Education per se does not necessarily enter into the production process to enhance the allocative and technical efficiency, but it is the application of education that enhances the process and lifts the production surface. This paper attempts to provide an empirical evidence obtained from the...

While reservations of seats in the panchayats have provided political space to Dalits, this has not been translated into effective power, partly due to their recent entry into electoral politics, and the continuing dominance of individuals from groups higher in the social hierarchy. While overt...

Various measures have been taken to enhance the accountability of elected representatives in the panchayats, and to make the institutions of decentralisation more responsive to the people. This was also expected to achieve more in terms of development and benefits to the people who needed them....

Karnataka’s panchayats have several groups which, in the past, did not find representation in political institutions. Now, through affirmative action, they do. In the context of representing people’s interests, representatives elected through open or reserved constituencies have not been...

Panchayats have provided the opportunity for the widest section of rural society to participate in local governance. Social conditions, however, ensure that only a section of the village people actually acquire and wield power. Political power, built through patronage, political experience, and...

People of the Scheduled Castes have a long history of being discriminated against, exploited, and placed at the bottom of caste society. The panchayati raj, after the enactment of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, brought in measures to overcome these past indignities, and provided a quota...

Silk reeling is an activity where mostly people of little education and skill learn reeling skills while being employed in the reeling units. Reeling is carried out in an environment of persistent air pollution. Workers allergic to the silk allergen (sericin and pupal allergens) suffer from...

The study had examined the functioning of women representatives and Presidents of gram panchayats in Karnataka, where reservations for these seats and posts have been in place for nearly twenty years. Participation in the activities of the Panchayat as well as leadership in carrying out the...

The paper examines feminist politics in India and the various issues with which they have been engaged. The two issues that divide women and inhibit alliances among the women’s movements are the Uniform Civil Code, and the reservation of seats for women in Parliament and state legislatures....

Affirmative action has enabled the representation of women in panchayats and enhanced their political status in local government. While they now possess authority through being incumbents of elective positions, this has not been translated into power (i.e. the ability to actually effect...