Panchayati Raj is a system of governance in which gram panchayats are the basic units of administration. It has 3 levels: village, block and district. At the village level, it is called a Panchayat. It is a local body working for the good of the village. The number of members usually ranges from 7 to 31; occasionally, groups are larger, but they never have fewer than 7 members. The block-level institution is called the Panchayat Samiti. The district-level institution is called the Zilla Parishad. The functioning of Panchayati Raj System in India from political, sociological, legal, anthropological and economic perspective, in the light of 73rd Constitutional amendment. Giving an indepth understanding of the status of Panchayati Raj in different states, it addresses a wide range of issues concerning empowerment of women and dalits, multi-level planning, finance, people's participation, state-local relationship, capacity building of Panchayat functionaries, socio-political and economic transformation, common resources management, leadership in Panchayati Raj institutions and theoretical nuances of local bodies. In this book, an attempt has been made to unveil the relationship between the political mobilisation of rural women and its impact on social justice with particular reference to their participation in Panchayati Raj institutions.
