Among the missing or grossly inadequate infrastructure support facilities for the rural economy, particularly for enabling its farming segment to attain healthy growth, highly conspicuous inadequacy of warehouses in the rural areas capable of providing safe and sound storage for the farm would surely ranks high.

The functions which the state governments devolved to the gram panchayats according to the 73rd constitutional amendment comprise important activities for the development of villages. One of the most important argument for decentralization-the government is more attentive and responsive to local peoples' needs-is of great importance for the development of villages, as it is the residents who are most affected by the local development measures taken.

The 73rd Amendment recognizes Gram Sabha as a constitutional body. This means that all the development plans of the panchayat have to be approved by the Gram Sabha.

Recently several villages near Delhi which fall in the Yamuna Expressway area have been rocked by violence. In the clashes between policeman and farmers, several farmers as well as policemen have been killed while many more have been injured. The question that arises in the middle of all this destruction and violence: could this have been avoided?

An open letter about splitting of local self government department of Kerala.

Overall strengthening of village community ties so that people work together for tasks of common welfare can be of immense significance for the success of development programmes. This is all the more important in the area of water and sanitation where initiatives which benefit the entire community are more likely. The effectiveness of this approach can be seen in Deedakheda and Rajukkheda village of Sehore block (also Sehore district), Madhya Pradesh.

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.

While it is widely agreed that an important goal of Panchayati Raj is to ensure better implementation of government's rural development programmes by ensuring participation of people, it is also important to assert that the Panchayati Raj insitutions at various levels (or three tiers) is certainly not restricted to blind acceptance of the policies and programmes of the central and state governm

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) was launched at Anantpur, Andhra Pradesh, on 2 February 2006. Five years have passed. This gives an opportunity to reflect and set norms for the future.

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