Local governance and village institutions– a case of effective implementation of Gram Vikas Committees by Seva Mandir

Student name: Ms Vrindaa Sharma
Guide: Dr Swarup Dutta
Year of completion: 2019
Host Organisation: Seva Mandir, Udaipur, Rajasthan
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Mr Rimjhim Pandey

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Abstract:

Strong village institutions pave way for good governance and help foster an environment of collective action and sustained and self-reliant development. When the government fails to deliver its goals at the local level, non-state actors stem up to take this responsibility. The following study looks at a similar case in Udaipur, Rajasthan wherein a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) has built in a strong institution of governance across villages for the past twenty years upon the subsequent failure of Panchayati Raj Institutions in satisfying villagers’ needs. The study understands the steps taken up by the NGO for decentralizing its responsibilities to the villagers and community’s response to it in return. It also assesses the effectiveness of this institution through the Actors-Power-Accountability framework. The study aims to understand the various formal and informal institutions of governance at the grassroots, the reasons they emerged and how they coexist.

Keywords: Rural Governance, Village institutions, Decentralization