3
decentralization to assist with the goals of equity, participation, representation, and
empowerment?
These questions are examined here with the help of an original database compiled between
May and August 2000 in 53 villages of two Indian states, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and
including individual interviews with over 2,000 village residents, selected through random
sampling. Section 2 describes the methodology for this study. Participation in the processes and
outputs of local government is examined in relation to gram panchayats, village councils that
have been constituted by law in nearly all of rural India. Legislation enacted at state and national
levels has put in place a three-tier system of panchayati raaj (village self-government).
6
The
system of panchayati raaj was inaugurated in 1959, but it was the 73
rd
Amendment to the
Constitution of India, enacted in 1993, which first provided legal recognition to panchayats as
the third layer of government, functioning continuously below the national and state levels
(Matthew 1995). Regular elections to these local bodies were mandated by law, official
positions were reserved for scheduled castes (former untouchables), scheduled tribes,
7
and
women, and the stage was set for additional devolution of resources and authority.
Undertaken seven years after these changes were instituted, this investigation is concerned
with examining two sets of issue. I look, first, at the question of Who Participates? To what
extent do poor and lower caste villagers, women and other weaker sections of society participate
in constituting panchayats and influencing their decisions? My second question is concerned
with Who Benefits? Do vulnerable groups in villages share equally in the benefits of public
expenditures carried out at the local level? Or are elite and influential citizens able to capture
both the process and its benefits? Sections 3 and 4 look at these two questions separately.
Convention