Abstract

India is at a crucial juncture in its quest for inclusive development, which will bring prosperity across the entire spectrum. Large amounts of public funds are spent to address these issues, but their implementation and the quality of delivered services leave much to be desired. Effective use of its own resources makes a state more developed than one lacking in this. The state’s objective is to provide the best conditions so that each individual enjoys the maximum benefit. Citizens are most significant in the development process. Economic reforms have led, especially over the last few years, not only to accelerated development but also to sustained accelerated development. This pattern of growth has the potential to widen inequality. Such an unequal opportunity structure weakens the positive role of development in reducing poverty and making growth inclusive. To achieve inclusive, sustainable development, the poor must be integrated with the dynamic sectors of growth. These are not easy but by no means impossible tasks. The solutions are also well-known; however, problems lie in their implementation. An effective administrative structure ensures that the needs of citizens are met by providing accessible and responsive public services, grievance redressal, and a framework for citizen participation. 

Keywords: Development, Dynamics, Inclusive, Sustainable, Participatory

Understanding Development: A Traditional Perspective

“Development is about the expansion of citizens’ capabilities and fulfilling their entitlements as citizens and individuals. Furthermore, it requires increasing citizens’ access and opportunities to the things they have reason to value” (Sen, 1999). 

The two broad objectives of development are to eliminate poverty and provide citizens with the right of human dignity and liberty. Various terms are used to define the socioeconomic conditions of the citizens of a state, such as underdeveloped, undeveloped, or developed. However, no fixed line exists from which a state becomes developed from underdeveloped. The term developed keeps changing as per the needs of the people during that time. Effective use of its own resources makes a state more developed than one lacking in this. Citizens are most significant in the development process. The state’s objective is to provide the best conditions so that each individual enjoys the maximum benefit.

The term development administration, coined in the 1950s, is to move the society towards modernity. Some variables are socio-economic development, institutional building, the formation of an integrated community, and the rebuilding of society. Development in the past was measured by economic growth, and little or no attention was paid to the fair distribution of social benefits. Development administration is now much more widespread and universal in its approach. It emphasises innovations, planning, and building new organisations, and places prominence on new methods, policies, programmes and procedures to expedite developmental purposes.

Contemporary Challenges in the Development of India

Two major shifts have been observed in India during the 21st Century, one is the “increased attention to the delivery of public services” and the second is the “greater decentralisation of responsibilities for these services.” 

According to the World Bank’s Spring 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief, India has lifted 171 million people out of extreme poverty, one of the most impressive accomplishments of the last decade. The percentage of Indians living on less than $2. 15 USD per day the global standard for extreme poverty—dropped dramatically from 16. 2% in 2011–12 to just 2. 3% in 2022–23. The government has been making concentrated efforts in rural and urban areas to ensure inclusive development. India has achieved significant strides in lowering poverty rates through focused welfare programmes, economic reforms, and improved access to basic services. The World Bank’s Spring 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief highlights how these programmes have had a substantial impact on millions of people and have contributed to the reduction of the nation’s poverty rate. The report also presents a contrasting picture on the front of inequality and wages, where it remarks that according to the World Inequality Database, income inequality increased from a Gini of 52 in 2004 to 62 in 2023. The median income of the top 10% in 2023–2024 was 13 times that of the bottom 10%, indicating that the wage gap is still wide.

 “Long before the planning commission endorsed the HCR approach, Amartya Sen, after examining the theoretical and practical problems of conceptualisation and measuring poverty, held that the head count measure is “quite unacceptable as an indicator of poverty”. Getting less than two meals a day is probably the most important criterion of poverty. 

Despite remarkable progress in human and economic development, regional and interstate disparities are widening, and natural disasters, such as droughts, earthquakes, and floods, significantly halt the development process and intensify the plight of vulnerable and economically exploited populations.

The states with the largest tribal populations are the north-eastern and central regions, which are falling behind. Agriculture has lagged behind the industrial and service sectors. The largely tribal populace in some of the poorest states cannot benefit from the abundance of natural and forest resources.  Religious minorities, large sections of SC and ST groups, and women still do not have access to many job opportunities and human development.  The informal sector, which is known for its low pay and unstable income, has become the largest employer, while wage growth is concentrated at the top end.

This pattern of growth has the potential to widen inequality. Such an unequal opportunity structure weakens the positive role of growth in reducing poverty and making growth inclusive. If this inequality increases further, social displacement will result and will be a major obstruction to higher growth.

