International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

Panchayati Raj expresses that the word Panchayat is derived from Sanskrit word 'Panch' and Ayatnam. The person who form a body of five persons to arbitrate upon a dispute and dispense justice and were called 'Panches'. The villages consider them as the representatives of God. Panchayati Raj bodies have been working as genuine and effective democratic decentralized institutions, provide ample of opportunities, to a large number of rural masses to take genuine and effective participation in the development and in the democratic decision making process and infuse in the mind of rural people a spirit of self-help, self independence, self-reliance and to obtain the experience in the art of local self government. The present study was conducted in Sirsa district of Haryana State which was related purposively. It was concluded that the regarding overall awareness among rural women respondents reveals that more than fifty percentage of the respondents (52%) had low level of awareness followed by high level (25%) and remaining (23%) had medium level of awareness regarding Panchayati Raj System.