Rejuvenating Panchayati Raj : Ideology Indian State and Lessons from Periphery

Contents: Acknowledgements. 1. Introduction. 2. Locating the \'self-sufficient village republics\' in Gandhi\'s nationalist ideology. 3. Nation state ideology constituent assembly and Panchayat. 4. Experiments with Panchayati Raj after independence. 5. Panchayati Raj in Assam: a brief history. 6. Panchayati Raj in Assam after the seventy-third constitutional amendment: the perspective and issues. 7. Conclusion. Annexures. Bibliography. Index.

"....When a free market economy came as the panacea not only for economic development but also for the political crisis of hegemony of the nation state, the Indian state has reiterated significance of democratic decentralisation through Panchayats. The renewed concern for Panchayats as instrumentality of democratic decentralisation within a neo-liberal perspective has resulted in the seventy third amendment of the constitution. This renewed emphasis on Panchayats with a definite space for them in the constitution, has also been occupying substantive political and intellectual space in India since the early 1990s....

With a comprehensive analysis of the history of Panchayati Raj in India, this book has focused on functioning of the Panchayati Raj institutions in Assam. This academic contribution may help the students, teachers, researchers, policy makers and politicians." (jacket)