India is at a crucial juncture in its quest for inclusive development that will bring prosperity across the spectrum. Large amounts of public funds are spent to address these issues; however, their implementation and the quality of services delivered leave much to be desired.

Development and Participatory Orientation: Participatory Governance, Planning, and Service Delivery

Government policy aims to address imbalances in the growth pattern, such as too few jobs and too little growth in agriculture, lagging states and regions, and groups and individuals left out of progress, to make growth more inclusive rather than just preserving rapid development. Empowerment is the cornerstone of these initiatives because it is essential for increasing opportunity equity. Although social protection is still a component of inclusive development, the empowerment approach views public sector initiatives and policies as promoting market success rather than shielding individuals from it. Therefore, empowerment is essential for increasing the advantages of economic growth and for improving accountability and service delivery.

An effective administrative structure ensures that the needs of citizens are met by providing accessible and responsive public services, grievance redressal, and a framework for citizen participation. 

Local self-government, as elaborated in our Constitution, provides the essential means of reconciling ‘accelerated growth’ with ‘inclusive development’. 

However, the constitutional provisions have not been an effective trigger for the Panchayats to function as local self-government institutions. Panchayat Raj must be elevated to the forefront of governance reform to support economic reform in a manner that ensures inclusive growth.

This should be an anomaly caused by

I. Inadequate and ineffective devolution of functions, finances, and powers by state legislatures/governments to the Panchayati Raj Institutions

II. Inadequate provisions for planning and implementation by PRIs in the guidelines issued by central ministries for centrally sponsored and central sector schemes that directly impinge on inclusive growth

According to the Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2012–2017), Faster, More Inclusive, and Sustainable Growth, “The first step in reforming public service delivery is to devise mechanisms for measuring the extent of public satisfaction with public services and publicising the results (para. 1.71.) Panchayats can have a big role in this in view of their nearness to the people and in view of the assured representation available to all sections of the society in the Panchayati Raj Institutions”. 

What is therefore required is that Panchayati Raj be brought centre-stage as the principal governance reform to reinforce economic reform and for the delivery of essential social services at the grassroots level. The following initiatives should be undertaken to make local governments effective in service delivery: 

• Ensuring participatory local-level planning by the Panchayati Raj Institutions to identify the needs, levels of delivery, and enhancements desired by the people in each sector.

• Assigning clearly demarcated roles to PRIs through activity mapping; 

• Confining centrally sponsored and state schemes to some important programmes to achieve declared national and state goals, and providing adequate space for the PRIs to participate in these schemes;

• Undertaking a well-structured process of administrative and fiscal devolution that matches the resource availability at each level of the Panchayats with assigned functions;

• Providing capacity to the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the widest sense of the term to efficiently perform their responsibilities; and

• Putting in place systems of accountability by duly empowering the Gram Sabha, so that citizens, the ultimate recipients of services, can hold the PRIs accountable for any inadequacies in service delivery.

To move forward with a well-designed inclusive governance, it would be necessary to align the three Fs funds, functions and functionaries—to have technically sound services that combine accounting (the capability to provide reliable budget control and reporting) and accountability (the ability of citizens and communities from the bottom up to hold elected officials and providers responsible for outputs and outcomes). 

Nonetheless, inclusive governance will provide a chance to unbundle responsibilities among levels of government to establish checks and balances in the tiers’ best interests—so that one tier reports on the performance of another—to help citizens obtain the data they require to establish performance accountability. Second, the establishment of new lines of responsibilities will also provide opportunities to fortify the demand side, which is the bottom-up mobilisation of communities to demand improved performance, better information, and more scope for forwarding their views and exercising choice.

It seems that panchayats are gradually being accepted in the execution of line ministry plans. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme is undoubtedly the most significant of these, with major implementation and planning duties delegated to Panchayats at the district, intermediate and village levels. These have been identified as the main decision-makers for implementation and planning. The NREGA stipulates that the Village Panchayats must undertake at least 50% of the value-added work. 

Some of the flagship programmes addressing the concerns of rural areas include Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin, Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana, Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, Deen Dayal Upadhyay – Gramin Kaushal Yojana, Ujjwala Scheme, and National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) with a primary focus on improving the socio-economic conditions, livelihood opportunities, skilling of youths, empowering rural women, and infrastructure development. 

The programmes, such as the National Food Security Mission, the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, and the Agricultural Development Programme, are all based on the concept of grassroots-level planning, Panchayats, culminating in the District Planning Committee bringing together the agricultural plan into the district plan.

