India has been a welfare state ever since her Independence and the primary objective of all governmental endeavors has been the welfare of its millions. Planning has been one of the pillars of the Indian policy since independence and the country’s strength is derived from the achievement of planning. The policies and programmes have been designed with the aim of alleviation of rural poverty which has been one of the primary objectives of planned development in India. It was realized that a sustainable strategy of poverty alleviation has to be based on increasing the productive employment opportunities in the process of growth itself. Elimination of poverty, ignorance, diseases and inequality of opportunities and providing a better and higher quality of life were the basic premises upon which all the plans and blue-prints of development were built.

A New Ministry of Panchayati Raj has been created w.e.f. 27th May 2004. As per the amended allocation of Business Rules, "all matters relating of Panchayati Raj and Panchayati Raj Institutions" will be looked after by the newly created Ministry. Ministry of Panchayati Raj will be responsible for the work of advocacy for and monitoring of the implementation of Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 and the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, hereinafter refer to as said Acts to ensure that the State Panchayati Raj Acts adhere to the provisions of the above mentioned two Acts and are implemented in letter and spirit. States/UT Administrations at present are at varying degrees of the implementation of said Acts. The Ministry, inter-alia, would ensure that they hold timely elections, set up State Finance Commissions and implement their recommendations, constitute District Planning Committees and empower them suitably to ensure grass-root level planning to feed into State and Central level Planning effectively. One major task of the Ministry will be to ensure that the State Governments/UT Administrations devolve funds, functions and functionaries on the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the spirit of the Constitutional provisions. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj will also be responsible for formulation and implementation of an Action Plan for seeing PRIs to emerge as "Institutions of Local-Self Government" securing economic development and social justice in their respective areas. Empowerment of Gram Sabhas by holding regular Meetings and social audit through Gram Sabhas so as to enable them to emerge as foundation of Panchayati Raj will be pursued vigorously with States/UT Administrations. Depending upon the local situation, States/UT Administrations will be encouraged to institute Ward Sabhas and Mahila Sabhas and make them functional. The Ministry attaches great importance to the capacity building of elected representatives and officials of PRIs as well as functionaries involved in the Rural Development Programmes. It is estimated that about 3 million elected Members and the Staff assigned to the Elected Bodies needs training to enable them to discharge their functions effectively. The Ministry will also be funding research studies, workshops and seminars for development of Panchayats. The Ministry will implement the scheme of "National Awards for Best Panchayats" to encourage PR Institutions in discharging their role of "Institutions of Self-government" to be able to enforce economic development and social justice at the local level. .

Integrated rural development through holistic approach is a national commitment. The goal is to enrich the quality of life of the poor by meeting the basic needs and generating employment opportunities on a wider scale through decentralized planning. The mission of NIRD is to facilitate rural development vigorously through government and non-governmental initiatives. NIRD is the country's apex body for undertaking training, research, action research and consultancy functions in the rural development sector. It works as an autonomous organization supported by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India.