Problems and Prospects of Rural Development through Panchayat System: A Study with Special Reference to Barpeta District of Assam

Abstract

Hadayet Ahmed Abstract: India’s bureaucracy never works without greasing its palm. It is our experience that an overwhelming part of our development money goes to the purse of bureaucrats. The same applies to our leadership also. The rural leadership is more than shrewd. It knows the art of grabbing money. In such a situation, what will be the fate of development in the villages of India is anybody’s guess. Moreover, people are not in a position to elect right type of people to the Panchayat institutions. Very often, people of doubtful integrity dominate these institutions. Factionalism and narrow loyalties of the people spoil the objectives of local institution. Sometimes, these institutions cannot function because of factionalism.This paper aims is to discuss the development of Panchayat system and its importance in rural development with suggestive measures. Key -Words: Bureaucracy, Development, Panchayat, Gram Sabha, Swaraj, Decentralization. Click here to print/download PDF of this research paper Introduction Panchayat is a democratic self-ruled institution of a village, which Gandhiji rightly called the base of the real democracy or village swaraj. Gandhiji’s main aim was to open the door of the filings of swaraj even for the last one of under-privileged and deprived persons of the society, which can be possible only through the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). People’s active co-operation and participation in the planning and implementation processes is vital for th...