Synopsis This book fills up the gap that continues to exist in the studies on the Decentralized Governance despite the publication of a huge quantum of literature. As many as 44 well-researched papers presented by distinguished scholars from Universities and Research institutions, leading activists working in the NGOs and senior bureaucrats associated with the working of the rural local self-government at a National Seminar on “Strategies for Strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions” organized by the Haryana Institute of Rural Development, Nilokheri have been included in it. This multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary exercise covers almost all the state of India. it is a serious attempt to explode the myth of decentralized rural governance and to present the ground realities. The authors have not only diagnosed the disease from which it suffers but have also recommended prescriptions for curing it. It is hoped that his comprehensive volume will be of great utility for those policy-makers, administrators, Panchayati Raj leaders, researchers, teachers, trainers and activists who are interested in understanding and strengthening the Panchayati Raj Institutions which constitute the base of Indian Political System.