Suchergebnisse

Anil Kumar Vaddiraju, Urban Governance and Local Democracy in South India. Oxon and New York: Routledge, 2021, xvii+93 pp., ₹695.00.

People belonging to the Scheduled Castes have had a long history of being discriminated against, exploited and placed at the bottom of caste society. After the enactment of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, measures such as quota within ordinary seats in the Panchayats as well as among the office-bearers have been introduced to overcome indignities endured through history by members of the Scheduled Castes. Notwithstanding these reservations, there is still strong resistance among those of higher castes (just above that of the Scheduled Castes in many cases), who have not been enthusiastic about reservations of the post of Panchayat president for Scheduled Caste people. What needs to be seen is whether the people of Scheduled Castes are able to participate, or whether they have been prevented from doing so, by the castes that are higher to them, as well as those that are dominant in the area of the Grama Panchayats. This article discusses certain issues that are related to the participation of Scheduled Castes in the Panchayats of Karnataka.

chapter 1 Introduction -- chapter 2 Gandhi's attitude to the state and keeping it in check -- chapter 3 Democratising the polity through decentralisation in Gandhi's vision -- chapter 4 Decentralised democracy in India's history till independence -- chapter 5 After independence -- chapter 6 A critical review of the present Panchayati Raj I: deepening democracy and development outcomes -- chapter 7 A critical review of the present Panchayati Raj II: inclusiveness and environmental orientation -- chapter 8 Panchayati Raj system in Karnataka: evolution and performance -- chapter 9 Local democracy and gram panchayats in Karnataka: field insights -- chapter 10 Decentralised democracy in an urban setting -- chapter 11 Towards a deeper democracy.

"This book provides a vantage point of comparison, of the actual reality of decentralisation in India with Gandhi's vision of decentralised democracy, or what he referred to as Gram Swaraj. It looks at the historical evolution of panchayats from ancient times to India's independence, and critically discusses the developments after. It examines the functioning of the present Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and the performances of urban local bodies. The basic thrust of this work is the need for constitutional reforms meant to strengthen and deepen democracy. The book will be useful to those in political studies, policy studies, public administration and development studies."--Provided by publisher.

"This book provides a vantage point of comparison, of the actual reality of decentralisation in India with Gandhi's vision of decentralised democracy, or what he referred to as Gram Swaraj. It looks at the historical evolution of panchayats from ancient times to India's independence, and critically discusses the developments after. It examines the functioning of the present Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and the performances of urban local bodies. The basic thrust of this work is the need for constitutional reforms meant to strengthen and deepen democracy. The book will be useful to those in political studies, policy studies, public administration and development studies."--Provided by publisher.