A comprehensive textbook that explores the practical dimensions and the political dynamics of Panchayati Raj system and its impact on rural development in India. Rural Local Governance and Development introduces its readers to the concept of governance and various aspects of the Panchayat Raj Institutions, including Panchayats in the Fifth Scheduled Areas and the institutional arrangements in the Sixth and other Scheduled Areas. The book also focusses on the role of voluntary and community-based organizations, along with the participation of vulnerable groups and their involvement in the implementation of various programmes and schemes, strategies and policy instruments in rural development.Covering wider aspects of rural governance and development, this book provides knowledge of how people, communities, institutions and PRIs plan and implement development in rural India. The balanced blend of both theory and field insights make this textbook relevant to not only students of public administration, political science and development administration but also practitioners, civil society actors and researchers. Key Features: • Analyses and links the complexities of rural governance with the challenges of development in contemporary India • Draws extensively on author’s field experiences of working in villages and with grass-roots level institutions • Each chapter aided by Main Points to Remember and review questions for classroom discussion