Decentralised Planning and Development in India
Contents: Preface. I. National perspective: 1. Evolution and evaluation of decentralised planning in India/Mahi Pal. 2. Decentralised planning and Panchayati Raj in India : provisions and practice--some evidences/Mahi Pal. 3. Planning from below--in an era of globalisation/Sudhira Chandra Jena. 4. Decentralised planning--problems and prospects/Mohinder Singh and Vijay Kumar. 5. Democratic decentralisation of local institutions--the emerging trend/K.P. Bhattacharjee. 6. Decentralisation, democratisation, and local finances, after the 73 Constitutional Amendment--reflections based on local reality in India/Vinod Vyasulu. 7. Budget transparency, accountability, and citizen participation in local governance/Vinod Vyasulu. 8. Panchayati Raj and decentralised planning--retrospect and prospect/K.D. Gangrade. 9. Training for and expectations from district planners/Rakesh Hooja. II. State experiences: 10. The development and the role of decentralised planning in Assam/Bhuban Gogoi. 11. Decentralisation and functioning of district council--a study of Karbi Anglong autonomous council in Assam/K.P. Kumaran. 12. Inter-governmental transfer of funds in Karnataka under decentralised governance/B.S. Hiremath. 13. People\'s participation in planning through Panchayats--a decade of decentralised governance in Madhya Pradesh/Yatindra Singh Sisodia. 14. Role of women SHGs in ensuring community participation in local planning through the institutions of Gram Sabha--a case study of Madhya Pradesh State/Shrdha Kumar. 15. Natural resource management under decentralised governance--the Seva Mandir experience/Neelima Khetan and Poonam Abbi. 16. Micro level planning experience from Tamil Nadu/G. Palanithurai. 17. Decentralised planning in Uttar Pradesh: theory and practice--a case study/S.P. Singh. 18. Status and people\'s participation in decentralised planning in West Bengal/Dilip Kumar Ghosh. 19. Direct democracy and decentralised planning--experiences of Haryana State/Manju Panwar. 20. Decentralised planning and capacity building of Panchayat leaders--a case study of Haryana/Suresh Misra. 21. Role of NGOs and civil society in decentralised planning/Bindeshwar Pathak. 22. Ten years of decentralised planning under Panchayat Raj in Kerala--an assessment/Moolakkattu Stephen John and Jos Chathukulam. Annexes. Index.
"The country now has the experience of more than a decade of the working of decentralised planning and Panchayati Raj under the new dispensation. At this juncture, it would seem opportune to take stock of the progress that has taken place towards decentralised planning in terms, inter-alia, of the issues as follows: whether planning process has really started from the Gram Panchayat level in consultation with the Gram Sabha, going up to the District Panchayat; whether planning has been prepared with the involvement of people, particularly women and marginalised sections; whether District Planning Committees have been constituted and what is their composition; whether spatial and temporal sequences of activities have been coordinated at different levels; whether adequate infrastructure in the form of planning machinery and requisite technical personnel are available at district and sub-district levels; whether proposals submitted by the Panchayats and Municipalities have been integrated with the departmental schemes with due regard to linkages and complementarities; whether projections were made and targets were set in the right perspective by the Panchayats, Municipalities and DPCs; whether costs and estimates for the projects included in the plans were prepared; whether the requisite basic planning skills for preparation of local plans have been imparted to elected representatives through training programmes; whether adequate united funds have been devolved to rural and urban local bodies for the implementation of local plans keeping in view the felt needs of local people.
It is well known that not much relevant literature on the progress of decentralised planning after the enactment of the 73 and 74 Amendment Acts is available, on the basis of which one could adjudge as to what extent decentralised planning has been operationalised in the various states and UTs. This book attempts to diagnose the malady from which the decentralised planning suffers and has also suggested the remedy for curing it." (jacket)