One of the significant initiatives in overhauling and empowering the Gram Panchayats was the preparation of the Gram Panchayat Development Plan. This provided the GPs with the opportunity to plan and decide for themselves. These plans are context- and need-specific to the respective GPs, allowing for effective use of the resources devolved to GPs. The GPDP process has been described as involving the convergence of schemes of the central ministries or line departments related to the 29 subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule. 

Gender Equality and Affirmative Action: Strengthening Women’s Decision-Making Power for Holistic Development

Gender discrimination in India encompasses the stereotyped view of women’s roles with respect to men in the context of patriarchal culture and politics. It is consequent upon women’s representation and participation in public life. Women are mostly confined to household domestic labour. Leading and political participation, such as decision-making, is attributed to masculine affairs, thus offsetting women’s workforce and contribution. Moreover, because of the cultural and embedded patriarchal value system in Indian society, there are cases of male preferences that entail female foeticide and abortion, leading to an adverse sex ratio and burden on women. It also manifests in women’s health conditions, secondary educational preference for girls, child marriage and violence, the illegitimate practice of dowry, and political disenfranchisement. Some major causes of gender discrimination in India are educational backwardness, caste, religious beliefs, culture, customs, race, low income, unemployment, family situation, and attitudes.

The positioning of women in leadership has seen great improvements in India, yet it is concurrent with a significant degree of gender disparity. It continues to be perpetuated in its crude form predominantly in rural areas. In traditional Indian society, barring a few historical exceptions, influencing, decision-making, and leading have been ascribed as masculine and an external endeavour distinct from the domestic fold, where women are thought to be destined in the traditional social imagination and practices. In modern societies, the rule of law, which gives equal space to every individual, irrespective of gender orientation, has dawned a new era of political space. In India, the introduction of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in 1992 for decentralisation of governance and women’s empowerment has principally given a boost to the long-needed positive change in the country. Before the Act, women were practically invisible in the grassroots decision-making process. In over 2 decades, over a million women representatives have been elected in India’s PRIs (a local governance system). 

Affirmative Action for Social, Economic, and Political Empowerment

Women’s empowerment in the social, economic, and political spheres is a crucial step to ameliorate and improve the conditions of women in India. Empowerment that entails representational justice should correspond with the implementation and execution of participation of women in public life. The practicality of women’s participation, both in terms of quantity and quality, can be realised through a shift in women’s role perception and role allocation. Tiwari notes that “Indian society is not very open for women,” facing challenges at various levels, which significantly restrict their freedom of participation in public life. 

Despite the empowerment in the letter, actual participation in the political process is still hindered to a great extent by stereotyping, particularly in rural India. Gender stereotyping in society adversely affects the process of socio-economic and political participation and hampers household productivity and economic and political vibrancy. Empowering women in their role performance, especially in decision-making for holistic development in India, is an impending need. 

Strengthening Women’s Decision-Making Power for Holistic Development

UN Women (2021) Working Paper: Women’s Representation in Local Government: Global analysis shows that only 20 nations have achieved women’s representation of over 40 per cent in local decision-making entities, while an additional 28 countries have women’s representation ranging between 30 and 40 per cent. However, there is a significant lack of female representation in most countries. Seventy countries have women’s representation between 10% and 30%, and 15 countries have women’s representation of less than 10%. This distribution mirrors the pattern observed in parliamentary representation.

 “The belief that women’s decision-making is an index of empowerment is reflected in the United Nations Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), which tracks the percentages of women in Parliament, legislative assemblies, and senior professional and technical positions. Tracking women’s progress through numbers is not new, and there is a growing demand that women be given a larger role in political decision-making. Women need to be “empowered” in this realm to facilitate their “real empowerment”.

The Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) Act 1992, which reserved one-third of seats for women, is a clear move to enable decision-making more inclusive and participatory for women at the grassroots level in India. “The biggest success of panchayat raj in India is that it has politically and socially empowered women. Of the 26,00,000 panchayat representatives in the country, 9,75,000 are women, of which 8,50,000 are from the SC/STs.” Here, “Reservation has played a significant role; four-fifths [with 43% first-timers] of all the EWRs [elected women representatives] were elected from reserved seats... Its absence dissuaded 39% of former EWRs from seeking re-election.” Legislation Reservation plays a pivotal role in enabling women’s participation in public life.

