Panchayats

Local Governance: 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments.Types of Urban local bodies and Panchayati Raj institutions in India.Sources of Finance in Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions.

The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts, 1992, which gave Constitutional status to panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) and urban local bodies (ULBs) respectively, in both letter and spirit in order to bring about greater decentralisation and increase the involvement of the community in planning and implementing schemes and, thus, increase accountability. The Amendments left important … Read more

Sanitation and Water Disposal

Sanitation and Water Disposal The seriousness of the challenges associated with urban water supply and sanitation in India have been recognised in recent times. After decades of neglect, the first national effort to invest in the urban water and sanitation sector commenced in the 1970s, but was accorded considerable priority in the subsequent two decades … Read more

Directive Principles of State Policy

An important feature of the constitution is the Directive Principles of State Policy. Although the Directive Principles are asserted to be “fundamental in the governance of the country,” they are not legally enforceable. Instead, they are guidelines for creating a social order characterized by social, economic, and political justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity as enunciated … Read more

Agro Food Processing: Forming village clusters and establishing Food Storage

Agro Food Processing: Forming village clusters and establishing Food Storage, Food Processing Industry is of enormous significance for India’s development because of the vital linkages and synergies that it promotes between the two pillars of the economy, namely Industry and Agriculture. India is world’s second largest producer of food and has the potential to become … Read more