ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is an ideological debate about the political ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and Ambedkar in the context of decentralization and centralization, respectively. It focuses on the functioning of committees in rural local bodies. The book is a reflection of the paradigm shift in governance from top-down to bottom-up approach and analyses the legal and administrative aspects of democratic decentralization in West Bengal, which was begun in 1978 and adopted the provisions of amendment acts. Jawed Alam Khan discusses the decentralization in the context of devolution index (DI), which is a framework to measure the level of devolution of functions, functionaries and funds and deepening of the decentralization process. The book examines the role of decentralized governance in the service delivery with reference.
