Panchayati Raj, a system of governance at the grassroots level in rural India, has been rightly conceived as the most viable and proper mechanism of realizing goals of democracy and decentralization. The current debate is not on its desirability but on strengthening it by identifying its weaknesses and taking care of the lacunae which are still there despite its constitutionalization through the historical 73 Constitutional Amendment Act. Prominent among these glaring lacunae are lack of Human Resource Development (HRD), awareness about their roles among the newly elected representatives and building their capacity so as to effectively discharge their functions and exercise their powers in the best interest of people who elect them. Empowerment of women and weaker sections through a well-conceived system of training at village, block and district levels for different categories of officials and non-officials both can also go a long way in making democracy, decentralization and development a successful venture. Till now, myriad of books have been published on HRD but all relate to corporate sector. There is almost absence of systematic material in the form of a book specifically on capacity-building of functionaries of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). This book is an attempt to fill this gap.
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