mahi Pal. 14. Role of administration in sustainable rural development through rural diversification : emerging issues/R.K. Sharma. 15. Application of ICT in rural development administration/Vikram Singh and Mohinder Singh. 16. Revamping of rural cooperatives/Rajesh Kumar. III. Structural and functional dimensions: 17. Administrative arrangement for rural development/B.P. Maithani. 18. The rural development administration in India : an overview/Surat Singh. 19. Rural development administration : a perspective and a prognosis/S. Kaushil. 20. Rural development administration in Haryana : retrospect and prospect/Ranbir Singh. 21. Restructuring and reforming block level rural development administration/Mohinder Singh. 22. The changing role of the BDO in Haryana/Surat Singh and Ranbir Singh. 23. Rural development administration in India/A.S. Malik. 24. Bureaucracy and rural development through dairying -- case study of Kangra District (HP)/Dalip K. Gosain. 25. An anatomy of DRDA--in Haryana/Puran Singh. 26. The social background and perceptions of Gram Sachivs in Haryana : an empirical study/B.K. Kaushik and Saroj Malik. 27. Administration of rural agricultural marketing : need for reforms/Mohinder Singh and Rajiv Kumar. 28. Rural water supply : need for revamping administration/A.S. Malik and Pushpender Yadav. IV. The decentralised governance dimension: 29. Panchayati Raj institutions in Haryana/R.K. Punia and Satnam Kaur. 30. Financing Panchayati Raj institutions : the finance commission approach/O.P. Bohra and Manjusha Sharma. 31. People's participation in Panchayat Administration/A.N. Singh. 32. Empowering women in Panchayati Raj Institutions for participation in rural development/Manjusha Sharma and O.P. Bohra. 33. The capacity building of women representatives of Panchyati Raj institutions in Himachal Pradesh/P.N. Gautam. 34. Citizen participation in grass root governance : the Gram Sabha in Rajasthan/Ravindra Sharma. 35. Direct democracy and rural development bureaucracy : a case study of Haryana/K.K. Mor. 36. Rural development administration and women in Panchayati Raj Institutions/Reicha Tanwar and Usha Chawla. 37. Capacity building of Panchayati Raj Institutions for rural development : role of NGOs/Raj Kumar Siwach. 38. Rural development administration through Panchayati Raj institutions/Shiv Raj Singh. 39. Administration of Member of Parliament local area development scheme : a plea for reforms/Mohinder Singh and Vijay Kumar. Index.

"The basic aims of development of rural areas cannot be achieved unless the rural development administration extends wholehearted support in the creation of various infrastructure facilities and provision of extension services. The loop-holes in the rural development administration that have come to surface during the last one decade need to be plugged in the 21 century.

The functioning of Panchayati Raj Institutions has not improved to the desired extent even after getting a constitutional status. The bureaucracy continues to dominate them. These institutions could not play an effective role in delivery of goods and services to the villages due to lack of clear demarcation of functions/responsibilities and powers, and sufficient funds. An essential requirement for successful economic reforms is that resources must move from old inefficient activities to new promising activities.

This raises some pertinent questions :

Are the existing concepts, assumptions and values of the theory and practice of development administration, which emerged in the post-colonial phase, still relevant in the 21 century?
Should we not take into consideration various indigenously developed alternatives that are more suited for ensuring human dignity?
Could not these be geared to the needs of human centred sustainable rural development? 
This book gives suitable answers to these questions through fruitful discussions on various facets of rural development administration." (jacket)