The Back to Village Program: an experimentation in state-citizen engagement in Jammu and Kashmir

The Back to Village (B2V) Program represents a significant administrative innovation in Jammu and Kashmir, aimed at strengthening state–citizen engagement through direct bureaucratic outreach to rural areas. Framed as a participatory governance initiative, the program has enhanced administrative visibility, grievance redressal, and service delivery in a politically sensitive and transitional context. This practice note critically examines B2V’s institutional design and evolution to assess its participatory potential. Drawing on official program documents and governance literature, the analysis argues that while B2V expands participation procedurally, its strongly centralised and audit-driven architecture constrains substantive citizen empowerment. Participation is largely limited to consultation and grievance articulation, with decision-making authority retained within bureaucratic hierarchies. The paper highlights the tensions between administrative efficiency and democratic deepening, offering lessons for participatory governance initiatives in centralised and post-conflict settings.