Democratic Decentralization and Planning : Essays on Panchayati Raj,
District Planning and Development Administration/Rakesh Hooja and Meenakshi
Hooja. New Delhi, Rawat Pub., 2007, xvi, 328 p., tables, ISBN
81-316-0092-0.
Democratic Decentralization and Planning : Essays on Panchayati Raj,
District Planning and Development Administration/Rakesh Hooja and Meenakshi
Hooja. New Delhi, Rawat Pub., 2007, xvi, 328 p., tables, ISBN
81-316-0092-0.
Contents: Forestatement. I. Overview of Panchayati Raj in India: 1. Constitutionalization and beyond: Panchayats as institutions of self-governance and as instruments for development/Rakesh Hooja and Meenakshi Hooja. 2. Institutions of self-government or agencies for development: Panchayats in India/Meenakshi Hooja and Rakesh Hooja. II. Some issues pertaining to Panchayati Raj: 3. The third tier: decentralization and separation of powers within PRIs/Meenakshi Hooja. 4. Activating Panchas and Ward Sabhas: a remedy for large unwieldy Gram Sabhas and dominating Sarpanchas/Meenakshi Hooja. 5. Community-based organizations and Panchayats as instruments of governance in the sphere of watershed development/Rakshat Hooja and Rakesh Hooja. 6. Panchayati Raj: policy issues and academic concerns from the Rajasthan viewpoint/Meenakshi Hooja and Rakesh Hooja. III. Pachayati Raj: Rajasthan experiences: 7. Continuity and change in Rajastan's Punchayati Raj/Rakesh Hooja and Meenakshi Hooja. 8. The status of Punchayati Raj in Rajasthan: reflections on some select indicators in the context of the 1994 Act/Rakesh Hooja and Meenakshi Hooja. 9. Some developments in Rajasthan's Panchayati Raj since 2000/Rakesh Hooja. 10. Reflections of applying "The provisions of the Panchayats (extension to the schedule areas) Act, 1996" in Rajasthan/Meenakshi Hooja. IV. District and decentralized planning: 11. Decentralized planning and the district level: a pre-constitutional amendment perspective/Rakesh Hooja. 12. Training for, and expectations from, district planners/Rakesh Hooja. 13. The district as a planning unit: style and locus/Rakesh Hooja. V. Development administration at district and sub-state levels: 14. The delivery system at the district level: a view from the mid-1980s/Rakesh Hooja. 15. Administrative machinery for tribal development at state and lower levels/Meenakshi Hooja. Appendix/B. Yerram Raju and Rakesh Hooja. Index.
"For almost 50 years since 1959, India has been striving to make decentralized democracy more meaningful and effective. Efforts at vitalizing development administration and at more relevant and efficacious district and decentralized planning have been underway since independence.
The authors have highlighted various aspects and issues, touched upon successes and failures, and commented upon the evolution of concepts and described what has been happening in actual practice, along with offering suggestions for the future.
The book would attract all those interested in rural development, good governance, administration, district planning, decentralization and Panchayati Raj in their various facets." (jacket)