In recent times, the issue of ‘ basic income’ has
acquired a political hue with various political parties adopting different
avatars of this long discussed policy measure .This politicization of policy
has ,as always, led to a considerable muddying of the waters of reasoned debate
with ideological debris.
In this context the book by Davala et al is a
refreshingly clear and extremely educative work of scholarship based on hard
data from field research.
The authors begin by carefully defining their terms
and the task at hand .Their objective is to assess the impact on clearly
specified parameters, of a modest basic income disbursed monthly in cash
without conditions, to all individuals in selected villages.
In Indore district of Madhya Pradesh eight villages
all roughly similar in size and socio- economic structure, roughly equidistant
from an urban centre and in close proximity to a primary school were selected
at random for a trial as were twelve villages to serve as ‘control’ villages
for purposes of comparison. Similarly, one tribal village was selected for
trial and one control village for comparison. The NGO SEWA was active in all
the villages and was part of the project which was funded by UNICEF. For a year
and a half every individual ,adult and
child, in the trial villages got a certain sum of money unconditionally.(Rs 200 per adult and Rs 100
per child between June2011 and May 2012 and Rs 300 per adult and Rs 150 per
child between June 2012 and November 2012).No income was disbursed in the
control villages . A base line survey was conducted before commencement of the
pilot, an interim survey half way thru and a final evaluation survey after the
pilot ended. The impact assessment of Basic Income was based on the huge amount
of data these surveys generated.
It is important to emphasize that in addition to the
pathbreaking results of the project, the book serves to educate in numerous
other ways.
The authors analyze the functioning of two important
policy measures adopted in India for poverty alleviation-the Public Distribution
System for free/concessional distribution of essential commodities , primarily
foodgrain , and the public works program to offer work to those wanting it in
the rural areas. The PDS is expensive to run, plagued by leakages and
corruption and often does not guarantee adequate availability of the products
it purports to supply. Public works, even if adequately funded, do not help
those unable to perform hard unskilled labour-the most vulnerable amongst the
poor- and often do not create useful assets .They do not contribute to skill
creation either.
The authors also emphasize the problems in any kind of
conditionality or targeting in social welfare schemes. The problems of cost of
implementation, inaccuracy due to exclusion and inclusion errors and corruption
in field operations are rampant. By comparison, unconditional cash transfers
appear to offer a better option as regards both efficiency and equity.
Having examined the pros and cons of various
approaches to poverty alleviation the authors proceed to assess the impact of
basic income on various symptoms that poverty exhibits in the villages studied,
as compared to the control villages. Here too, before we reach the impact
assessment, those of us not familiar with the realities of rural poverty in
India, stand to learn some very disturbing stuff. Rural indebtedness, despite
the plethora of financial institutions created over the years, and resulting
from it ‘tied labour’, is a reality ten years into the 21st century.
An indebted labourer may , on the strength of a loan, remain a naukar of a big
landowner for long periods of time-often a lifetime!
The authors examine the impact of basic income on
personal welfare, income and productivity and importantly, on freedom-the
emancipatory effect of such income.
The principal welfare parameters are indebtedness,
living conditions (toilets/energy use/water sources) nutrition and health. To
pick up just indebtedness, Basic Income made a significant difference very
quickly with debt showing a decline in both tribal and non- tribal villages.
Households became more resilient in the face of external shocks- often the
basic cause of indebtedness. The cynical view , that ‘private bads’ like
alcohol consumption would increase were categorically disproved by the results
and shown to be based on prejudice, not ground realities. Every welfare
parameter showed improvement with Basic Income and the authors contend that the
‘emancipatory value’ of Basic Income was far more than just it’s monetary
value.
Productivity and thereby income also showed
improvement with Basic Income which permitted small investments that enhanced
local income earning abilities and even impacted migration . Since women got
the same income as men there was significant positive impact on women’s voice
and a sense of identity and citizenship. A movement towards gender equity was
thus an important consequence of Basic Income.
There is no claim that a small , universal ,
unconditional cash transfer is a magic wand to eliminate poverty. It is however
emphasized that it can be an important tool especially if we face up to the
fact that there are serious limitations to the tools currently in use-PDS,
MGNREGA and very importantly the huge subsidies currently in vogue that are
acknowledged to be largely regressive.
The one argument that I personally found overwhelming
was that a small cash transfer can serve as a “minor correction for brute ill
luck”. Endemic, visible poverty has perhaps desensitized us to a great extent
and the absence of want has made us so complacent and we forget -as the authors
remind us- that the basis of wealth is more often inheritance than personal
effort and ability. Equality is perhaps impossible in the human condition and
equality of opportunity is a dream that can be aspired to ( ‘getting to Denmark’,
as Francis Fukayama put it) but how can we deny a small recompense for the
visible and implacable brutalities of
fate.
The book is long, simply written and the regressions
are confined to the appendix. It is not a light read but a rewarding one.
Happy reading.
Great reading!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete