Gram Panchayats in West Bengal : Institutional Capabilities and Developmental Interventions (2 Vols-Set)
Contents: Vol. I: Institutional capabilities: Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Reigning from below: a study of decision making process in Gram Panchayats of West Bengal/Dilip Kumar Ghosh and Apurba Kumar Mukhopadhyay. 3. Gram Panchayats in action : critical issues/Utpal Chakraborty. 4. A study f the Gram Panchayats in West Bengal: their responsiveness to demands made at the Gram Sansad/Debjani Sengupta and Dilip Ghosh. 5. Women in Gram Panchayats/Suparna Ganguly and Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee. Index.
Vol. II: Role as developers: 1. Introduction. 2. Self help groups and Gram Panchayat linkage in West Bengal/Susmita Chowdhury and Debabrata Basu. 3. Public health initiatives undertaken by Gram Panchayats/Gayatri Basu and Satyabrata Chakraborty. Bibliography. Index.
The present book in two volumes is a magnum opus focused on the epic struggle raging in rural West Bengal after the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act in 1992. Volume-I contains the institutional aspects of the functioning of the Gram Panchayats and participatory democracy and Volume-II deals with two most important programmes e.g. SHG movements and Public Health initiatives taken up in rural West Bengal and the role of the Gram Panchayats. The faculty members from the SIPRD being associated with the several academicians from the various universities in West Bengal contributed priceless articles on the basis of extensive field visits.
The book is a must for those who want to know rural Bengal in transition. Anyone who is interested in rural development will find this book a treasure house of information and insight. It is a pathfinder for the scholars and practitioners in rural development in West Bengal and for everyone who seeks to stretch his/her helping hand to rural uplift.
