Village Panchayats Research Articles

Distribution of A1A2BO and Rh Blood Group among the Rajputs and Warlis of Naroli Village Panchayat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli

Blood groups and other biochemical markers are genetically controlled traits that are suitable for studying population variation, as they are not subjected to environmental influence. The present paper reports the distribution of A1A2BO and Rh blood groups among the Rajputs and Warlis of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The frequency of blood group O is found to be highest with high frequency of Rh+ve in both the populations. A non- significant difference is found in the observed and expected frequencies indicating both the populations are in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. When compared with the other available data of western India, the frequencies of A1A2BO and Rh blood groups among the Rajputs and Warlis are within reported range of frequencies.

Democratic Decentralisation and the Millennium Development Goals for Health

In the context of the targets for primary health identified by the MDGs this article evaluates the link between decentralisation and positive outcomes for women and children. Using India as a case study, the article traces the changes in health attainments as a result of decentralisation reforms. The evidence presented, drawn from the experiences of two states, speaks to the relevance of such a link. Despite the heterogeneity of contexts and in implementation, in general democratic decentralisation has enhanced health outcomes for women in the selected village Panchayats. However, the article unearths significant differences in the impacts of decentralisation between the two states. The variations in outcomes between the two states are found to be linked to the architecture of decentralisation design as well as to ‘non-statutory’ provisions that can create a process of path-dependency towards achieving MDGs. The article also flags key methodological complexities inherent in the current MDG framework with respect to the actualization of the goals of equity and access to primary health.

Social and Educational Characteristics of Village Leadership in Haryana

Based on empirical information, the proportion of younger and middle-aged leaders in gram panchayats in India is increasing, particularly among women and relatively educated leaders. However, an emerging young leadership is absent in the case of scheduled castes (A) and backward castes (A) leaders. The study also reveals that caste is a significant factor in electing a panch or sarpanch in a village panchayat. Reservations on caste basis and the ward system have further reenforced this trend. In general, leaders at the gram panchayat level are either illiterate or educated up to the matriculation level, while the leaders of upper, farming and backward castes (B) are better in terms of educational achievements as compared to leaders of other castes. Furthermore, the young leaders are relatively better educated and a majority of them are from smaller families. Thus, leaders belonging to upper and farming castes are socially and educationally ahead of leaders from other castes.

Village Panchayats’ Common Lands

The statutory authority pertaining to management of common lands lies with the state legislatures and administrations, which enact and effect laws pertaining to the subject of land including common lands. Hence, Haryana State has adopted ‘The Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act 1961.' The Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Rules 1964 (for Haryana) provides an account of comprehensive details of various kinds of provisions necessary for regulating and managing the common lands in the state. Some relevant provisions to this effect are also made there in the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act-1994. It is concluded that there is complete control of the State Government in managing the village common lands of the state. The State Government possesses all requisite executive and administrative powers for the said purpose. The executive authority vested in officials from secretariat to village levels enables the Government for effective management of shamlat land related affairs in the state. The Gram Panchayat is entrusted with the significant responsibility to perform all kinds of functions relating to the utilization, protection and preservation of these lands. But inspite of an effective constitutional arrangement, it is found that a large area of common land in the state has remained unutilized mainly because of the absence of resources and innovative ideas in this regard. Therefore, there is an urgent need to evolve a policy measure for improving the potentiality of common lands to earn more income for the village panchayts in the state.

Trust, Administrative Capacity and Tax Collection in Indian Village Panchayats: Debating the Status of House Tax Collection in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu

Trust, Administrative Capacity and Tax Collection in Indian Village Panchayats: Debating the Status of House Tax Collection in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu

Decentralisation or Retreat of the State? : Comparison of House Tax Collection in Village Panchayats in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu

Decentralisation or Retreat of the State? : Comparison of House Tax Collection in Village Panchayats in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu

Assessing the performance of primary health centres under decentralized government in Kerala, India.

