supriya reinventing development paper

8/2/2019 Supriya Reinventing Development Paper

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PAUL GREADY A N D JONATHANENSOR Ieditors

Reinventingdevelopment?Translating rights-based approachesfrom theory into practice


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7 1 Rights, development and democracy: aperspective from lndiaS U P R I Y A A K E R K A R

Background: human rights in the Indian contextThe rights-basccl approach to clevelopment is not an entircly new con-cept. Rootecl in the concept of human rights - a notion upheld by the

Unitecl Nations in its various conventions -this approach affirms that cveryhum an being on this earth h as an equ al right to live a life of dignity and todevelop hislher full abilities and participate in his/her own clevelop~ne nt.The Indian c onstitution provides a framework to enforce these rights undervarious articles which protect the fundam ental rights of all citizens irrespec-tive of caste, class, gender or any other social status. Th e right to equalityand liberty are some of the basic civil and political rights guaranteed inthe constitution. The fundamental right to life guaranteed in the Indianconstitution has since been interpreted to include social and economicrights throu gh progressive judicial decisions. How ever, vast sectio ns of theIndian population continue to be discriminated against and prevented fromenjoying these rights. The reasons a re several, including the need for fairlaws which p romote hum an rights; the failure to ellforce progressive laws;the lack of accountability of the sta te towards its citizens in guarantee ingbasic selvice delivery; and th e con tinuing exclusion of certain classes andsocial groups from access to the basic resources that sustain life such asland, forests, water or governlnent entitlements.

Today in India, scvcral groups work at the macro- or mcso-levels. Forexample, several networks specifically look into c hanges in th e law so a sto expand civil ancl political rights. Other organizations i~nclertaltc olicyresearch and ca~ np aig n rouncl social, cconomic ancl other issucs, such asnatural resources or social ly marginalized c o~i ~m uni t ies .

Traditiona lly, the space for the micro-lcvel action in Inclia was occupiedby left-wing parties which, in the 1960s and ig7o s, through the mobilizationof peasants and workers, aided land reform and established minimumwages in different parts of the country. However, the 1980s saw a declinein parties from the traditional Left and an incrcase in non-government,non-party-political processes. Mass organizations pioneered the right toinformation in the country as the de mocratic right of every citizen to en-sure better and transparent governance as well as to check corruption in

public life. Several othe r non-party-political forma tions or m ass organiza-tions continuecl to work with marginalized group s such a s nalits (formerlyknown as 'untouchables ') or adivasis (tribal peoples) on issues such asland reform and other social and economic rights. This period saw therise of non-governmcnt org anizations (NGOs) and sonie vibrant act ion bycivil society groups both at th e m eso- and micro-levels.

Critical deb ates resulted in leftist parties som etim es taki ng a veryanti-NGO stance, seeing them as the stooges of imperialist forces. Somevery right-wing NGOs emerged which today do rclief and rehabilitationwork a mon g marginalizccl sect ions of society while support ing co~ nm una lhatred. In ot her words, the term 'NGO' in India is no longer associatedonly with progrcssivc liberal groups, but with organizations of all kinds ofmoorings from left-centric to conservative to right-wing organizations.

It is within this wider context that this chapter will look into the dis-course and practice of rights-based ap proac hes to develop ment, specificallythat of inte rnation al NGOs such a s ActionAid, in the Ind ian context. As aninternational aid NGO, ActionAid ha s in recen t years changed its analysisand un derstan ding of poverty to one th at sees it as a result of processesof marginalization and exclusion.

ActionAid lndia and the rights-based approachFounded in 1972, ActionAid India in its early phase suppo rted institu -tion-based c hildcare. With child sponso rship as the sole fu ndin g source,ActionAid lnd ia conc entrated on welfare activities such as subsid izing thefood, clothin g and educ ational costs of children in hostels -work mainlycarried out by voluntary organizations. The second phase of its work, from1981 to 1985, saw a greater emp hasis o n edu cation a nd AAI developeddis tinctive compctcncc in this arca. There was also soln catte mpt to graf tcommunity development activities on to the education programmes.

