KNOWLEDGE LEVEL AND AWARENESS OF OFFICATING MEMBERS, MEMBERS AND NON MEMBERS TOWARDS PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

The present study was carried out in Patna district of Bihar. Taking 60 women respondents who were selected randomly from the block of Fathua and Phulwarisharif respectively. The ten respondents were randomly selected from each group of officiating member, Panchayat samiti member and non-member of different Panchayats. During the study seven most relevant independent variables ie education, land holding, age, annual income, level of participation, duration of Membership and on-going Programme awareness in Panchayat were identified. The dependent variable of the study was knowledge level of the women towards panchayati raj institutions. The results indicate that the socio-economic condition of respondents of Panchayat appeared to be quite low, with majority of them pursuing agriculture and allied activities as their primary occupation and possessing small and marginal land holdings. The finding suggest that knowledge level of women respondents appeared to be at very high level on some key aspects of Panchyat Raj system and it was found very poor on some other aspects of Panchayat Raj system. Based on the results, it was concluded that capacity building can bring major desirable changes in effective functioning of PRIs and it also enhances the participation of women which ultimately help them to realize the goals for the amendment of constitution of India.