India's political parties
A study of democracy is incomplete without a study of one of its most fundamental components—political parties. In India, works on the country’s political parties so far have explored, among other things,
Political Decentralisation
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Decentralized planning in the sixth scheduled area of India
In order to decentralise the planning process, Article 243ZD of the Constitution of India directs states to constitute District Planning Committees which are responsible for formulating draft district plans by consolidating the plans of the panchayats and municipal bodies. This provision of the Constitution however, does not cover certain parts of the country.
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The many-straw revolution
Conflicts will increase in the next two decades but we have what it takes to keep going The next decade or two are going to be rough. Conflicts of all kinds will increase. These will be over water, land, technologies, energy sources, geopolitical power, religion and science. We will lurch from one economic crisis to the other, and struggle to contain the impacts of the havoc we have wrought
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Local politics, political institutions, and public resource allocation
This paper examines how political institutions and local power structures interact with and influence local public resource allocation in the Indian state of Karnataka. It use data from 80 village councils and 225 villages to examine how this local political economy influences the allocation of public resources. The empirical strategy exploits certain features of a policy that
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Innovative operationalisation of community driven approach
Maharashtra is the first state in the country to launch state-wide reforms by empowering communities represented by Village Panchayat and VWSC to plan, design, execute and manage investment in drinking
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Gender, caste, and public goods provision in Indian village governments
This paper seeks to contribute to the literature on village governance and local public goods provision. Using data from 144 village-level governments in India's Tamil Nadu state, the paper examines whether the gender and caste of village government leaders influence village public goods provision.
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Panchayat elections and grassroots democracy
This comparative study of panchayat elections in West Bengal and Punjab focuses on the broad objective of studying the process of institutionalisation of panchayati raj institutions. What forms they take in different contexts? What factors facilitate or retard the process?
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Afghanistan signs MoU on local governance
Afghanistan has signed a near-identical MoU with three institutions in India - Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) and Institute of Social Sciences (ISS) for collaboration to promote the cause of local government.
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Low fiscal decentralization: A road-block to rural development
Decentralization is broadly defined as transfer of power to the lower level of government (PRIs). It mainly takes three forms, namely political, administrative and fiscal.
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Amarnath row: Clashes erupt in Jammu
Akhil Bhartiya Vidarthi Parishad activists wave the national flag during a protest in Jammu. JAMMU: Protesters blocked traffic and fought pitched battles with police here as the BJP-Shiv Sena sponsored shutdown demanding removal of Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra over the Amarnath Shrine land row entered the second day on Tuesday. Three BJP activists were injured in skirmishes with police as demonstrators burnt tyres and torched effigies of the Governor, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, police said.
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The Party and the Panchayats of West Bengal
Despite substantial decentralisation of power through panchayati raj institutions in West Bengal, the presence of an entrenched centralised party in power in the state has meant the use of such institutions as instruments of patronage. Violent battles have invariably taken place during panchayat elections, as these are seen as necessary by all political parties to capture or retain hold over the institutions.