This description of Elango Rangaswamy's work was prepared when Elango Rangaswamy was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2002.
Introduction
Elango is unleashing local village leaders towards building economies of permanence within rural India. Having demonstrated that effective and participative planning in local governance can dramatically improve village development, Elango uses his Panchayat Academy to build networks of emboldened local leaders who embody a common vision of good democracy and governance.