Brick By Brick: Democratising Local Governance in Kerala – Insights from the People’s Plan Campaign

“Brick By Brick – Democratising Local Governance: Insights from the People’s Plan” was released on August 17th, 2021 by the hands of Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of the Government of Kerala. The book was launched at the function commemorating 25 years of decentralized planning in Kerala. The book analyses two critical components of the PPC- Women Component Plan (WCP) and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) – designed to empower the most marginalised sections – Women and the Scheduled Tribes. Through a detailed examination of the processes of the mobilization, conscientisation, and citizenship targeting these groups, the volume engages with the possibilities and limitations of the planning process devised to politicise and redress the grievances of the dispossessed. It also analyses the reasons for the ineffective media strategies of the PPC and its dysfunctional interventions that failed in countering the hegemonic social and political power structures.