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‘Bowling alone’ while they starve together
Sony PellisseryInstitute of Rural Management, Anand
(India)
Indian poverty story• Absolute standard for measuring poverty (using
calorie requirement): 27%• $1 dollar a day: 24%; $1.25 dollar a day: 42%• Concentration of poverty in rural areas; but
inequality in urban areas.• Regional variation• Social identity variation (lower castes & tribe)• Informal economy• Drivers into poverty:
Micro level: sickness (83% of health expenditure out of pocket).Macro level: ‘paradox of plenty’
Gini coefficient (inequality) before and after liberalisation
1983 1993 20030.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
Rural
Urban
HDI of Indian States (2004)Kerala: 135.17Punjab: 113.7
Tamil Nadu: 111.1Haryana: 107.8
Karnataka: 101.2Gujarat: 101.48
All India: 100
Rajasthan: 89.8Andhra Pradesh: 88.14
Orissa: 85.5Madhyapradesh: 83.4
Uttar Pradesh: 82.2Bihar: 77.75
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (2005)
• 100 days of job guaranteed (Rs.100 /$2) for a household in exchange for work improving community infrastructure.
• Since its inception 45 million rural households have been provided jobs every year (33% of the rural population).
• Close to 1% of GDP spent on the programme.• Revolution in rural power structure: Agricultural
wage has gone up; and dependent relations (landlord-landless labourer) are being challenged because of the new alternative available.
Struggle for recognition
• Family obligations.• Keeping the word in reciprocal relations.• Carrying out rituals and social practices even
at the expense of falling into debt.
Identity (caste & gender)• Lower caste (16%) and tribals (7%) + backward castes
(32%): subjected to historical injustice.
• Most unhygienic (e.g. manual scavenging) work given.
• Being born as a woman is shame; giving birth only to girl children is a shame (macro level: female infanticide); Rape as an instrument to control women through shaming.
• Positive discrimination: jobs gained by people of these identity shamed calling ‘reserved’.
Sex ratio in 0-6 age group
1981 1991 2001 2011
104 105.8 107.8 109.2
Number of male children per 100 female (source decennial census)
Hierarchical society
• Acceptance of one’s status in society results in limited sense of shame while dealing with out-groups.
• This intensifies fights (seen as shameless fight by outsiders) for resources within in-group: This creates creamy layer within lower levels of stratification.