The Politics of Hunger in India: A Study of Democracy, Governance and Kalahandi’s Poverty

297 Pages·2000·2.747 MB·English

by  Bob Currie (auth.)

The Politics of Hunger in India
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The Politics of Hunger in
India
A Study of Democracy, Governance and
Kalahandi’s Poverty
Bob Currie
Lecturer in Politics
University of Huddersfield
First published in Great Britain 2000 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-40830-6 ISBN 978-0-230-50928-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230509283
First published in the United States of America 2000 by
ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Currie, Bob, 1965–
The politics of hunger in India : a study of democracy, governance, and
Kalahandi's poverty / Bob Currie
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1.Poverty—India—Kalahandi (District) 2. Hunger—India—Kalahandi (District)
3. Hunger—Government policy—India—Kalahandi (District) 4. Kalahandi
(India : District)—Politics and government. I. Title
HC440.P6 C87 2000
363.8'8'095413—dc21
99–053055
First published in India 2000 by
MACMILLAN INDIALTD
21 Patullos Road, Chennai 600 002
This edition is available only in India
©Bob Currie 2000
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 978-0-333-73528-2
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written
permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright
Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P0LP.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained
forest sources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00
I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the
self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the
face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen,
and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of use to
him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control
over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj
for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?
Then you will find your doubts about yourself melting away.
M.K. Gandhi, ‘Note [August 1947]’
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Contents
List of Tables x
List of Figures and Maps xii
Preface xiii
Glossary xvii
List of Abbreviations xx
1. Introduction 1
PART 1: Politics, Poverty and Hunger: Theoretical
Considerations
2. Poverty, Politics and the Political 11
Theoretical foundations 11
The politics of protecting security and well-being: focal
points and policy statements 14
State-type, state-society relations and welfare provision 25
Political culture and public welfare 28
Conclusion 33
3. Political Culture and Political Process in Welfare
Protection 34
Antecedent responsibility and the lifeguard’s duties 34
Security and well-being through justified authority 37
Security and well-being through political and civil
obligation 46
Authoritative functions for welfare protection: some
concluding comments 50
PART 2: Politics, Poverty and Hunger in Nawapada and
Kalahandi, Orissa, Eastern India
Introduction: Nawapada and Kalahandi Districts 61
vii
viii Contents
4. The Politics of Poverty, Commonality and Power in
Nawapada and Kalahandi: a Historical Analysis 64
A transfer of powers under colonial rule: the historical
foundations of poverty and hunger in Nawapada and
Kalahandi 64
A transfer of powers in independent India: the politics of
poverty and hunger in a post-colonial electoral democracy 77
Guardians and communitarians: commonality, welfare
and the political in western Orissa 112
5. Procedural Guidelines for Relief Administration in
Orissa 117
Guidelines for relief administration in the Orissa Relief
Code 118
Policy networks for relief adminstration: division of
responsibility and division of knowledge in relief
management 120
Identifying emergency: procedures for declaring ‘natural
calamity’ 123
Putting procedure into practice: implementing relief
measures 125
Conclusion 131
6. Translating Procedure into Practice: Policy Networks
for Relief and Development 135
Relief adminstration and emergency provision, 1985–92 136
Policy networks for public distribution of essential
commodities 146
Policy networks for administering anti-poverty and rural
development programmes 149
‘Policy partnerships’ for welfare management: the NGO-
CO-government nexus 158
Policy performance and welfare coverage: some
concluding points 167
7. Public Action and its Limits: Authority’s Response to
Critical Questioning 173
Public policy and critical publics: introductory comments 174
Public action in the law courts: Supreme Court of India,
1985–8 176
Public action in the law courts: High Court of Orissa,
1988–92 186
Contents ix
On poverty, publicity and the politics of representation,
1992–8 195
On suffrage, reportage and human suffering: some
concluding points 203
8. Hunger, Poverty and the Political in Nawapada and
Kalahandi: Concluding Statements 211
Power to ‘Get Rid’, Not Power to ‘Get Right’? 212
Limitations in the ‘Legal Framework for Development’:
power to report without power to enforce? 212
Managing the ‘Expectation-Delivery Gap’: strategies to
offset public criticism and to protect public support 214
Public action and hunger alleviation in Nawapada and
Kalahandi 219
Towards a politics for security and well-being? 221
Notes 224
Index 270