Micro-Level Rural Planning: Principles, Methods and Case Studies

Planning at the village, block, district and watershed levels is considered an essential component of national planning process. National planning is a macro-exercise and is sector-cum-interregional in character. The same applies to State-level planning in India. It is what one may term as top-down planning process. Micro-level planning is a bottom-up process. It translates the objectives of national planning in terms of local projects and programmes and tries to meet the local aspirations and needs of the people. It is specific to space, time and people; mobilizes local resources; and is highly participatory. While there is no dearth of book and papers on dearth of book and papers on national planning, useful literature on micro-level planning is highly fragmentary, descriptive and rudimentary. This handbook is a preliminary attempt to fill this gap. It consists of reading materials used by the Institute of Development Studies, University of Mysore in training the district planners, drought-prone area programme officers and block development officers. It is still one of the best materials on micro-level planning available in the country. The handbook is a must for all those who have anything to do with micro-level planning as researchers, planners, development officers and politicians.