Selection of development agenda with the community by the generation of a shared understanding

This article attempts to address the problem of generating a common understanding of the multidimensional aspects of a community across its diverse social groups required for setting a development agenda, by carrying out a Participatory Action Research exercise in the tribal village Gawandwadi-population 293. The proposed process ensures involvement and empowerment of the local people and reduces the influence of the existing social stratification in the community-mainly gender based stratification is discussed in the article. It emphasizes four key components: (a) understanding the contextual community level decision making process, (b) participatory study of the multifarious quantitative aspects of a community, (c) identification of the differential qualitative aspects-such as needs, desires, and feelings-borne by multiple groups-based on gender, class, and caste-across the community, and (d) arriving at a shared appreciation of rationales for these differences. The process reduces possible conflicts incurred due to the lack of ownership of the development goal within the community.