[Reader-list] RTF (Right to Food) Articles - 8

Fri Aug 7 22:24:29 IST 2009

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* Food for work: promise and challenges *

By Narayan Lakshman

* The danger of elite capture of the administering institutions implies the
need for monitoring and a nuanced understanding of local conditions. *

 THE LAUNCH of the National Food-for-Work Programme (NFFWP) this week in
Andhra Pradesh is a bold symbol of the pro-poor policy orientation of the
United Progressive Alliance Government. The initiative marks a clear
divergence from the `India Shining' sloganeering of the former National
Democratic Alliance Government, and there is much promise in this
orientation of governance for marginalised classes, predominantly in rural
areas. However, the potentially serious pitfalls of elite capture of the
administering institutions implies the need for frequent monitoring and
review of performance, as well as a nuanced understanding of local political
conditions in the 150 districts where the implementation of the scheme has
been planned.

The NFFWP is premised on a Keynesian understanding of employment that
emphasises the role of the state in proactively generating employment
opportunities. The policy design is simple yet remarkably efficient in
adopting a multi-pronged strategy to tackle the essentially
multi-dimensional problem of poverty. On the one hand, it provides
employment to otherwise seasonally unemployed wage labourers who often
migrate from district to district, and sometimes across state borders, to
obtain a subsistence wage. On the other, the policy facilitates rural
infrastructural development in the form of repair and construction of
village-level irrigation works, road connectivity and basic socio-economic
infrastructure. Essentially the hope is that income levels in the rural
economy will gradually rise, both as a consequence of the wage goods
provided as `payment' for work undertaken, as well as through externalities
derived from boosting the quality and quantity of rural infrastructure.
Broader developmental goals, including food security and employment
guarantee are also likely to receive a shot in the arm from this programme.

This partly brings to fruition the efforts of the Right to Food Campaign
spearheaded by Jean Dreze and others, and a number of other organisations
that have actively campaigned to get the Employment Guarantee Act tabled in
and passed by Parliament in December this year, pressing towards
establishing the constitutional right to work. These organisations include
the National Alliance for the Fundamental Right to Education, All India
Agricultural Workers Alliance, All India Agricultural Workers Union, All
India Democratic Women's Association, Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, National
Alliance of People's Movements, National Federation of Indian Women, New
Trade Union Initiative, among others.

There is little doubt that the adoption and passing of this pro-poor,
redistributive scheme is a notable achievement in itself and clearly marks a
divergence from the principal dependence on `trickle-down' growth manifested
in the NDA regime's governance.

However, the empirical record of redistribution failures in India occurring
in the second, implementation phase should serve as a note of caution to
those who are inclined to believe that agenda setting is the main stumbling
block for policymakers. The dismal implementation record of land
redistribution, rural credit policies such as the Integrated Rural
Development Programme (IRDP), and a host of other foundering initiatives,
points to the need for frequent monitoring and review of the performance of
the administering institutions. This includes the bureaucracy, as well as
partner institutions such as non-governmental organisations.

The fact that the NFFWP is funded primarily by the Central Government itself
implies that the resources coming from New Delhi will encounter State-level
patronage networks that may seek to alter resource allocation, in this case
food distribution patterns, in favour of dominant elites at the sub-district
levels. Targeting issues are also potentially under threat from this sort of
political capture, as many critics have pointed out about the IRDP that
ultimately pandered to the not-so-poor in credit terms.

It might be argued that in a country with such a decentralised political
structure as India, this sort of elite capture is inevitable to some extent,
but it can certainly be minimised through the creation of
multi-institutional monitoring bodies, comprising, for example, independent
watchdogs, political leaders of the ruling and opposition parties, civil
servants and NGO members.

However, above and beyond this basic issue is the need for policymakers in
New Delhi and in the respective States to incorporate an understanding of
local political conditions into their plans for policy implementation. Caste
discrimination, neo-feudal interdependencies between poorer tenants and
their rich landlords, and even criminal elements that dominate specific
parts of the rural economy are factors that need to be carefully examined
before committing resources to any district, even the poorest ones.
Otherwise, there is a looming threat of misappropriation and wastage of
scarce food resources in an already predominantly food-insecure context.

  * *

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