In this definitive history, a key figure in the People's Campaign in Kerala provides a unique insider's account of one of the world's most extensive and successful experiments in decentralization. Launched in 1996, the campaign mobilized over 3 million of Kerala's 30 million people and resulted in bottom-up development planning in all 1,052 of its villages and urban neighborhoods. The authors tell a powerful story of mass mobilization and innovation as bureaucratic opposition was overcome, corruption and cynicism were rooted out, and parliamentary democracy prevailed. Considering both the theoretical and applied significance of the campaign in the context both of India's development since independence and of recent international debates about decentralization, civil society, and empowerment, the book provides invaluable lessons for sustainable development worldwide.

Using a framework generated by the theory of micro-level planning, this excellent volume critically reviews the experience of decentralized planning in Karnataka. Beginning with a brief account of the theoretical and methodological issues in decentralized planning, the author examines the institutinoal structure of deentralized governance in terms of its relevance to planning and implementation of projects at sub-regional levels. The author also explores the functioning of local institutional structures and implementation of projects, particularly those aimed at alleviating poverty. "The study will be of interest to students of decentralised planning and rural development as well as to adminstrators and policymakers." --Yojana