PRI–CBO Convergence: Democratic Equations

Carving out an alternative space for ensuring the advancement of the interests of the poor, community based organizations work with panchayati raj institutions in many areas of public service delivery and poverty alleviation, despite deficient state laws and policies on the one hand and inadequate human and financial resources on the other

I n India, the ascendance of the SHG and the Federation has coincided with the space and importance that has been formally given to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) as local governments. The onset of the Swarn Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), a centrally sponsored scheme for poverty alleviation, set much stake by livelihood activities through SHGs, followed closely on the heels of the 73rd and the 74th Constitutional Amendments and the institution of elected panchayats in the states. The programme was later restructured as the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), which went one step further and insisted on federating SHGs of women at the village, block and Cluster levels, capacitating local women’s leadership and routing financial assistance as ‘capital in perpetuity’ for livelihood support through federated community based organizations (CBOs).

Decentralized Governance And Elite Bias

Very often, policies in favour of the poor (with regard to, say, access to common property resources, to market space, or for raising minimum wages) come at the expense of local elite groups that are reluctant to give up their interests. Numerous studies have pointed out that one of the dangers of decentralization is that it may simply empower the local elite and, worse, perpetuate existing poverty and inequality. An important concern here is that poverty will have a debilitating effect on the ability of people to engage in formal political processes. Voters from the poorer sections of society will become marginalized from centres of power and influence, from knowledge about rights and entitlements and from democratic platforms. This can create obstacles in the process of strengthening democracy and on the ability of this section of people to influence the democratic process.