The third phase of work, from 1986 to 1991, focused on integratedrural clevclopment, the most significant changc being a move towards along-term, multi-sectoral attac k on poverty at the comnlunity level, in fewerlocations but with a substantial amount of money available per capitato bring about measurable reductions in poverty (ActionAid lnclia 1993:18-19). In 1993 the organization first articulated a vision that marked ashift from the project-based a pproach to a rights-based approach . Reflect-ing on its achievements and weaknesses, the first country strategy paper(CSP-I) says:

The most i~nportan tacuna in ActionAid India's work is the almost exclu-sive focus on the micro-project action at the rural community level ...an d


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rebui ld ing l ives and a bet ter Kutch . This was done by t ra in ing grassrootsvolunteers to act as lay counsel lors and r igh ts act iv ists , thus enabl ingpeople to have new hope and to rebui ld a new l i fe . The volunteers ofSne h Samudaya, many of wh om were social ly d isadvantaged , had achieveda great deal of success: a lon g with psycho-socia l heal ing , they en abledaffected people to organize themselves and f igh t for the r igh ts requiredfor rehabilitation.

In February 2002, as the Act ionAid tea m a nd par tn er organizat ions ' werediscussing the Lok Adhilar Manch pro test , news ar r ived of the outbreakof communa l v iolence in Ahmedaba d and o ther par ts of Gujarat, in whichminor i ty Musl ims were under a t tack a f ter a t ra in was se t on f i re in Godhral ead in g to a n u ~ n b c r f d ea th s . B leak T V and rad io repor ts revealed thatpar ts of Ahmedabad and o ther areas of Gujarat were being burned down,and that there was a cur few in most of Ahmedabad and throughout thesta te . For tunate ly , there were few such incidents in Kutch , a l though i ttoo was gripped by tension. Along with other colleagues, ActionAid staffreached A hmedabad two days af ter the outbrea k of v io lence. I n the daysthat fo l lowed, a smal l number of non-government groups came togetherunde r the umbrel la of Ci t izens ' In i t ia t ive (an a l l iance of non-governmentorganizat ions in Gujarat) and respond ed to th is hurn an-ma de d isaster . Aspart of this alliance, ActionAid partic ipated in relief activities, reachingout to the thousands of minor i ty Musl ims made homeless and now stay-ing in re lief camps. The Gujarat s t a te had fa i led in i ts du ty to pro tect ther ight to li fe of innocent wome n, ch i ldren an d men. While the p lun der ingcont inu ed , the sta te loo l ied the o the r way and people were lef t to fend forthemselves in the re l ief camps. Later , the repor t o f the Nat ional HumanRights Commission h ighl ighted th e sta te ' s inact ion and i ts cu lpabi l i ty inth e sp r ead o f co m m u n a l v io l en ce .

Although th is t ragedy st ruck Gujarat just one year af ter the Kutch ear th-quake, few nat ional or in ternat ional organizat ions cam e forward to help thevic t ims the way thcy had dur in g the ear thqual ie . Responding to Gi~ja ra t ' scom mun al v io lence mea nt tak ing a pol it ical posi t ion against a fascist andc o m m u n a l alliance a nt l in d e f e ~ ~ c ef secular ism and democracy. Not manyaid and non-governmcnt agencies were wil ling to do that , as such posi t ion-ing a lso mca nt opp osing the openly r igh t-wing sta te government of Gujarat.I t was in th is po l it ical ly charged a tm osph ere tha t Act ionAid faci l ita ted theformat ion of Aman Sam udaya (Comm unity for Peace) a long the l ines ofSneh Samudaya ear l ier formed in Kutch and Sneh Abhiyan (Campaignof Love) formed after the cyclone in Orissa in 1999.Aman Samudaya was h oused in Ci t izens ' In it ia tive an d , af ter an in i t ia lwave of humanitar ian re l ief to t l ie people in the ca mps, hop ed to rebui ld

th e secu la r fabric of society, e n s u r e ust ice to th e victims of th e c o m m u n a lviolence a n d give psycho-social s u p p o r t t o th e victims. Like Sn eh Sarnu-daya a n d Sn eh Abhiyan, it h o p ed to in tervene in th e fractured society bybui ld ing a g r o u p of volunteers called Am an Pathilts ( ' travellers o n th e roadfo r peace') . Only, th is t ime, t h e restorat ion of secular society would n eed

