refugees from Pakistan. Mr. Dey considered this model to be welfare state in action. Impressed with the model, Nehru termed it to be the “Mecca of Development” and called for the creation of many more Nilokher is across the country. Unfortunately, over the years, Nilokheri has been lost to obscurity and lacks evenbasic facilities such as health, water and education. S.K. Dey appears to have been influenced, on the one hand, by Rabindranath Tagore’s Shantiniketan experiment for Rural Development and, on the other, by the Gandhian idea of Rural Construction, which laid stress on self-sufficiency and manual labour. It could also be perceived as a Model of Rural Development based on a synthesis of Liberalism, Marxism and Gandhi-ism. The emphasis on individual liberty seems to have been imbibed from Liberalism, stress on right and duty to work from Marxism and that of small scale cottage and village industries from Gandhi-ism. Panchayati Raj Dey was a member of the Balwantrai Mehta Committee (1957) that was set up to study the Community Development Programme. The Committee assessed the extent to which the programme had succeeded in utilizing local initiatives and in creating institutions to ensure continuity in the process of improving economic and social conditions in rural areas. The Committee held that community development would be deep and enduring only when the community was involved in the planning, decision -making and implementation process, thus making a case for a strong Panchayati Raj system. The Balwantrai Mehta Committee proposed a seminal developmental role for Panchayati Raj Institution in rural development and termed these as necessary for the success of community development and national extension programmes. Dey attributed philosophical connotations to the Panchayati Raj, which he explained in detail in his book “Panchayat-i-Raj, a Synthesis.” He elucidates that the Panchayati Raj was an important link between the individual and the world at large. Dey visualized an intimate relationship between the Gram Sabha and the Lok Sabha and said that democracy was to flow from the Parliament to the Gram Sabha. Dey urged state governments to give priority to establishing PRIs their respective states. By the 1960s, all states had legislated on PRIs and more 2, 17, 300 Panchayats had come into being. Other Achievements Mr. Dey also played an instrumental role in the institution of the National Development Council. Mr. Dey's has made a marked contribution to the field of development journalism by being