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Title: Grass without roots: Rural development under government auspices by L. C Jain ISBN: 0-8039-9501-6 Publisher: Sage Publications Pub. Date: 1985 Format: Paperback

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)

Rating: 5
Summary: A strong argument against a centralized government
Comment: L.C. Jain's 1986 book Grass Without Roots is concerned with the plight of development schemes since independence. The core of this book is what Jain sees as the very real problem of political institutions and the legitimacy of government in Indi. The following quote sums up this thesis nicely:

"the basic reason for the failure of rural development and poverty alleviation programmes is the exclusion of the people from participation in the development process and the abandonment of the institutions of democratic decentralization."

The Forward to Jain's book, written by Rauji Kothari, is even more precise. It singles out the Westminster model as the root of most of the problems plaguing state government in India. In terms very similar to Gandhian apporach, it blames this model for centralizing tendencies and for re-positioning power in India in the hands of the bureaucracy. "The course of economic development is vitally determined by the structure of political power." The solution that is proffered is a complete decentralization of power to the community level. While not a total rejection of the concept of the state, "Grass Without Roots" does call for the creation of Panchayati Raj (a village republic, if I remember correctly), confirming a strong Gandhian influence within this book.