FIFTY YEARS OF RURAL WELFARE ADMINISTRATION: A HISTORICAL REVIEW OF CHANDRAPUR ZILLA PARISHAD (1961– 2011)

Abstract

With the title ‘Fifty Years of Rural Welfare Administration: A Historical Review of Chandrapur Zilla Parishad (1961 – 2011),' it brings the researcher on board, involves analyzed history, function and contribution of Chandrapur Zilla Parishad for rural development and execution of rural welfare administration for fifty years. In drought-stricken areas of Maharashtra, with democratic decentralisation having created this institution, the Zilla Parishad has played a key role in delivering aid from government policies and socioeconomic development. It considers the development of the institution and its governance, its organizational structures, leadership, financial resources and the most important welfare programmes which were introduced between 1961 and 2011. It is in education, public health, rural infrastructure, sanitation, agricultural development, poverty alleviation/social welfare that its efforts stand out. The second study also investigates the changing character of local government institutions-to-State administration linkages; the effects of decentralized planning and participatory governance in enhancing the quality of rural governance, is also explored. In addition, it highlights the difficulties and problems related to implementation, inequalities, administrative restrictions and financial constraints that may have impacted the effectiveness of welfare programmes. This research is historical and descriptive research that resulted from secondary data derived from government reports, administrative documents, government publications and literature. Overall, the study aims to document the successes, limitations and changing priorities of the Chandrapur Zilla Parishad, and consequently has valuable implications for the evolution of the institutional landscape of rural welfare administration in Maharashtra since Independence.