The wider democratic role of panchayats was very much in evidence on April 8, 2011 at a conference on 'Agriculture and Panchayats in Rajasthan in the Specific Context of Agreements with Multinational and other Big Agribusiness Companies'. In this conference panchayat leaders from 14 districts of Rajasthan unanimously called upon the Rajasthan government to cancel agreements on farm research with seven multinational and other big agribusiness companies during 2010.

In recent months, the BJP-dominated Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Congress-led Delhi government have been outdoing each other in floating proposals and schemes for better governance. The MCD is in the throes of implementing a new Residents' Welfare Committee (RWC) scheme.

Anna Hazare’s hunger fast last week for probity in politics captured the news agenda and unleashed a nationwide frenzy. Declarations of victory may be premature since the real work of drafting a law on the Lokpal is only just beginning. Corruption is not an abstract evil that can be combated by the virtuous few.

The papers in the special issue on Rammanohar Lohia (EPW, 2 October 2010) did not dwell on the socialist leader’s thinking on local governance and local development, ideas which continue to be relevant today for rural development.

Inputs for the approach paper to the 12th Five Year Plan.

December 2010 witnessed the dawn of democracy in Jharkhand, which is one of the poorest and Maoist-infested tribal states of India. Polls were held on a non-party basis.

This is a  special report in Down To Earth on how the 13the Finance Commission puts three times more money in the hands of local governments to spend—at their own will.

Education and health are commonly devolved functions to sub-national governments, even in nations which have a unitary rather than a federal structure.