The governments of the Himalayan hill-states and the international donor agencies have consistently advocated disbursal of funds for improvement of road connectivity in keeping with the mandates of a

A study conducted in 45 villages in the central Himalayas assesses the current status of van panchayats, an old institution of decentralised forest governance. It finds that locals are indifferent to the administrative jurisdiction of the forest in the course of their resource extraction activities. There is no quantitative evidence that they are exercising restraint while accessing and using locally governed forests. Collective rule violation appears to be common. May 3-9, 2008