Kerala's development experiments and experiences are of profound significance throughout the globe. This handy Volume is a collection of twelve papers which deals with hetrogeneous topics ranging from Panchayati Raj, Municipal Administration, Financial Administration, Electoral Politics and Politics of Development. These papers will help to throw light on the transformation of the State polity during the recent past. Papers can be broadly categorised under three major captions — Politics of Democracy, Decentralisation and Development. The focus of attention in the first five chapters is on the inestimable impact of the modern political forces — political parties, interest groups and pressure groups — on Kerala Polity. Special attention is paid to assess and evaluate the electoral process, voting behaviour, participation of women and weaker sections in its dynamism. Chapters six to eleven depict on the origin, growth and performance of the Civic bodies — both rural and urban — on Kerala. This part is of paramount importance because of the adoption of the 73rd and 74th Constitution Amendment Acts by the Centre and its ratification by the State. The central theme of discussion in the concluding chapter is to evaluate the various developmental measures carried out by the state for the upliftment of weaker sections of Kerala.
Dr. M.R. Biju (b. 1965) took his B.A. from St. John's College, Anchal and M.A. from the Department of Politics of University of Kerala, both in First Class. He was the receipient of Kerala University merit scholarship. Later he took his Ph.D. on "Panchayati Raj in Kerala : Problems and Prospects" from Sardar Patel University, Gujarat.
Dr. Biju has published nearly forty research papers in the Journals of national and international repute viz., Economic and Political Weekly, Indian Journal of Political Science, Indian Journal of Political Studies, Journal of the Institute for the Study of Developing Areas, Journal of Political Studies, Social Science Review, Southern Economist, Panchayati Raj Update, Panchayat Sandesh, Kurukshetra, Yojana, Panchayati Raj Magazine etc. Some of these have been abstracted in the International Political Science Abstracts, Paris (France). He has presented a number of research papers in Seminars and Conferences on a wide range of topics — Panchayati Raj, Environment Management, Pollution Control, Gandhian Studies, Electoral Politics etc.
Besides these papers Dr. Biju has contributed an article in the book entitled — People's Mandate Edited by Prof. V.M. Bachal. He has also prepared five research manuscripts viz., (1) Historical Introduction to the Study of Panchayati Raj (2) Panchayat Finance and Rural Development in Kerala (3) Dynamics of Panchayati Raj (4) Panchayati Raj in Kerala and (5) Partition of India — A study.
He is also a Life Member of several academic and professional bodies including, American Studies Research Centre (ASRC), All India Panchayat Parishad (AIPP), Indian Political Science Association (IPSA), Indian Society of Gandhian Studies (ISGS), Kerala Academy of Social Sciences etc. For a short period of time Dr. Biju has worked in the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi in a Research Project on "Present Status and Future Prospects of Panchayati Raj in India". Currently, he is working as Lecturer in the Department of Political Science of Sree Narayana College, Cherthala, Alappuzha (District), Kerala.
