Role of Citizen Participation in Rural Development: A Case Study of Pakistan
Abstract
The main objective of the study is to explore the role of citizen participation in rural development in Pakistan. The devolution plan also included the formation of Community Citizen Boards (CCBs). CCBs were mean to generate effective community participation at village level for transparent and efficient decision making, resource utilization and public service delivery. By investigating effects of internal and external factors on functionality of 1,065 Citizen Community Boards (CCBs) from 52 Union Councils (UC) of district Abbottabad, this study indicates that functionality of a CCB is significantly dependent on CCB group size, training, age as well as success of neighboring CCBs. Other factors including topography of a UC, distance of UC from district headquarter, number of CCBs in a UC, turn out in local elections (proxy for trust level on local governance system), contestants on councilor seats in 2005 local body elections (proxy for local political and social activists), type of CCB by gender, ratio of female members in CCB and gender of CCB chairman are not statistically significant on functionality of a CCB
Authors
Faiz Ur Rahim
Assistant Professor, International Institute of Islamic Economics (IIIE), International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan
Junaid Hassan Saleem
MS Rural Development, ternational Institute of Islamic Economics (IIIE), International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan
Keywords
Citizen Participation, Decentralization, Local Government, Rural Development