Articles by Jos Chathukulam

Demands to launch an urban employment guarantee scheme similar to that of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has been gaining traction for a while. Kerala has been a front-runner in this regard by launching the Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme way back in 2010. At a time when the entire country is seeking an urban counterpart of the rural employment guarantee scheme, the potential and pitfalls of its urban version need to be looked into.

In response to Mihir Shah’s article on ‘Employment Guarantee, Civil Society and Indian Democracy’ (November 17, 2007), I would like to point out that the central act on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) says, “the basic objective of the Act is to enhance livelihood security in r

State Politics and Panchayats in India by Buddhadeb Ghosh and Girish Kumar; Manohar Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, 2003; pp 243, Rs 475

Kerala's uniquely successful experiment in participatory planning has seen the mobilisation of several thousands of people in the implementation of the Ninth Five-Year Plan. The process had its problems that arose essentially from the absence of a clear perspective about decentralisation. The impact of changing policies following a change of government also has its effect on decentralised planning. An objective assessment of the plan campaign is hampered if viewed through the prism of partisan politics. This paper is also an attempt to look at the plan process from the perspective of decentralisation, rather than from the perspective of planning.

Jawahar Rozgar Yojana: An Assessment?
M NEELAKANDAN's article Jawahar Rozgar Yojana: As Assessment Through Concurrent Evaluation' (EPW, December 3, 1994) is a commendable attempt to examine to what extent the programme objectives have been achieved, the deviations, if any from the guidelines; with an overall assessment of the workers by making use of the data of the concurrent evaluation conducted in 1992. Here we are attempting (1) to review Neelakandan's findings; and (2) to assess qualitative aspects of the findings and the acceptability of the concurrent evaluation data based on our empirical evidence and in depth field experience. (See Jos Chathukulam and V K Kurien, 'Participation of Rural Development and Delivery System: A Case Study of Jawahar Rozgar Yojana in Kerala', Centre for Rural Management, Kottayam (mimeo).