People’s Participation in Decentralising Planning for Rural Development in the Reform Era: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

With the commencement of economic reforms, the emphasis on decentralization has increased, especially because new partners in both decentralization and development are emerging.  In this new era where scope for government intervention is reduced, more and more research is needed to examine how far and how efficiently decentralization can be used as a strategy for rural development in developing countries like India. This paper proposes to bring out the case for making a special institutional arrangement with a view to enable people to participate in decentralized planning for rural development.  It focuses attention on making such an arrangement in the reform era.  Further both the new opportunities favourable for people’s participation and challenges that confront are identified for pinpointing the needed future course of action.