Kerala's government health-care system functions relatively well compared with other Indian States, but utilization levels are decreasing due to lack of essential facilities. The opportunity cost of seeking medical care from the government sector is high, even for the poor, with 60-70% of the poor seeking care from the private sector and spending disproportionately on health care (about 40% of income compared with 2.4% by the rich). In 1996, the Kerala government brought primary health centres (PHCs) under the control of local governments (panchayats). To provide an approach to assess PHC performance under decentralized government. The study was conducted in three stages. The first stage included all 990 village panchayats in Kerala. The second stage covered 10 panchayats (their respective 10 PHCs and 65 sub-centres) occupying the top five and bottom five ranks in terms of resource allocation to health. Two panchayats (their respective PHCs and sub-centres), one each from the top five and the bottom five, were chosen for the third stage. Published and unpublished government data, panchayat development reports, panchayat and PHC records, facility checklist, and key informant and client exit interviews were used for data collection. Panchayats in Kerala allocated a lower proportion of resources to health than that allocated by the state government prior to decentralization; while panchayat resources grew at an annual rate of 30.7%, health resources grew at 7.9%. PHCs were funded to the extent of 0.7-2.7% of the total cost. An additional 2% in PHC resources was associated with improved patient load (63.5%), cost-effectiveness (50.8%), medicine supply (49.4%), information (32.8%) and patient satisfaction (12.7%). An annual increase of US$940 in PHC resources would help to extend primary care facilities to 3000 (15.5%) more users. Decentralization brought no significant change to the health sector. Active panchayat support to PHCs existed in only a few places, but wherever it was present, the result was positive. Kerala should find an alternative strategy to channel panchayats towards health before health loses its battle for resources.

Decentralised Planning and Growth in the Productive Sectors: Case Study of a Village Panchayat in Kerala

Decentralised Planning and Growth in the Productive Sectors: Case Study of a Village Panchayat in Kerala

A Report On Knowledge, Attitude, Use-Pattern And Availability Of Jeevan Jal(Pre-Packaged Oral Rehydration Slts) In Baitadi

A Study regarding the knowledge, altitude, use pattern and availabity of Jeevan Jal JJ was undertaken in the remote hilly district of Baitadi of Far Western Development Region of Nepal. The study shows that the females are less aware(38.7% about Jeevan Jal than the males (76%). 57.3% of the total respondents had knowledge about Jeevan Jal, 42% know the use of it and 28.3% consider it should be given in diarrhoes accordingly as recommended. 64.5% of those, who have seen JJ (116/172) had prepared its solution, but only 27.6% (32/116) can make it correctly, (and the males leading again-17.3% versus 4% females, that is only 10.6% of the total,) and 62.9% know that it must be used within24 hours of preparation of the solution. 98% of the respondents found it is not available in the village panchayat office or worker (31.2%) and/or centrally located home in the village(29.5%).

Panchayati Raj and environmental management

The 73rd Constitution Amendment Act, making Panchayats at three levels ‘Institutions of Self-government’ has also provided a list of subjects to be brought under the Panchayats. Among the 29 subjects mentioned in the Eleventh Schedule, land improvement, land consolidation, soil conservation, water management, social forestry, minor forest produce, non-conventional energy sources, sanitation, and maintenance of assets, are subjects related to environmental management. In the fifty years after Independence there was a statutary vacuum at the local level for planning and implementing programmes which protect the life and property of the people and improve their quality of life. The idea was that whatever the people's needs were, they could be dealt with from the top, the relics of an imperial structure, through the departments and their officials. Now we know that this approach has never been sensitive to local necessities. If we accept Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) as the defacto third tier of governance, all administrative, planning and implementation activities should converge at the district level from the Gram Sabhas, Village Panchayats and Block Samitis. The Constitution has made provisions for this in Article 243. People's representatives taking decisions in tandem with the experts, is the ideal situation to protect the environment and ecological balance.

Do Anti-poverty Programmes Reach the Rural Poor in India?

