The Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 has made a provision for constituting a Gram Sabha (GS) for every village. This forum enables the people to participate in all aspects of village development. A recent study of the working of GSs in AP state reveals that the GS has become defunct and...

For panchayats to be called self-governing institutions, some degree of fiscal autonomy is needed, among other factors. The analysis of this aspect in the context of Karnataka State, however, reveals certain disturbing trends. Overall, the panchayats in the State have very little fiscal...

The paper examines feminist politics in India and the various issues with which they have been engaged. The two issues that divide women and inhibit alliances among the women’s movements are the Uniform Civil Code, and the reservation of seats for women in Parliament and state legislatures....

Affirmative action has enabled the representation of women in panchayats and enhanced their political status in local government. While they now possess authority through being incumbents of elective positions, this has not been translated into power (i.e. the ability to actually effect...

This paper examines the dynamic relationship between fiscal deficits, money supply, and price level in India during the period 1960-61 to 1999-2000. Using vector autoregression (VAR) econometric methodology, which allows variables to be treated as potentially endogenous, the study finds that...

While increasing income inequality in China has been commented on and studied extensively, relatively little analysis is available on inequality in other dimensions of human development. Using data from different sources, this paper presents some basic facts on the evolution of spatial...

The issue of small and declining health sector financing by the central and state governments in India is addressed by the launching of National Rural Health Mission in 2005-06. Bottom up planning starting with village as unit used as the main strategy of NRHM to meet the region specific health...

Drawing on empirical data from four gram panchayas in Orissa the paper examines the 'representation' of elected representatives-more particularly those of disadvantaged categories-by exploring their participation in the governance process, responsiveness towards the interst of their...

Structure as well as operation of land market in Less Developed Economies are complex and defy general expectations about the behaviour of market. Our paper on land market is an attempt towards theoretically examining various issues related to the functioning of land market in a tribal economy...

This paper is an analytical and critical reflection on beneficiary involvement in public services in a society-state-individual framework. It is set in the context of a holistic review of development performance in Karnataka State. Beneficiary inolvement satisfies the demands of democratic...