, heal ing of a tliffcrcnt Itintl, a n d therefore it w as decided th a t th e Am an: Path iks m u s t c o m e from dif feren t religious backgrounds. They would work

together to rebui ld th e co m m u n i ty a n d s t a n d fo r peace a n d justice.T h e initial days of Am an Sam u d ay a a n d Citizens' Initiative were full of

relief work an d facilitating fact-finding t e a m s to repor t t h e tru th while t h es t a t e g o v e r n m en t of G i ~ j a r a tried to h id e it s par t isan role in th e violence.O ne of th e early repor ts w as th a t of th e t h e n Country Director of Action-Aid I n d ia , Ha r sh Man d e r , which gave a n acco u n t of th e brutality of th ec o m m u n a l violence antl t h e sta te ' s openly par t isan role in it. Publ ishedin a nat ional newspaper , it g en e r a t ed a r e sp o n se f rom a large sect ion ofcivil society an d also a m o n g pol i t ic ians in dif feren t par ts of th e country.Such articles, a l o n g with th e repor ts of fact-finding team s , gave dif feren tversions of reality antl influencecl publ ic d eb a t e a n d opin ion , t h u s a s s u m i n ga centra l role in restor ing secular society a n d p r e ssu r in g th e s t a t e to en su r ejustice fo r t h e victims. In th e m o n t h s to c o m e , th e Am an Pathilts, m an yof w h o m ha d lost lovcd o n e s in t h e violence, engaged fearlessly o n th eseissues. They were given t r a in in g in legal issues, psycho-social co u n se l -l ing a n d peace building. Meet ings were cont inuously held t o learn of a n dr e sp o n d t o em er g in g s i tu a t io n s in t h e relief cam p s .

Su p p o r t ed by ActionAid, Am an Sam u d ay a provided s u p p o r t t h a t in -c luded , b u t a lso reached beyond, physical assistance. So , w h e n th e Gu -jara t s t a t e forcibly closed th e relief c a m p s , t h e Am an Pathilis bui l t i n t e r imshel ters fo r th e victims. W h e n th e s t a t e gave people meagre co m p en sa t io nfo r proper ty lost, they, a lo n g wi th th e people, lodged protests a n d fought fo rtheir rightful sh a r e . W h e n tlie s t a t e failed to lodge correct First InformationRepor ts (FIRS), he y antl several volunteers of Citizens' Initiative worl


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Box 7.1 Enabling hea l ing1)uring tlic rainy scason of 2002, Sharif visitctl Dani limtla to givetarpaulins to families whosc liouscs were tlaniagcd in tlic communalattacks. Sharif fount1 that wliilc most of tlie tlaniagcd liouscs in th e areabelongctl to Muslims, on c tlamagcd house belongctl to a Hindu family.Tlie lonc Iiousc belonged to one Shiv Narayan Bliai wh o livcd withhis old motlicr antl wife. Whcn Sharif reaclietl his liousc, ncigliboursaccompanying hi m said, 'This is no t a Muslim Iiousc, it belongs toa Hindu. Don't go in.' nu t Sliarif wcnt in ant1 startecl talking to ShivNarayan I%hai.

During tlic conversation, Shiv Narayiin I3liai aslcccl Sliarif, 'You ar ca Muslini, so you will only liclp Muslims, won't you?'

Sllarif told him, 'It is no t tliat we only liclp Muslims. Wc hclp allthose in distress, be they Muslim or Hindu.'

