Selvam, S.2025-04-112025-04-111998-04Selvam, S. (1998). Participatory Structure - The Concept and Forms.http://192.9.200.215:4000/handle/123456789/361This paper explores the idea of participatory structures in India, highlighting how the concept of community participation is often misapplied by ignoring local social realities. In both rural and urban settings, community is shaped by caste, class, and socio-cultural groupings rather than homogenous identity. The classical notion of community fails to account for the heterogeneity of Indian society. Therefore, participatory structures must be rooted in a localized understanding of these complexities. Welfare and development efforts must align with these social divisions to ensure genuine participationTHIS PAPER ATTEMPTS to explore the idea of participatory structure, its nature, and various forms in the Indian context. Though the concept of community (or people's) participation has been in currency for the last several decades, adequate attention has not been paid to the micro-context in which participation is sought or expected to take place. Since the inception of the notion of community participation, the context has been taken for granted by those who have been advocating the involvement of people in the developmental process. It is indeed a major shortcoming which has for a long time remained one of the major causes for the lack of participation from the people concerned. Thus this paper is a preliminary effort to conceptualise the idea of participatory structure in the welfare as well as developmental context and to locate such structures in India's social structure and its complex institutional arrangement.enCaste and ClassSocial welfare lawIndian Social StructureDevelopment ContextInstitutional ArrangementWorking Paper