Papers by Shylashri Shankar
Routledge eBooks, Apr 5, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Dec 27, 2021
Cambridge University Press eBooks, 2018
Social Science Research Network, Jul 1, 2016
The impact of information on corruption and effective implementation is Janus faced. In this pape... more The impact of information on corruption and effective implementation is Janus faced. In this paper we use household level data to address the issue of corruption in the NREG program in three states: Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. We discover that at the entry level, information about the NREG has the effect of increasing the entry of non-poor while the acutely poor, who possessed neither TVs nor cell-phones, nor attended public meetings nor were connected to social networks did not know and therefore did not participate in the program. At implementation level, information enabled those who possessed it to avoid being shortchanged by the administration. The non-poor benefited more from the NREG in all three states, and the ethnographic evidence from Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra shows that the non-poor even misused the program. So, information has generated corruption on the part of some informed beneficiaries. Conversely, in areas where poorer and illiterate participants are in greater numbers, they are likely to experience more corruption from government officials during the implementation because they possess less information on the benefits accruing to a participant in the NREG. The picture from Rajasthan shows that, while the entry level capture by the non-poor is relatively low, compared to the other two states, the corruption at the level of implementation is higher. Here, lack of information on the part of the beneficiary reduces the monitoring potential and effective implementation and enables corruption. Social networking (and the access to information) increases the likelihood of participation by the affluent but decreases the likelihood of participation by non-affluent and the poor. This implies that the non-affluent are not able to act even if they have information. We need to explore this result further. The results from the three states back the rationale for the importance of a right to information and suggests that the government should invest more in advocacy campaigns about their programs, particularly in the poorest areas. At the same time, it is important to carry out periodic information drives among the beneficiaries to ensure that they are aware of the components of the scheme. However, while these measures may not stop the non-poor from benefiting at the expense of the poor, they might introduce better monitoring of the programs by the poor.
Social Science Research Network, 2011
India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has been hailed as one of the country'... more India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has been hailed as one of the country's most creative social initiatives. Since the program was begun only recently (in 2004-05) there is a need to assess its impact on households not just in one year but over time. To the best of our knowledge there are no studies of the latter kind. Using a unique panel data set for 2007-08 and 2009-10 for the Indian state of Rajasthan this paper analyzes the transitions into and out of the National Rural Employment Guarantee. It models the impact of such transitions on earnings of workers as well the determinants of such transitions. Several policy conclusions are also advanced.
Economic and Political Weekly, 2008
This article presents results on the participation of rural workers in the National Rural Employm... more This article presents results on the participation of rural workers in the National Rural Employment Guarantee programme based on a pilot survey of three villages in Udaipur district in Rajasthan. Its focus is on participation in the NREG programme of different socio-economic groups and the determinants of the participation of these groups. It is found that the mean participation was 59 days and that targeting was satisfactory. The performance of the programme has been far from dismal.
American Behavioral Scientist, Oct 20, 2015
For years, a particular way of thinking about the relationship between religious strife, law, and... more For years, a particular way of thinking about the relationship between religious strife, law, and legal processes has influenced conversations among scholars, human rights activists and policy makers. This way of thinking sees law as an antidote to religious tensions. "Rule of law," the logic goes, acts as a force of moderation and, in matters of religion, serves as a key tool for mollifying or resolving disputes. One does not have to go far to find examples of this paradigm. In a December 2013 speech to the United Nations General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, celebrated the power of law to help resolve chronic patterns of religious violence and hatred. He insisted that [a]n open constitutional framework that allows free manifestations of existing or emerging religious pluralism on the basis of equal respect for all is a sine qua non of any policy directed towards eliminating collective religious hatred by building trust through public institutions. (United Nations General Assembly 2013: 11) According to Bielefeldt, institutions of law-above all constitutions and the courts that interpret them-serve as bulwarks against religious strife, polarization and hatred. Constitutional law, he insists, is central to resolving conflicts among religious
India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has been hailed as one of the country'... more India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has been hailed as one of the country's most creative social initiatives. Since the program was begun only recently (in 2004-05) there is a need to assess its impact on households not just in one year but over time. To the best of our knowledge there are no studies of the latter kind. Using a unique panel data set for 2007-08 and 2009-10 for the Indian state of Rajasthan this paper analyzes the transitions into and out of the National Rural Employment Guarantee. It models the impact of such transitions on earnings of workers as well the determinants of such transitions. Several policy conclusions are also advanced.
Political Values and Narratives of Resistance, 2021
Muslim wives have finally rid of the Damocles’ sword of triple talaq, homosexual men and lesbian ... more Muslim wives have finally rid of the Damocles’ sword of triple talaq, homosexual men and lesbian women are free to express their sexuality without fearing arrest, and adulterers can make the choice to commit such acts without being penalized by the Indian state. These judgments of India’s Supreme Court, particularly in the arena of religious freedom, have evoked approval from liberals who call it ‘progressive’, anger among those who value ‘tradition’ and ‘religious commandments’, and disquiet among those who wonder if balance between conflicting freedoms has indeed been achieved, and whether courts ought to be in this fray.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2011
India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has been hailed as one of the country'... more India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has been hailed as one of the country's most creative social initiatives. Since the program was begun only recently (in 2004-05) there is a need to assess its impact on households not just in one year but over time. To the best of our knowledge there are no studies of the latter kind. Using a unique panel data set for 2007-08 and 2009-10 for the Indian state of Rajasthan this paper analyzes the transitions into and out of the National Rural Employment Guarantee. It models the impact of such transitions on earnings of workers as well the determinants of such transitions. Several policy conclusions are also advanced.
American Behavioral Scientist, 2016
German Law Journal, 2018
The Constitution of India envisages three types of emergencies: A national emergency; a state eme... more The Constitution of India envisages three types of emergencies: A national emergency; a state emergency (in the federal setup, regions are called states in India, and the central government has the power to impose an emergency if there is a breakdown of law and order in that state); and a financial emergency. The problem the State faces is how it can respond effectively to exceptional situations without casting its adherence to the rule of law into question.“ Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde offers a set of solutions within a model structure anchored in constitutional laws. The model structure, which applies at the federal level, advocates a separation between the authorizing agency—the political wing—and the implementation agency, as well as creating a distinction between a ”law“ and a ”measure,“ and between a most extreme and a merely difficult situation. By focusing on the actions of the higher judiciary in India, this Article tests whether the safeguards in Böckenförde's model str...
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Papers by Shylashri Shankar