Guy Standing

Sarath Davala

Renana Jhabvala

Soumya Kapoor Mehta

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Would it be possible to provide people with a basic income as a right? The idea has a long history. This book draws on two pilot schemes conducted in the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh, in which thousands of men, women and children were provided with an unconditional monthly cash payment. In a context in which the Indian government at national and state levels spends a vast amount on subsidies and selective schemes that are chronically expensive, inefficient, inequitable and subject to extensive corruption, there is scope for switching at least some of the spending to a modest basic income. This book explores what would be likely to happen if this were done. The book draws on a series of evaluation surveys conducted over the course of the eighteen months in which the main pilot was in operation, supplemented with detailed case studies of individuals and families. It looks at the impact on health and nutrition, on schooling, on economic activity, women's agency and the welfare of those with disabilities. Above all, the book considers whether or not a basic income could be transformative, in not only improving individual and family welfare but in promoting economic growth and development, as well as having an emancipatory effect for people long mired in conditions of poverty and economic insecurity.

A Transformative Policy for India

Basic Income

"Would it be possible to provide people with a basic income as a right? The idea has a long history. This book draws on two pilot schemes conducted in the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh, in which thousands of men, women and children were provided with an unconditional monthly cash payment. In a context in which the Indian government at national and state levels spends a vast amount on subsidies and selective schemes that are chronically expensive, inefficient, inequitable and subject to extensive corruption, there is scope for switching at least some of the spending to a modest basic income. This book explores what would be likely to happen if this were done. The book draws on a series of evaluation surveys conducted over the course of the eighteen months in which the main pilot was in operation, supplemented with detailed case studies of individuals and families. It looks at the impact on health and nutrition, on schooling, on economic activity, women's agency and the welfare of those with disabilities. Above all, the book considers whether or not a basic income could be transformative, in not only improving individual and family welfare but in promoting economic growth and development, as well as having an emancipatory effect for people long mired in conditions of poverty and economic insecurity."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Would it be possible to provide people with a basic income as a right? The idea has a long history. This book draws on two pilot schemes conducted in the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh, in which thousands of men, women and children were provided with an unconditional monthly cash payment. In a context in which the Indian government at national and state levels spends a vast amount on subsidies and selective schemes that are chronically expensive, inefficient, inequitable and subject to extensive corruption, there is scope for switching at least some of the spending to a modest basic income. This book explores what would be likely to happen if this were done. The book draws on a series of evaluation surveys conducted over the course of the eighteen months in which the main pilot was in operation, supplemented with detailed case studies of individuals and families. It looks at the impact on health and nutrition, on schooling, on economic activity, women's agency and the welfare of those with disabilities. Above all, the book considers whether or not a basic income could be transformative, in not only improving individual and family welfare but in promoting economic growth and development, as well as having an emancipatory effect for people long mired in conditions of poverty and economic insecurity.

Ravi Kanbur

Martha Chen

Carol Richards

This highly topical volume, with contributions from leading experts in the field, explores a variety of questions about membership based organizations of the poor. Analyzing their success and failure and the internal and external factors that play a part, it uses studies from both developed and developing countries. Put together by a group of prestigious editors, the contributors address a range of questions, including: What structures and activities characterize MBOPs? What is meant by success and what factors account for success? What are the internal (governance structure and leadership) and external (policy environment) factors that account for success? Are these factors replicable across countries or even within countries? What are the constraints to successful MBOPs expanding, or to new ones being formed? What sort of policy environment enables the success of MBOPs and the formation of successful MBOPs? What types of institutional reforms are needed to ensure the representation of the poor through their own MBOs? This is an insightful work, that will be invaluable for students and researchers studying or working in the areas of international and development economics and development studies.

Membership Based Organizations of the Poor

Bijal Brahmbhatt

‘We are from different settlements but we belong to one city.’ – Rekha, Vikasini from Ahmedabad Living on the margins of India’s urban sprawls, the poor women of the nation’s slums bear the manifold burdens of housework, childcare and earning a livelihood. The Mahila Housing SEWA Trust (MHT) was established in 1994 with the aim of mobilizing and empowering these urban poor women, and supporting their access to adequate housing. Twenty-five years on, the MHT has changed the lives of over 1.7 million individuals, reaching more than 3,30,000 households and skilling over 17,000 women. The City-Makers tells the story of this incredible journey – a journey of transformation that has the potential to one day change the cities in which we live. The accounts of the innumerable courageous women workers who have taken steps – individually and collectively – to bring about change at the personal and community levels speak of the struggles, the sense of solidarity and the triumph they experience as they build their homes with their own hands; bargain with government and private agencies for access to water, sanitation, affordable energy and land rights; find solutions to make their homes climate-resilient; and participate in city-level planning and decision-making processes. Together, the success stories of Meena, Mumtaz, Parul, and others like them, reflect the central message of the MHT’s mission: that women living in urban informal settlements must be taken along if India wishes to make its cities participatory, inclusive and sustainable.

Renana Jhabvala

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