• Dr. Iftikar Alam

The 2011 census indicates a decline in demographic growth in metro cities and mushrooming of census towns (CTs). India’s census recognizes these census towns as urban settlements but they largely continue to be governed as rural settlements in most of the states. As a result “These settlements continue to grow as urban while being governed by rural local bodies, which have a limited capacity to provide basic urban services such as water supply, sanitation, and street lighting (Samanta, 2014). As a local government, GP (Gram Panchayat) is responsible for the delivery of basic services to local citizens and at the same time also concerned with the vulnerabilities of poor and marginalized ones in these census towns. This can only be achieved through the implementation of well-thought-out plans through efficient and responsible utilization of available resources in these towns. “Initiatives such as Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) and Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) all are entrusted with the sole objective of strengthening Gram Panchayats as an institute of local self-government” (MoPR & MoRD, GoI 2018). The purpose of the “Model GP Clusters Project” is to demonstrate the institutional capacity of local self-government and to prepare GPDP efficiently as per the guidelines to achieve the objectives of decentralized planning and the wellbeing of the people. The descriptive-analytical approach of this paper seeks to explore the problems associated with achieving the success of decentralized planning in the previous decades in GP (Gram Panchayat), the governing institutions of census towns, and the role of the “Model GP Clusters Project” in enhancing the level of capacity of GPs to achieve the goal of GPDP, as “Rural Local Bodies (RLB)” known as “Gram Panchayats” are not efficient enough to deal with the changing characteristics result from the urbanization in these census town.

Census Towns, Rural Local Bodies, Gram Panchayats, Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP), Model GP Clusters Project, Decentralized Planning,

"RURAL GOVERNANCE IN CENSUS TOWNS: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MODEL GP CLUSTERS PROJECT IN GRAM PANCHAYAT DEVELOPMENT PLAN (GPDP) IN INDIA", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 5, page no.358-363, May 2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1905X44.pdf

"RURAL GOVERNANCE IN CENSUS TOWNS: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MODEL GP CLUSTERS PROJECT IN GRAM PANCHAYAT DEVELOPMENT PLAN (GPDP) IN INDIA", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 5, page no. pp358-363, May 2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1905X44.pdf