New Delhi, November 7 President Pranab Mukherjee was presented an encyclopedic publication on the status of panchayati raj institutions in the country, an official release said Thursday.

President received the first copy of the 737-page “Status of Panchayati Raj in the States and Union Territories of India 2013” at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Wednesday, the statement said.

The volume traces the history of rural local governments from the colonial period to the present day.

Publication was presented by general editor George Mathew, chairman of the Institute of Social Sciences in the presence of former panchayati raj minister Mani Shankar Aiyar.