Socio-Economic Characteristics of Gram Panchayat Members at Hanumanganj Block of Ballia District of Uttar Pradesh

Introduction of Panchayat Raj was hailed as one of the most important political innovations in Independent India. It was also considered as a revolutionary step. Panchayat Raj is a system of local self-government wherein the people take upon themselves the responsibility for development. The Gram Panchayat has occupied an important place in taking people's political, economic, social, patriotic aspirations and emotions to the government in order to build a strongest nation ever. The study was based on both Primary and Secondary data. Descriptive research design has been used in the present study. The study revealed that majority of respondents were middle age people, having education up to junior high school and mostly dependent on farming for their income. A large sum of the respondents had very high annual income while few of the respondents had low annual income. It is concluded that the majority of the respondents belonged to the middle socio-economic status. Social participation of Gram Panchayat members were significant in Gram Panchayat activities. Majority of respondents daily use newspaper as a means of mass media exposure.