VOLUNTARY SECTOR AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT: Concept, Practice and a New Approach to Remove Rural Poverty

In this book, the author has tried to analyse systematically a theoretical background to the existence of NGOs, based on contemporary thoughts on the subject. He has also covered the concepts of development and rural development and devoted adequate space to the strategies adopted to rural development in India, including an analysis of the themes of various rural development programmes under First to Tenth Five-Year Plan. His findings on a study of the real world of NGOs contain many significant observations on the functioning of this sector.

The book constitutes the author’s seminal contribution in the study of the strategy for poverty removal and rural development. The idea contained here is not only fresh but, in all appearances, pragmatic also. He points to the role of a threesome force in the civil society-”Authority, Voluntarism, ” and “Profit.” He avers that the programmes designed to work in a social system, without integrating the above three forces, would not succeed fully. He has also charted out a strategy for adoption by programme implementation agencies.

Rajeeb Misra had his higher education from the Utkal University, Bhubaneswar from where he obtained his Masters and Ph.D. His areas of interest include voluntarism and civil society institutions. He is presently working for NABARD.