ISTR Sixth International Conference Toronto, Canada / July 11-14, 2004 Contesting Citizenship and Civil Society in a Divided World

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Social Capital and Peoples Plan - A Study of Panchayats in Karnataka, India
by
M. Chandra Poojary
Reader, Dept. of Development Studies, Kannada University - Hampi

Social Capital and Peoples Plan - A Study of Panchayats in Karnataka, India In recent years the development debate and the practice have undergone significant changes (Mohan & Stokke, 2000). In the event of these changes importance of local civil society participation for social change and empowerment is gaining momentum (World Bank, 1997). Owing to these developments a new path is being suggested and pursued both by liberals and radicals, of course for different reasons. For the neo-liberals empowerment process is a responsibility of the poor themselves; if needed they would be effectively assisted by the non-governmental organizations in this endeavor (World Bank, 2001). Radicals too push the idea of social mobilization; but for a different reason. For them empowerment is a matter of collective mobilization of marginalized against the disempowering state and the market (Escobar, 1995). In this new approach the erstwhile object of development has been transformed into an agent of development or change. The transformation from object to agent would be meaningful only when the agents act collectively or participate as a community. Infact social capital refers to the question of community or association formation and its role in facilitating development (Coleman, 1988, Putnam, 1993). It refers to features of social association like trust, norms and networks that can improve the efficiency of society by facilitating coordinated action. In other words it deals with non-material resources at the micro-level – trust, networks and shared norms – and their possible impact on the macro-level.

Problem In the west social capital theory has been applied with the some amount of success. But many scholars have shown reservations about its applicability in segmented societies of developing counties like India (John Harris, 2001). In the mean time World Bank took special interest in operationalizing the new theory. It has funded several projects to look into the application of social capital theory in different parts of the world (Krishna & Elizabeth, 1999). Besides, a number of universities and institutions have also shown interest in testing the applicability of social capital theory in segmented societies of developing countries. These studies have concentrated more on examining the relation between social capital and democracy (Niraja Gopal Jayal, 2001). These studies assume development to follow democracy (Sudha Pai, 2001). Second, these studies have not produced empirical data on the indicators of social capital. More than that these studies appear to have taken the issue of local civil society without much pondering over its contextual varieties and the impact of these varieties on the quality of participation. In this paper I would like to concentrate on historically formed communities and their adaptability to the new requirements like panchayats or the institutions of local self-governance. To be specific this paper makes an attempt to understand the relation between social capital and peoples participation in panchayat planing process. This paper is based on our experience of preparing plan for panchayats with people’s participation in two gramapanchayats of Karnataka in India. The paper deals with three important questions relating to social capital and peoples participation. They are - one, what is the basis of social capital? Second, what is the relation between segmentation and social capital? Third, what is the relation between social capital and peoples participation in planning process?

Method The study combined both conventional and participatory research methods. Attempts were made to make the people to participate in the planning process. We persuaded the panchayat members to call vasati sabhas. A vasati sabha is an assembly of 40 to 50 neighboring houses. In each vasati sabha the members were asked prepare a list of problems they face in their ward. In the second stage they were asked to prioritize the problems based on the urgency of solution. The problem which needs to be solved immediately need to be put at the top and the next is given second position. In this way priority list was prepared. In the third stage the neighborhood assembly needs to analyze the problems listed. While analyzing the problems they were asked to concentrate on four aspects – one, reason or causes of the problem, second, solutions to the problem, total budget required and finally their participation either in monetary terms or in labor. In order to measure the degree of social capital existing in a village setting four indicators are used. They are – trust, reciprocity, abiding the norms and participation. Seven indicators are used to measure the level of people’s participation in the planning process. They are – number of members participated in each vasati sabha, number of female members participated in the vasati sabhas, number of problems listed, the issues prioritized, number of people participated in analyzing the problems, number of cases where people agreed to contribute cash, and number of cases where people agreed to contribute labor.

Importance This study examines the factors facilitating the community or association formation that help peoples participation in planning process. Thus the study may also help us to understand how to transform an instrumental participation into a transformative one. At theoretical level this study is going to test the empirical validity of social capital theory. The importance of social capital lies in its potentiality to relate the micro with the macro and also in explaining how everyday life affects the process of democracy and development. So the theory has lots of relevance to India which faces problem both on practicing democracy and also on development front. The theory has been applied in the western context with some amount of success. But in a segmented society like India its application needs to be tested. Infact this study is going to fill that gap.

References – 1. Mohan, G., & Stokke, K., “Participatory Development and Empowerment: the Dangers of Localism,” Third World Quarterly, 21 (2), 2000, pp.247-268 2. World Bank, World Development Report 1997: The State in a Changing World, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997 3. World Bank, World Bank Report 2001: Attacking Poverty, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001 4. Escobar, A., Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995 5. James Coleman, “Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital.” American Journal of Sociology 94. (Supplement) S95-S120, 1988 6. Robert Putnam, Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993 7. John Harris, Depoliticizing Development – the World Bank and Social Capital, Delhi: Left Word, 2001 8. Anirudh Krishna and Elizabeth Shrader, Social Capital Assessment Tool, Prepared for the Conference on Social Capital and Poverty Reduction, The World Bank Washington, D.C., 1999 9. Sudha Pai, “Social Capital, Panchayats and Grassroots Democracy – Politics of Dalit Assertion in Uttar Pradesh,” Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.XXXVI, No.8, February, 2001, pp.645-654 10. Niraja Gopal Jayal, “Democracy and Social Capital in Central Himalaya – Tale of Two Villages,” Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.XXXVI, No.8, February, 2001, pp.655-664

Date received: September 22, 2003

Copyright © 2003 by the author(s). The author(s) of this document and the organizers of the conference have granted their consent to include this abstract in Atlas Conferences Inc. Document # call-70.