A tarpaulin was given to Shiv Narayan Bhai too. Shiv Narayan Bliaithen said, 'You ar c tlic first Muslim wh o is 1icll)ing a Hintlu sincc th ecoriimunal violcncc broke ou t an d my liousc was tlamagctl.'Sliarif told him, "True, 1 am a Muslim, bu t I am an irzsnnn [ h ~ ~ m a nbeing] first.'

'I'lie inter-faith c o ~ i ~ ~ i i ~ ~ n i t yiieetings le d to th e fo rm at ion of Slianti(peace com m i t tees ) in sensitive par ts of Ahmedabacl. W hen o ne of th es en io r right-wing leaders held a m ee t ing in rural Gujarat with th e a im ofs p read ing c o m m u n a l dis trus t , A m an Pathiks a few Itilometres away held a I!m eet ing of people of dif ferent fai ths , dis tr ibuting roses a s a m a r k of peace ra n d harmony. In this way, tlie Aman Pathilts were chang ing th e cliscourse Iof c o m m u n a l hatred into a discourse of cotnniunal harm ony in everyday il i fe , upholdin g the pluralist values central to clc~nocracy n d aff irminguniversal Iiutnati rights.

Sport ing ancl otl ier cvents were organizccl tha t would lead to a n inter-ni ingling of clifferetit faiths a n d to celebrat ions of festivals of differentfai ths . Resources were mobilizetl to res tore livelihoods. Widows wereenabled to access s ta te pens ions . Support w as also leveraged from other 1organizat ions to ens u re tha t children of s ingle paren t s were ab le to stayin school.

Fo r several Aman Pathiks, th e A m an Samudaya w as a t r ans fo rm ing ex-perience. T he i r confidence increased a n d several of them w ho had neverbefore ques t ioned t h e police o r s ta te functionar ies were empowered enough

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to ques t ion tl icm a n d fight fo r justice, ens u r ing tha t t h e perpe t r a to r s oft h e c o ~ n n i u n a l r im es were pun is hed . Today, a l o n g with otl ier Cit izens 'Initiative volunteers , tliey con t inue to s uppor t witnesses to t he c o m m u n a lviolencc a s tliey scclt jus t ice through legal, moral a n d o ther avenues . T h elegal s truggle of tlie victims of c o m m u n a l violencc fo r jus t ice c o n t i n u e stoday in Gujarat.

Four years later , th e work in Kutcli, Gujarat , has taken nc w f o r ~ n s . heagitation of Lolt Adhikar M anch le d to t h e government s har ing t h e surveyresults of dam aged property a nd t o several thous and people receiving com -pensation. Organizat ions fighting injus t ices agains t people with disabil i t iesa n d s ingle w om en a rc a t tlie forefront of tlic s truggle fo r a new, m o r eh u n i a n c antl disability-friendly Kutch. An im pac t evaluation of Kutch ayear ag o showed tha t th e carlicr, caste-based power relat ions ha d changed .Social incquit ics con t inue in s o m e ways, b u t t h e carlicr, all-pervasive, castc-based dom ina t ion h a s changed fo r ever.T he B o l a n g i r in i t i a t ive t o c o m b a t d r o u g h t

Bolangir district is in Orissa, a n eas te rn s ta te in India. T h e Bolangirinitiative s tar ted a s a n emergency res pons e to d rough t in 1997 with sixlocal organizat ions . As ActionAid a n d it s local par tne r s s ta r t ed relief work,they soon rcalizecl the neecl fo r long-term intervention. In 1998 ActionAidperformccl a participatory s tudy of t h e d rough t , dem ons t r a t ing tliat it w asno t ju s t tlic rcsult of lack of rainfall, bu t a l s o a fai lure of en t i t l em en t ,revealing heavy indeb tednes s ancl lat idlessness a m o n g p o o r Ilalits a n do ther vulnerable g roups in t he d i s t r i ~ t . ~n s p i t e of land reform laws, a snlalln u m b e r of per s ons of higher cas te con t inued t o ow n m o s t of th e land.

