North Bihar villages selected for this study represent agriculturally backward and flood prone regions where almost all the efforts and investme nt have turned ineffective because of the recurrence of fl ood s amidst syndromes of dependence. This paper examines the impacts of development schemes in forty villages o f Sitama rhi district of North Bihar during 1996-97 to 1998-99. It emer ged from the study that while the developmental schemes have con tributed in creating infras tructure and e radication oi poverty, the quality of assets created has invited serious criticism. Leakage of funds remained as a matter of concern as n o gr11ss root org;misation like PR! has been in existence for the las t twenty years. Co nseq uently people •s pMticipation in developmental act iv ities remained far from the reality. Bureaucracy L'njoycd power in cormivance with loca l leaders. People of the area arc of the view tha t unless effective measures for flood control and water management are taken no amount of investment in ru ra l development can produce desir;:ible results.
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