This paper argues for a shift of emphasis from larger outlays on two major anti-poverty schemes - the rural public works (RPW) and integrated rural development (IRDP) programmes - to improvements in their design and implementation. Enhanced outlays do not matter much, as they tend to be mistargeted. More specifically, based on National Sample Survey data for 1987-88, neither RPW nor IRDP covered a large segment of the rural poor, while among their beneficiaries the shares of the (relatively) well-off were not negligible. However, the RPW was more effective in excluding the non-poor rather than attracting the poor. There has been a progressive weakening of targeting in both schemes as leakages to the non-poor rose. More of the poor are likely to benefit from RPW if the wage rate is lowered (relative to the agricultural wage), if a combination of piece and time rates is used and if wages in kind are discontinued. On the other hand, in the context of IRDP, there is a need to eliminate the interest subsidy, place greater emphasis on the reduction of transaction costs and to vest rights of land in women. Given the key role of the Village Panchayat in poverty alleviation, it is imperative that it is accountable to the village community. But above all, benefits to the poor from anti-poverty programmes depend ultimately on whether they have the collective strength to affirm their interests.

System and Functions of Village Panchayats in India

System and Functions of Village Panchayats in India

Fish Production in Nepal: Problems and Prospects: A Case Study of Krishnapur Village Panchayat of Siraha District

Not Available.

Government revenue and expenditure in an agrarian economy: North Arcot District in South India

AbstractThis paper uses disaggregated data to assess the recent history and geography of revenue mobilization and expenditure allocation in a district where rice production increased by 50 per cent during the decade 1973–83 and where gross urban output (to judge from research in one market town) increased in real terms by a factor of 8. At the district level, land revenue is a small and unstable component of revenue despite the dynamism of the rice economy. Furthermore rice is exempt from commercial taxes, which are eight times more important than land revenue, just under half of which derives from traded agricultural goods. Despite the region's commercial dynamism, real revenue has increased by only 76 per cent over the decade, suggesting substantial evasion. The district appears to be a net donor to the state fisc. Direct expenditure shows urban bias (being 60 per cent more per caput than rural expenditure), though the gap has been narrowing. Despite this trend the rice‐producing sector appears to be a net beneficiary from direct revenue and expenditure. A rural micro‐level case study shows that the village panchayat is a net donor and the urban panchayat union a net recipient of an unstable quantum of revenue. A case study of an urban municipality shows real revenue declining over the decade, forcing an increasing dependence upon discretionary grants from the state government, which cannot prevent a deterioration in urban infrastructure. Indirect revenue and expenditure shows a recent trend towards the rural population. Public sector employment is numerically significant, urban, and has average incomes equal to the top decile of rural cultivators.

Fuel and fodder from village woodlots: A Gujarat (India) experience

Having attained self-sufficiency in food production, India is now concentrating in using wastelands to increase its production of other products of agroforestry namely, fodder, fuel and small timber for the poorer section of society. Many agroforestry practices are being tried towards the attainment of this goal. In one such attempt, a 4 ha plantation was established in 1974 on Community grazing land in the village of Dhanori in Gujarat as a part of the State Village Forests Scheme. Casuarina equisetifolia was planted beca se it suited the site and because the villagers wished it. Grasses grew up naturally as a result of the enclosure. The trees were felled in 1983–4 and the distribution of benefits determined by the village panchayat. The internal Rate of Return was 35%. Villagers benefited from grasses, fuelwood and small timber for house construction and repair and from the employment generated. The success of the project led the village to organize itself into a Tree Grower's Society and undertake further planting in 1985–6. The demonstrated efficiency of the woodlot let to 200 ha of other plantations being established in the area. the poor benefited considerably from the project but if they had a greater say in the deliberations of the panchayat, the benefits could have been even greater. this agroforestry system has the potential of increasing the production of grasses, fuelwood, small timber and fruits (food) from wastelands.

