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The Everyday State and Political Society in Eastern India: Structuring Access to the Employment Assurance Scheme

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  • Rene Veron
  • Stuart Corbridge
  • Glyn Williams
  • Manoj Srivastava

Abstract

The positive roles that political parties might play in development have recently been downplayed in favour of accounts of the virtues of civil society and participatory development. This article challenges some assumptions inherent in this shift in emphasis. It considers how political society has mediated the agency of the rural poor in three locales in eastern India in respect of the national demand-driven Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS). In Debra block (Midnapore, West Bengal), where the scheme worked best in terms of employment creation and participation, the dominant political party, in collusion with lower-level government officials, subdued popular demand in anticipation of limited state capacity. In Old Malda block (Malda district, West Bengal), rent-seeking councillors withheld information about the EAS from the poor. In Bidupur block (Vaishali district, Bihar) a key politician ensured that the EAS was converted into a scheme for the production of durable assets that mostly benefited the non-poor. These findings suggest that participatory development in a country like India, where civil society is poorly developed, needs to be considered in relation to particular constructions of political society and the local 'everyday' state.

Suggested Citation

  • Rene Veron & Stuart Corbridge & Glyn Williams & Manoj Srivastava, 2003. "The Everyday State and Political Society in Eastern India: Structuring Access to the Employment Assurance Scheme," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(5), pages 1-28.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:39:y:2003:i:5:p:1-28
    DOI: 10.1080/00220380412331333129
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Crook,Richard C. & Manor,James, 1998. "Democracy and Decentralisation in South Asia and West Africa," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521631570, January.
    2. Crook,Richard C. & Manor,James, 1998. "Democracy and Decentralisation in South Asia and West Africa," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521636476, January.
    3. A. Joshi & M. Moore, 2000. "Enabling Environments: Do Anti-Poverty Programmes Mobilise the Poor?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 25-56, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Veron, Rene & Williams, Glyn & Corbridge, Stuart & Srivastava, Manoj, 2006. "Decentralized Corruption or Corrupt Decentralization? Community Monitoring of Poverty-Alleviation Schemes in Eastern India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(11), pages 1922-1941, November.
    2. Indrajit Roy, 2019. "Class Politics and Social Protection: A Comparative Analysis of Local Governments in India," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 14(2), pages 121-150, August.
    3. repec:ilo:ilowps:376926 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Narayana, D., 2005. "Institutional change and its impact on the poor and excluded : the Indian decentralisation experience," ILO Working Papers 993769263402676, International Labour Organization.

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