ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the journey towards democratic decentralization that had begun with the promulgation of the Constitution in 1950. It focuses on two main and one supplementary arguments: one of the two major arguments underlines the point that the 1992 Amendments which constitutionalized panchayat governance were the outcome of popular movements in support of the decentralization of power following Gandhi's conceptual parameters. The second argument delves into the nature of each of the steps that seem to have prepared the next stage of development in this regard. The supplementary argument seeks to see the series of movements that helped build a powerful voice in India in favour of localizing governance within a uniform theoretical framework by underlining the fact that they were internally linked, given their identical aim to articulate democratic decentralization in its true spirit and form. The chapter seeks to acquaint readers with the processes supportive of panchayat governance in India.
