CONTENTS List of Tables and Boxes 11 Acknowledgements 13 PART 1 1. INTRODUCTION 17 What this book is about 18 Structure of the book 22 2. THE QUESTION OF EXISTENCE 26 Panchayats for development 28 Centralization and decline of panchayats 33 The political panchayats 37 The 'need' for decentralization 41 The 64th Constitutional Amendment Bill 43 The 73rd Constitutional Amendment 46 3. INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN 52 Role and functions 55 The three tiers 58 Political structure and processes 61 The role of political parties 62 Direct versus indirect elections 62 The committee system 64 Co-option and reservation 64 The bureaucracy 66 Participation 69 Finance 72 Accountability 75 Institutional design and the socio-political context 77 PART 2 4. POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN KERALA 81 An introduction to Kerala 81 Evolution of panchayat policies 82 Pre-Independence panchayats 82 The initial vision 84 Competing ideas and politics of centralization 87 Forces for decentralization 91 The journey to the PPC 94 Defining features of panchayati raj in Kerala 97 The Kalliasseri experience 97 Peoples plan campaign 99 Institutionalization 102 The legal framework 102 Financial devolution 105 Peisonnel 106 Conclusion -107 5. THE INSTITUTION OF VILLAGE PANCHAYAT (KERALA) 111 The GP: A complex organization 112 The core GP 115 Social composition and dynamics 115 Politics in the GP 120 Administrative and technical functioning of the core GP 124 Finances 126 Participatory structures and processes 129 Gram sabha 129 Community-based associations 132 Interaction and influence 137 Departmental officials transferred to the GPs 137 Agriculture 138 School education 140 Drinking water 141 Across the three sectors 141 Resource persons and NGOs 142 The GP 144 Planning: An illustrative process 145 The GP and the macro-governance structure 148 KDS and the GP 149 Conclusion 150 6.PLANS AND PROJECTS OF THE VILLAGE PANCHAYAT (KERALA) 155 Overall plans and priorities 155 Brief socio-economic picture of the GPs 156 Socio-economic problems identified 157 Goals in the Ninth Plan 159 GP project choices 162 Project formulation and implementation 166 A summing up 174 The three sectors 175 Agriculture 175 School education 176 Drinking water 179 Conclusion 180 7. PANCHAYATI RAJ ACROSS THE TIERS (KERALA) 182 The relative importance of the three tiers 182 Institutional dynamics 184 Representation 184 Functioning and dynamics 185 Links with society 187 Anomalies in the structure 187 The division of functions 188 Administrative and technical capacity 188 Relationship of officials with PRs 190 Technical support from other agencies 192 General implications for technical support 192 Projects across the PRJs 193 Conclusion 196 PART 3 8. MICRO-INSTITUTIONS IN MACRO-STRUCTURES 201 The quasi-local panchayat 202 PRIs and the social power structure 203 Politics and panchayats 206 Bureaucracy 209 Macro-policy 211 People's participation 212 Conclusion 215 9. PRIS AS OPPORTUNITY 217 Contours of the opportunity 218 Maximizing the opportunity 222 Clarificaiton of the PRI space 224 Accountability mechanisms 226 Organizing participation 230 Technical and administrative capacities 231 Conclusion 233 Annexes 235 Bibliography 255 Index 269