Basic Income: A Transformative Policy for India

by Sarath Davala, Renana Jhabvala, Guy Standing

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.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction

255 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 14, 2014

Reviews

[Hal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring account of a universal basic income (UBI) pilot in rural India. This is a very different discussion than UBI for western countries: We're talking about villages with dirt roads that are cut off from the world during monsoons, people who sometimes can't read and write, with no savings, no bank accounts, who need to borrow to buy food or medicine, and whose only access to credit are usurious moneylenders at interest rates of 3 to 10%—per month! Without prompt repayment, which many can't afford because their work and hence wages are highly seasonal, this builds up to 40 to 200% in interest a year. Sic(k). Some are effectively in debt bondage, working for a landlord. This is not at all comparable to a UBI discussion in, say, Norway, where the baseline wealth and standard of living is so much higher and the intended effect is more along the lines of more self actualization and less pressure for industrial or office workers to stay in unhappy jobs. Very, very different discussion.

India does have a number of programmes in place to alleviate poverty, such as subsidized food shops and labour provision schemes; but poor administration, corruption, broken incentives, lack of information, and high efforts needed to obtain them mean that a lot of intended recipients are falling through the cracks. The authors cite an informed estimate that for more than 3 Rupies spent, only 1 reaches an actual recipient.

Long story short: Universal basic income helps significantly in every way, and even more so where there was a local union organization branch (SEWA) present to help. People spend the money in extremely sensible ways: to pay off debt, to save, to invest in productivity—most have a small patch of land for which they buy seeds and fertilizer; also sewing machines to make cloths and raw materials for bracelets, which they then sell on local markets—, to provide for more food and better education for their kids, to get better healthcare, and—often with pooled money—to build up local infrastructure, esp. toilets, wells, irrigation for the fields, and sewage disposal. In particular, they don't waste the money on booze or to slack off, thereby rebutting a common prejudice levelled at them.

The pilot also documents an emancipatory effect in general—such as people being able to negotiate better wages or make better trade-offs between paid labour on someone else's field and work on their own field come harvest time—and for several marginalized groups gaining more agency and independence, in particular scheduled castes (=those at the bottom of the caste hierarchy), women, disabled people and the elderly.

All in all, a very interesting book with many very specific observations about how well-intentioned policies can succeed or fail in harsh reality. On the plus side, this is solid research with clear quantitative findings. On the minus side, the writing is at times rather academic and like bar charts put to words. I wonder if the chapters were originally published papers about the pilot that were compiled with minor edits to form this book. Don't expect a fluffy journalist-written business book read with pop quotes. This is real socio-economic science and, though fairly short, takes effort to get through. It's worth it though!

[Aryan Prasad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is based on a Pilot Project of UBI in Madhya Pradesh. It dismantles many myths one may have about UBI (people with spend on Alcohol/gambling, people will no longer work, men will take away money from wife and children.) From this, UBI seems to be excellent. Since it was fieldwork, macro implications of policy were not dealt in detail, but stats were put out to show that a good enough UBI can be made with much just a small part of subsidies and welfare scheme already being run.

[laika · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredible