This thesis deals with the question of people's participation in rural development in Sri Lanka with specific reference to the district of Anuradhapura. When we consider people's participation in rural development it is essential to understand the meanings attached to the concepts of development, rural development, participation and decentralization. Therefore, Chapter 2 of this thesis concentrates on these concepts. The nature and degree of people's participation depends in great part on the socio-economic and cultural aspects of the people who live in the region or the area. Therefore, Chapter 3 deals with the significance of the rural sector in Sri Lanka and investigates income levels, nutritional status and employment, the village society, and the socio-cultural patterns of Sri Lanka. This chapter especially considers the socio-economic and cultural situation which effects people's participation in Sri Lanka. The importance of rural development is discussed in Chapter 4. This chapter explains the scope of rural development in Sri Lanka. In this case the chapter concentrates on the history of rural development, decentralization, and integrated rural development programmes. Also it describes the organizations which already exist in the rural sector in Sri Lanka. Chapter 5 discusses Anuradhapura district as a case study and it mainly deals with the situation and basic features, such as agriculture, economy, population, education and labour force. Also, it describes the administrative structure of the district with special attention to political structure, Kachcheri and divisions, other departments and the Buddhists temple. Institutional capacity and effective participation in Anuradhapura district is discussed in Chapter 6 in order to analyse the effectiveness of organizations in the district. To achieve this objective Chapter 6 discusses the integrated rural development project in Anuradhapura district and the reasons for people's non-participation in it. The thesis concludes that people's participation is an essential ingredient of successful rural development in Sri Lanka but there are a number of constraints. Some recommendations to promote the people's participation are given in the conclusion.