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| Certificate in Panchayati Raj Institutions in India (Local-Self Governance) |
| APPLICATION FORM |
| Why the need for this course? |
The 73rd
Constitutional Amendment Act of 1993 envisioned a vibrant
Panchayati Raj system, responsive to the needs and aspirations
of the local community, where informed and inclusive
participation of all citizens, cutting across caste,
class and gender, in the planning and administration
ensured accountability of the system to the local community.
In actual practice, however, many impediments still
exist which affect the functioning of Panchayati Raj
Institutions (PRIs). The top down model of development
as practiced by state over the years has systematically
undermined people's capacity to govern themselves. The
marginalised identities of women, dalits & tribals
have often limited their capacities to articulate and
act upon their claims and concerns. Educational intervention
with village community, elected members and the government
functionaries to strengthen PRI, therefore, becomes
very important. PRIA's experience of 25 years in the
area of Governance indicates that strengthening the
PRIs and empowering the PRI members is a responsible
task. Professionals, without the in-depth understanding
of Panchayati Raj system of governance, may actually
impede the functioning of PRIs as institutions of self-governance.
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Responding
to the above educational need, PRIA Continuing Education
is launching a "Certificate in Panchayati Raj Institutions
in India (Local Self-Governance)", in a distance
education mode. The course aims to build basic understanding
of PRIs, which is a necessary prerequisite to promote
an effective institution of self-government at the local
level. The course intends to empower and expand knowledge
and skills of the personnel concerned and update their
professional expertise. |
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| Who can join? |
This course
presents opportunities to a wide and diverse spectrum
of development professionals from within India as well
as parts of South Asia. The eligible learners include
current and future practitioners from Voluntary Development
Organisations, Administrative Training Institutions,
Sectoral Departments as forestry, water, irrigation,
International NGOs and grass roots organisations such
as Community Based Organisations, Nehru Yuva Kendra
at the village level, Line Department officials/Government
officials at the block level responsible for village
development and students & researchers. |
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| Special features |
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This innovative course is one of its kinds, at the national, regional and international level, in a distance education mode. |
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A range of conceptual
and practical issues on Panchayati Raj governance
raised in the course are, on the one hand, tested
in the field set up and, on the other hand, enriched
by PRIA's networking with experts and practitioners.
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It has leading
national and international academics and practitioners
as part of guest faculty and its advisory committee.
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The course material
is specially designed and developed to meet special
requirements of distance mode of education. It
includes inbuilt exercises, in text questions
to stimulate critical thinking and analysis. |
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To
encourage maximum interaction between the instructor
and the learners a PRIA web board has been developed
wherein the students can post their queries, comments,
suggestions, and experiences and participate in
the online but asynchronous discussions. The students
can also access the tutor through emails and phone.
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| Course structure |
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| Course Goal: |
| To strengthen understanding on the concepts and principles of decentralisation and the fundamentals underlying PRIs |
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To meet the above goal, the course is divided into six units: |
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| Unit 1 : Panchayati raj governance |
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History of the evolution of the panchayati raj |
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Democratic decentralisation |
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73 rd Constitutional Amendment Act & Post Amendment scenario |
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| Unit 2 : Democratic mandate |
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Panchayat elections |
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Gram sabha |
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Unit 3 : Strengthening financial capacities of PRIs |
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Fiscal decentralisation in practice |
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Transfers to local government: finance commissions & local government finance |
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Citizen engagement in fiscal process of panchayat |
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| Unit 4 : Local Development Planning: Process, Priorities, and Outcomes |
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Decentralised planning in India |
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The planning process in PRIs |
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Development priorities and PRIs |
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Participatory local planning |
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| Unit 5 : Panchayati raj institutions: Equity, entitlement & social justice |
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Participation of women, dalit, tribals |
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Enabling & disabling factors |
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Assessment of positive experiments |
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| Unit 6 : Citizen participation: Process & outcomes |
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Right to information |
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Capacity building of elected representatives |
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Information dissemination: Panchayat resource centers |
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Emerging citizen leadership |
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Community based organisation linkages |
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Learning objectives
On completion of the course the learners would: |
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Understand the concepts and principles of decentralisation and the fundamentals underlying PRIs. |
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Be familiar with the issues related to PRIs. |
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Build understanding on strategies for strengthening PRIs. |
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Team involved in course development and
delivery
Advisory committee |
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Farrell, Martha, Director, PRIA Continuing Education, New Delhi. |
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Jain, S.P. (Dr.), Retd. Director, National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad. |
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Koul, B.N.(Prof.), Former Director, IGNOU, New Delhi. |
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Rai, Manoj, Director, PRIA, New Delhi. |
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Sarin, Rita, Country Director, The Hunger Project, New Delhi. |
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Singh, R.R.(Prof.), Retd.,Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. |
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Sinha, B. K.(Dr.), Executive Director, CENCORD, Patna. |
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Tandon, Rajesh (Dr.), President,
PRIA, New Delhi. |
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| Faculty |
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| Course Instructor: |
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Dale, Priyanka, Sr. Programme
Officer (PRI), PRIA, New Delhi |
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| Authors |
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Jain , S.P.(Dr.), Retd. Director, National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad. |
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Pant, Mandakini (Dr.), Sr. Manager,
PRIA Continuing Education, New Delhi. |
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Sinha, B. K.(Dr.), Executive Director, CENCORD, Patna. |
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| Editor |
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Rai, Manoj, Director, PRIA,
New Delhi |
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| Secretarial support |
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Bhaskaran, K.V., Executive
Secretary, PRIA Continuing Education, New Delhi. |
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| Admission procedure |
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Eligibility : The minimum required qualification is Bachelor's degree in any subject for English Course and 10+2 for Hindi Course. |
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Mode of delivery : The course is offered in a distance mode, making learning accessible through part time study, outside working hours. Distance delivery includes print materials, audio-visual CDs, guest faculty and immediate and engaged communication through web board. |
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Duration : The course is of 3 months duration . |
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Medium of instruction : The course will be delivered in English & Hindi. |
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Credits and evaluation : All the certificate programmes are of 8-credits and involve 240 hours of study. Evaluation will be based on written assignments in the form of reflection papers, Group work (virtual), Quiz and project work/ project proposal or an essay. |
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Course fee : The course fee is Rs.6000/- or 250 US$ for applicants outside India, for Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka- The fee is INR 7000/-.payable in one instalment. |
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Payment of fee : The fee is to be paid in Demand Draft drawn in favour of "Society for Participatory Research in Asia", payable at New Delhi. The fee can also be paid through Bank Transfer. |
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Registration Deadline :
The last date for registration is Friday, February 26, 2010 (first come first serve basis). Registration forms may be downloaded from the website: www.priaeducation.org, or e-mail education@pria.org to obtain the same. |
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