W i thou t a n a d e q u a t e livelihood, Dalits in par t icular , b u t a l s o otl iersocially marginalized g roups , borrow m oney a n d migrate o n a large scaleto th e neiglibouring s ta te of Andhra Pradcsli t o work in the briclc kilnsin Hytlcrabacl. More than 1 lakh ( ioo ,ooo) people migrate o u t of Bolangirevely year in scarcli of worlt in neiglibouring s tates . T h c m ig ra t ing peoplea re trafficltetl in t l is tress ing cond i t ions a nd live a life of s cm i-bondage a tthe briclc Itiln, receiving a lm os t half t h e m i n i m u m wage ant1 sufferingcons tant i l l hcalth antl hunger . Tlie ActionAid stucly showed fo r th e firstt im e t h a t tlic d ro i~g t i t n Rolangir wa s no t a result of natural calamitysuch a s lack of rainfall - highlighted by th e fact tliat only cer tain people(Dalits, t r ibals a n d o t h e r lower cas tes ) migrate fo r work. It showed tha td rough t a n d migrat ion were a cons equence of skewed deve lopm en t pro-cesses t h a t marginalized cer tain sections of people, namely thos e w ho lackaccess t o livelihood resources , governm en t social security a n d en t i t l em en tswhich could enab le t h e m to cope with hunger . They ins tead ha d to rely


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i lpon the 1)arronagc of \zrcaltl i ier sectio ns in t l ic villages ancl nearby towns- who trsctl tlieir vulnerability t o a cc lu i rc s r ~ r l ~ l u sealth I)y acting as con-tractors antl landlords. In t l ic l ight of this untlcrstar it l ir ig, a new nctworltof non-g ove rnm ent org aniza tions , callctl ( ;Al)Ml3 (( ;ollectivc Action forI)rouglit b litigatiori in I3olangir), was fo rmc tl, supl)o rtctl I)y ActionAitl andconlnl i t tc t l to co mba t ing th e e f fec ts of t l rought .

I:roln 1998 to 2004, (:AI)MI3 grew fron i a nctworlt of six to eig hte enorg;lnization s inclutling ActionAid In tlia . ' l 'hc fount lation of CADMB is(ca m s of vill ;~gc-lcvcllcvc lo l~mc nt or l tc r s . In 1999, whi le t lcepcning the i runt le r s tant l ing of the causes of t l roi~g l i t nt1 migra t ion, these team s deve l-ol)ctl 1,olt Yo,jana (I'co l~l c'sP l a n ) th r ough pa r ti c ipa t o ry p l a nn i ng me t hods( u s i n g a coml)in;lt ion of 1'ar ticil)atory I lt~ralAppraisal [I 'l lAl tools and1: rei r ian- ins l~i rc t l cchnicjues t l ia t enco urage l ~ eo l~ lco ana lysc the i r ownreality) in 371 villngcs to infli lcrice th e tlcvclol,ment pl a~ is n th cir villages.'I'lie 1'col)lc's Plan was a tlop tctl by tlie tir.rrm Patichr rj~at s elect ed village1)otlics maritlatctl by tl ie cons titutio n of In tlia) antl later b ecam e tlic basisfor ncgot i ; l t io l~with tl istr ict atlminist ration s. 'l 'hc I 'lan aimctl to mol~ iliz eyoi~ths, omcn ant1 socially marginalizctl groul,s in t l ie villages to assertt l ic i r r ights ant1 access the i r ent i t lemen ts , such as soc ia l secur i ty provis ionsnieant for t l ie poor in t l ie village. Elcctctl village committees fetlcratedat tllc tlistrict level and took 111) different issues tl iat ;~f ' kct ctl heir foodsecurity. In several villages wom cn, thro ugh tl icir self-hell) gro ups , pre-ventctl mo ney-l endi ng and the forcctl accluisit ion of lantls. At t l lc t l istrictlevel, labour societies of migrant labourers wcrc forli ictl to secure goverti-nicnt con tract worlc in t l ie villages - such as the const ruc t ion of 1)uil t lingsantl roatls - otherwise given to the la rger cont rac tor s f rom outs i t le thecomm uni ty . 'l 'l i is has r c t lucct l n i igra t ion in cc r tni ri ~ ~c r io t l s .owever, thela rgc cont rac tor s have a lso organizc tl t l i cmsc lvcs toge ther in to bo gi ~sabourcooperativ es, taking worlt away from lal)o ur societics. 'l ' lie strug glc againsts i ~ c l i oo l ~ c r a ti vc s on t i n t ~ c s .

