By Raghunath Nageswaran
Under Review: ‘Delivering Public Services Effectively: Tamil Nadu and Beyond’ by Vivek Srinivasan
In An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions, economists Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze thoroughly examine Tamil Nadus economic progress over a forty year period and delineate its impressive performance in terms of human development outcomes. The analysis gravitates towards the crucial question how and when did Tamil Nadu develop this commitment to universal and well-functioning public services?’. The book under review sets out to find plausible explanations to this question and offers an interesting account of the history of public action in Tamil Nadu.
The Preface places the subject of state delivery of public services within the larger debate about the state’s role in providing welfare benefits, especially in a hostile climate leaning heavily towards market-oriented reforms of a neoliberal variety. The author categorically states that the crux of the book is how deepening democracy lies at the heart of commitment to public services in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere in India, setting the tone for the larger narrative that follows.
[su_pullquote]The author presents three strands of literature that have dealt with questions concerning social movements human development, political economy and comparative politics.[/su_pullquote]
The illuminating segment in the introductory chapter is the literature survey the author uses to highlight the raison detre of his endeavour and to mark his point of departure. The author presents three strands of literature that have dealt with questions concerning social movements human development, political economy and comparative politics. He establishes his aim to study the dynamics of public action, alongside human development tradition which views the concept using criteria like freedoms, capabilities, and agenda.
Defeat of the traditional hierarchy
The main narrative is divided into two sections. Section I deals with the history of public action in Tamil Nadu, by describing the challenges faced by collective action at the grassroots level while defying the local elite who controlled public services. In the first two chapters, the author presents anecdotal evidence from a Dalit hamlet in a village he chooses to call Erani to offer a nuanced account of the struggles of the Dalits in their demand for public services from the state. He underlines the shameful fact that the Dalit habitation (colony) is isolated from the main village (oor) as a matter of convention, which typically restricts access to a range of services availed by the caste Hindus.
The most striking observation made is that of the inseparable relationship shared by the demand for amenities and the battle for social justice.
By focusing on the struggles for water and access to the funeral ground, the author tries to understand the strategic use of social tension by the Dalits, who see little value in Gandhian modes of protest as the authorities conveniently ignore them. Resorting to seemingly aggressive but non-violent ways of collective action such as pot breaking and mock funerals has been rewarding as it creates chaos and puts pressure on the local authority to deliver. It is important to remember that efforts to break caste norms have always been met with violence by the elite which is why one is inclined to appreciate the emancipatory potential of affirmative action that has proved to be effective in escaping domination.
The forms of non violent protest are even more effective and act as checks for the government more than ever before. | Image courtesy: Visual HuntIn Chapter 3, Changes That Enabled Action, by underlining the momentous role of the Self-Respect movement in empowering individuals to overcome social unfreedoms imposed by Brahminical Hinduism, the author argues that such mass movements laid the foundation for decentralised collective action. He notices that the multitudinous caste organisations that started out as a society rather than a party were mature enough to focus on obtaining basic amenities for their village rather than taking up more contentious political goals right away. The power of human agency comes into sharp focus when the author discusses the role of womens movements.
The significant presence of women in public action at the village level is in sharp contrast with the shocking absence of them at district level meetings and above. An explanation for this dichotomy is not offered in the book.
The monumental movements
By emphasising that the Dravidian movements larger goal was social change, the author points out that material aspirations of the movement such as access to education and government jobs must be seen as instrumental in fostering social transformation. Since a substantial segment of Section I focuses on the struggles of Dalits, it becomes impossible to duck the vexed subject of the Dravidian movements (and of Periyars) engagement with the question of untouchability. The author takes a rather equivocal position, stating that the movement had a deep cultural impact in paving the way for social change.
[su_pullquote align=”right”]The segments on the public service agenda of former Chief Ministers K. Kamaraj and M.G. Ramachandran show how they responded to ideological pressures from different quarters by making public services a major political priority.[/su_pullquote]
The most interesting segment in this chapter is Cultural Influence of The Communists. The argument presented is that though the communist movement in the state focused on classic class issues such as land reform, the pointed class critique made by it meant that the government had no choice but institute a policy with conscious reference to the poor. The segments on the public service agenda of former Chief Ministers K. Kamaraj and M.G. Ramachandran show how they responded to ideological pressures from different quarters by making public services a major political priority. Thus, the defining theme of Section I can be summarised as the emergence of a progressive vision through services created by reform movements that met with the demands of the grassroots.
Are the other states catching up?
In Section II, the author looks at the varying abilities of states to deliver public services by drawing upon the findings of Public Affairs Centres survey of public services (PAC) and India Human Development Survey (IHDS) of 2005. The key takeaway is that the former slackers such as Bihar, UP and MP have slowly begun to catch up as a result of public pressure on governments in recent times but given the pace of development, any convergence in outcomes is unlikely to happen in the near future.
In Chapter 5, the agendas of diverse reform movements are seen through a historical lens where the author identifies that in the case of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, radical agendas have been more successful in bringing about tangible transformation. The special focus on the rights movement, the communist movement and neoliberalism help the readers appreciate the interplay among these three schools of thinking that have shaped the policy priorities of India in recent times. The discussion of each of those makes for a fascinating read.
The author notes that at its very outset, left-leaning economy literature has de-emphasized public services because it lacks a class agenda.
Interestingly, a recurring theme in the book is the role played by the Communist Movement in providing a range of public services in Kerala and in supporting public demands for services in Tamil Nadu. The role played by institutional factors like the universal adult franchise and electoral competition in empowering the masses has been given little attention when compared to the emphasis on the bottom-up dynamics of public action.
Issues to look into
[su_pullquote]Though distribution of private goods is not bad per se, it would be instructive to ask whether it has taken place at the cost of providing quality public goods.[/su_pullquote]
The book encourages one to raise many questions but I shall focus on three in particular. Firstly, while the entire exercise is centred on the rural, a rounded picture can only emerge when public action in urban centres is also taken into consideration.Secondly, it is key to note that since 2006, distribution of private goods by the state has become pervasive in Tamil Nadu. Though distribution of private goods is not bad per se, it would be instructive to ask whether it has taken place at the cost of providing quality public goods. Thirdly, Tamil Nadu is a state which hasnt undergone comprehensive land reforms. In such a case, can the positive effects of political decentralisation in a set of villages be extrapolated to make a generalised statement about the potential of decentralised collective action?
It needs to be mentioned that throughout the book, the emphasis on the role of large social movements and the cross-pollination of ideas among them is so strong that one is tempted to question if such repetition is warranted. On the whole, however, this is only a minor grouse, considering the way the author has presented his central argument.