Women may be elected as representatives in PRIs, but they often face barriers when it comes to assuming leadership roles. Socio-cultural barriers, such as deep-rooted socio-cultural norms and gender stereotypes, can pose significant challenges to women’s active participation in PRIs. Discrimination, biases, and societal expectations can discourage women from contesting elections or engaging in political processes, further perpetuating the gender gap. There is a lack of resources and capacity building. Women in PRIs may face resource constraints and limited access to training and capacity-building programmes. Women in PRIs may face challenges in asserting their decision-making power and having their voices heard. Women representatives in PRIs often require support systems to navigate the complexities of local governance and address specific challenges.

Need for Women’s Leadership in Different Sectors

Women were given the right to bring their presence in the Panchayats to contribute to good financial management and honest, corruption-free services. It had an instrumentalist approach, as is the usual justification, for example, for women’s education leading to better-educated children, better family welfare, etc. However, as women’s experience and performance have shown, these reservations for women had greater potential to affect not only the character of rural governance but also the role and place of women in public life, with ultimate impact on the household. 

Because women are entering a male-dominated field, their struggles do not end when they join political institutions. Eliminating discrimination, neglect, and apathy that affect even the equitable use of resources is the primary challenge of mainstreaming gender in local rural governance. This is because patriarchal resistance persists in many forums, limiting women’s potential contribution to enabling governance in Panchayats. 

Even when women are elected to the Panchayats, their husbands or near-male kin represent their participation or presence in the decision-making process. The proxysm cautioned in the initial adoption period of the 73rd Amendment remains alive. Many women still face the burden of the “politics of presence” in PRIs. Therefore, women are not really represented, even though the policy provides for reservation. 

Hierarchical gender relations and patriarchal structures in a society limit women’s autonomy and decision-making in the home. Political institutions that also function within these hierarchical gender structures reproduce similar asymmetrical gender relations in public interactions. In fact, this resistance and gender rigidity are also evident in the discussion of the proxyism of elected women in Panchayats and the so-called de facto politics of someone else conducting EWRs’ duties. It frequently gives the impression of proxysm but also undermines the effectiveness of elected women.

There is a dire need for the government and the UN to make a clarion call for inclusive development. It is especially desirable and significant for leaders from across the board to realise the government’s emphasis on gender-equitable and inclusive development. 

Self-Help Groups in Women’s Empowerment

Amartya Sen identified ‘bargaining’ as an important non-material capability in determining outcomes, and the ability to collectively bargain, plan projects and organise group activities has been greatly improved through the Kudumbashree (SHG)movement. Hence, social capital has been considerably enhanced. There is a greater willingness to cooperate with others, leading to mutual trust, and the trust of the community in the SHG members has also increased. Cooperation with local government representatives has also improved significantly. Thus, Kudumbashree combines credit support with social capital.

Despite some issues and potential difficulties, the Kudumbashree movement has certainly helped in gender mainstreaming and poverty alleviation. First, it has made women more aware of the causes of poverty and ways to resolve it. Financial security is a prerequisite for empowerment, and the Kudumbashree movement has helped women to stand on their own feet by enabling them to achieve greater economic self-reliance through the establishment of micro-enterprises and other income-generating activities. Women share and discuss issues affecting their sources of income and livelihoods in NHGs’ weekly meetings. 

The Kudumbashree network also ensures that women are actively involved in planning and development processes as they prepare micro-plans at the NHG level and higher-level plans through both ADSs and CDSs, which are then integrated into the local governments’ poverty eradication plans. This combination of hard work, joint action, inventiveness, planning, and active Approximately Rs 53,000 crore was spent on women’s salaries between FY 2006–07 and FY 2011–12, and women accounted for 47% of all person-days produced. This indicates the tremendous potential of this employment guarantee scheme in transforming gender relations and narrowing the gender gap.

When women and men have equal rights and opportunities in all spheres of society, including economic involvement and decision-making, and when their distinct needs, desires, and behaviours are equally recognised and favoured, gender equality has been attained. The region is changing as intended due to the active involvement of individuals in grassroots planning and execution, which has brought about peace and started the process of prosperity. Therefore, integrating the impoverished with the dynamic development sectors is essential for achieving inclusive development. These tasks are not simple, but they are also not impossible. The solutions are well known, but their implementation presents challenges. Therefore, shifting from a central provision model to one that decentralises authority to local governments will change many existing relationships, including those between citizens, elected representatives, and local bureaucracy. 

“In addition to ensuring political empowerment, such inclusive governance would also yield significant inclusive development by enabling people to control their own destiny. The active participation of people in political processes and grassroots planning will bring about the desired transformation of the region by establishing peace and setting in motion the wheels of progress towards prosperity”.