( ;Al)MI1 also \vorks o n ~ ~ r o j c c t suc l l ;IS forming gr;iin banlts in thevillagc, giving e merg ency mctlical hell) t l~r oug li rrrtu ! io.sh (village cashs u l3 l )o r t) t o \ ~ u l nc r a b l c e r s on s i nc l u t li ng s i ng l e w om c n , o l d pe r s ons ,~x ol ) l e i th t l i sa l~i l i t ic s nt l l ant l lc ss la l )ourc r s , overseen by th e vi llaget1cvclol)mcnt committees. vi l lagc e t l i~ca t ion om mit tee s l iave been formedto l ) c r sua t lc t l ic t l i st r ic t ; t t lminis t r at ion to open 'br i t lgc ' scho ols du r ing thet inics t l ia t labou re r s migra te to ensure t l ia t t l ie i r chi ldren 's ed uca t ion c loesnot suffer . In atlt l i t ion , t l ie village-level ant1 distr ict- level co m n~ itt ee s aves ta r ted moni tor ing t l ie move ment o f the migrant laboure r s to force t l iet l is t r ic t adminis t r a t ion to accept the f ac t of largc-sca le migra t ion. In spi teof the Inte r S tate Migra tion Act which re gi~la t cs iu ~n an raff iclt ing, much

of tl ic migra tion goes i~n rcgis tc re t l y the dis t r ict labour com miss ioner 'sof f ice , so a l though more t li :ln ioo,o oo pcoplc migra te ou t to wor l t, of f ic ialstatistics rccortl only a few liuntlrctl p e o l ~ le cr icncess how tha t in its work Actionhit1 h a s offered a tlif-fcrcnt version of rc;llity froni tlie t l omi na n t para t l igms. In Gqja ra t , t l irougliit s ow n reports a s well as by facili tating ot l ic r fact-f inding rcpor ts , it showctltha t tlic c o m m u n a l violence wa s riot th e result of s o m e 'na t u r a l ' pass iono n th e part of a section of a n enraged popu l a t i on , I)ut r a ther tliat tlie s t a t ehat1 playctl :i sys temic role. In t h e c a r t h t l t ~ a l t c i t ua t i on , ActionAitl's analy-si s sliowctl tliat vulnerable g r o u p s in society hat1 been cxclr~tlctl roni tlierehabili tation process - aga ins t tlie t lotninant ana lys is which assuriietl tha tall sec t ions of th e Kutcli popula t ion were cclually affcctctl ant1 there forencetlctl a n e qua l r e s pons e froni th e s ta te . In I%olangi r , ctionAitl's ana lys issliowctl tliffcrent r e a s ons fo r d r o u g h t ant1 mi g r a t i on from tlie t l omi na n te xp l a na t i ons t ha t cmpl ias izc t l na t u r a l forces s uc h a s rainfall . 1:oucaultrccognizctl tha t Itno\vlctlge ant1 power a rc closely rcl;~tctl . 3y offering tlif-fcl-cnt c ons t r uc t i ons of reality, ActionAitl cnable t l r l jf jrer ll kitrrls ?/nction,sto c ha nge tliat reality. 'l'licsc tliffcrcnt Itintls of a c t i ons a re soc ia l , polit ical,c c onon l i c ant1 legal antl inclutlc a variety of strategies: rlsc of law, organiza -tion bui l t l ing, c o m m u n i t y mobi l iza t ion, f o r mi ng larger coalit ion alliances,rcscilrcli ant1 otlicr c a mpa i gn metliocls. wS c n ' s f r cc t lom-ccnt rc t l view o f t1cvclol)mcnt is very mi lch a n a ge n t - d'zoricntctl vicw. With ; ~ t l c c l t ~ ; ~ t coc ia l o p p o r t t ~ n i t i c s ,nt1ivitlu;lls c;in cffcc-tivcly sll:111c the i r ow n tlcstiny aritl Iicll, each otlicr . 'l'licy ncctl no t be seen $