Immunization coverage of children in a semi-urban village panchayat in Nepal, 1985

This research project, funded by the Yale International Committee and in cooperation with UNICEF, Nepal, used a questionnaire to survey and assess the immunization status of children 3 years or younger in a semi-urban panchayat. Mothers of children ranging in age from less than 1 month to 3 years were questioned both about immunization status of their children and their own use of health care and specific sources of information. 54% (124/228) of the children had received at least one vaccine and only 4% (10/228) had full coverage with the recommended vaccines (3 doses of DPT and TOPV, one dose of measles and BCG). The mean number of vaccinations for males was significantly greater than that for females (2.12 vs 1.39, P = 0.007, t = 2.80). Male children were twice as likely to have received vaccines as females (76/122, 62% vs 48/106, 45%; Odds Ratio = 2.00). Children born at a hospital were more likely than those born at home to have been vaccinated (23/34, 68% vs 101/194, 52%; P = 0.05, x 2 = 12.52, d.f. = 2). Most mothers obtained health information from neighbors (38%), radio (22%), or health workers (18%), and 85% of the children were born at home; the majority (164/228, 72%) of the women received assistance during childbirth, 28% of the total reported self delivery. More than 70% of the women felt that vaccinations were good preventive measures. The study results suggest that health education about immunization efforts should be focused on women and these efforts should be intensified.

THE FLOW OF BENEFITS FROM THE DHANORI VILLAGE WOODLOT SCHEME

SUMMARY A 4 ha plantation was established in 1974 on community grazing land in the village of Dhanori in Gujarat as part of the state village forests scheme. Casuarina equisetifolia was planted because it suited the site and the villagers wanted it. The trees were felled in 1983–4 and the distribution of benefits determined by the village panchayat. the Internal Rate of Return was 38%. Villagers benefited from fuelwood and small timber for house construction and repair and from the employment generated. The success of the project led the village to organize itself into a Tree Growers Society and undertake further planting in 1984–86. The demonstrative effect of the woodlot led to 250 ha of other plantations being established in the area. The poor benefited considerably from the project but if they had a greater say in the deliberations of the panchayat the benefits could have been even greater.

Anemia in children of rural Kathmandu.

Blood specimens from 213 children, 1 to 14 years from randomly selected houses of 2 village panchayats of Kathmandu were examined. The mean hemoglobin level was 12–23 g/dl (S.D.±1·28) and it increased with age, 78·4% were found to be anemic. However there was only one case of severe anemia while the number of cases of moderate anemia was 13. Age, sex, ethnicity, literacy of parents or of children, father’s occupation and nutritional status of the children did not have any significant effect on the prevalence of anemia. Girls entering puberty had lower hemoglobin level and hence may be at risk of developing anemia.

The firewood crisis in India: a major socio‐cultural problem of rural communities

This paper considers some of the causes of the present fuelwood crisis in India. These include: rapidly increasing population; increasing costs of other fuels; depletion of forest resources; inadequate reforestation; competition between commercial and non‐commercial users of woodfuel. The main reasons for the problem's having reached crisis proportions are, however, lack of realistic, practical policies at both state and federal levels. This means the provision of wood fuel from the nation's forests specifically for the rural poor. While ever the forests are managed solely for industrial wood production, the rural energy problem will remain. Nothing less than a rationalisation of land allocation in regions and districts together with policies for the distribution of the produce under the auspices of the village panchayats will meet these requirements.

Fuel, food or forest? Dilemmas in a Nepali village

Field data from a village Panchayat in the East Nepal Hill Region demonstrate that deforestation is caused not so much by fuelwood demand as by the need to clear forest areas for food supply. The method of analysis uses questionnaire survey, participant observation and direct measurements in a micro set-up to assess the demand, as well as the supply systems of food and fuel, and to analyse the impact on deforestation. Policy implications suggest that to control deforestation, food production and distribution practices need to be improved, existing forests need to be managed better to increase sustainable fuelwood supply, and the direct participation of local people is indispensable to implement desired improvements.