Synopsis ICCO (Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation), an international funding organization based in The Netherlands, had commissioned four reports on four different regions of India to help identify the challenges of poverty-alleviation efforts. ICCO planned to utilize these studies in designing its country assistance strategy for India. The National Foundation for India coordinated this study. Each of these four consultative efforts framed the issue of development differently, but followed a common process in preparing their respective reports. These publications give insights into the characteristics of the four regions and help in identifying the major issues and challenges that are germane to civil-society interventions in the regions. A one-day seminar was held to share and discuss the four regional studies with a wider audience of administrators, activists, and academicians on 29 September 2004 in New Delhi, India.