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most cases the beneficiaries belonged to the socially vulnerable groupsand were selected on the basis of need. Grain bank suppo rt, or emergencymedical support , me~ nber ship f credit groups and l ivelihood support weregiven in this way. At the same time, these village-level organizations andcommunity-level volunteers cont inued to struggle with the sta te and ot hervested intere sts in the society for the basic rights of the vulnerable. Thu s thesuccess fi~l ombination of service delivery and the rights-based approac hwas made possible due to the mobilization of agency of people belongingto the socially disadvantaged sections of the community in the form ofvillage-level organizations or as community-based volunteers. ActionAidthus worked with notions of empowerment and empowered agency topromote equity and justice.

A rights-based appr oach us es a more dynamic construction of notions ofvulnerability. While in Kutch and Bolangir the Dalits and oth er economi-cally and socially marginalized groups were the vulnerable social groups,historically marginalized from development processes, th e Gujarat com-munal violence showed a different face of vulnerability where the Gujaratstate's lack of respect for universal hum an rights, justice a nd t he impa rtialrule of law became a threat to the fabric of Indian democracy. In thisscenario, ActionAid, along with o ther civil society organizations, sought toprotect the rights of minority Muslims in Gujarat. Further, a s civil societyitself became vulnerable to the right-wing discourse of hatred, ActionAidsought to work with the different religious groups to ens ure healing an daffirm pluralist society - central to any participatory a nd inclusive demo-cracy.

Lastly, by embracing coalition politics where ActionAid not only actedas a d onor organization but a lso as a part of larger civil society networkssuch a s Citizen's Initiative o r CADMB (themselves a n alliance of civil societyorganizations based on c omm on goals), it was able to influence the micro-as well as the macro-environment in the interests of the marginalizedsections it represented. T raditionally, given the lack of state accountabilityor its inability to access life-sustaining resources, poor people in India typi-cally used their social networks or continued in patron-client relationshipsvis-h-vis the dom inan t sections of society (as seen in Bolangir) or the stateto sustain themselves. ActionAid's work with the poor an d the ir organiza-tions shows an emergence of new kinds of social network or relationshipsthat enable poor people to secure their rights.

These four s ets of development practices - (i) offering differe nt construc-tions of reality, th us e nabling different kind s of actions; (ii) mobilizationof people's agency, namely tha t of socially marginalized an d disadvantagedgroups; (iii) dynamic notions of vulnerability; and (iv) new kinds of social

networks - form some of the core comp onents of the rights-based appr oachof ActionAid India, an d are a new form of emanc ipatory politics to whichdevelopment orga nizations such a s ActionAid have contribute d.Notes

I remain grateful to my colleagues from Gujarat and Orissa whose inter-action has influenced many of the ideas stated above. Special thanks are dueto the Sneh K armis, the Aman Pathiks, Harsh Mande r and AmarJyoti Nayak,colleague s with whom I share me mories of difficult times during our responseto the Kutch earthquake and the comm unal violence in Gujarat.1 ActionAid's partners here are the Behavioural Science Centre, Marag andPrayas in R apar taluka of Kutch district.2 The pio neering study by Amartya Sen and Jean D rkze,Hunger andpublicAction (1989), highlights the co nnections between hunger, famines and lack ofentitlements.

ReferencesActionAid India (1993) Strategy Paper ig g3-ig g7 (Bang alore: ActionAid India).- 2000) 2000-2003 Taking Sides: Updated Country Strategy Paper (New Delhi:ActionAid India).Sen, A. (2000) Development as Freedom (New York: Knop f).Sen, A. and J. Drkze (1989)Hunger andPublicAction (Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress).

supriya reinventing development paper

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