Good Practices in Local Democracy

Governing the Margins: Collective Rights over Forests by Gram Sabha Federation in Kalahandi, Odisha
By Sital Kumar | July 2026
From Barren Lands to Green Commons: How Communities Revived their Grazing Lands in Bhilwara
By Rajan Kumar Singh | July 2026
Digambarpur Gram Panchayat: A Lesson in Self-Reliance
Insights on grassroots governance by Ashok Sircar and Sukanta Sarkar
Recasting Power: A Rural Feminist Movement Transforms Gujarat’s Local Democracy
By Sonal Sethia | Dec 2025
Inside the Devgadh Mahila Sangathan’s quiet revolution reshaping local governance and accountability from the village upward.
Grassroot Women Leaders engage with Local Governance: The Story from Barwani District of Madhya Pradesh
By Ritwika Mitra | Nov 2025
Meet Badlao Didis of Madhya Pradesh who are engaging with local governance to improve infrastructure and services.
Gram Panchayat Help Desk: Bridging the last mile in welfare delivery to the rural poor
A collaborative initiative between PRADAN and Gram Panchayats in Jharkhand
By Sukanta Sarkar and Ashok Sircar | April 2025
Gram Kachahari: Judiciary at the Grassroots
By Anuradha Nagaraj | February 2025
A unique legal system at the Gram Panchayat level is delivering quick and effective justice to thousands in Bihar.
Gamechangers: the all-woman Gram Panchayats of Uttarakhand
By Esha Roy | January 2025
Many migration-prone Indian villages in this Himalayan state have had their fortunes turned around by women in governance roles
Children in Local Governance
By Alka D | Dec 2024
From campaigning for sanitary pad vending machines to playgrounds and cleaner villages, children are making their voice count in Maharashtra’s Gram Panchayats.
How forest ownership rights reshaped the fortunes of a tribal village
By Roli Srivastava | Nov 2024
Pachgaon, a village in Maharashtra has tapped its forest to start a bamboo business, create jobs and arrest migration. The village pays taxes and is also making a neat profit.
Empowering villagers to access their rights
By Esha Roy | Oct 2024
Nagarik Sahayata Kendra: Help desks run in collaboration between CSOs and the government is bridging last mile delivery of entitlements and redressing public grievances in rural Jharkhand.
‘Jungle is our life’: Indian villages collectivise, harness decades-old laws to protect forests
By Roli Srivastava | Sep 2024
A federation of gram sabhas in Maharashtra is using India’s forest rights laws to guard their green cover and earn steady incomes.