Organising Poor Women: The Andhra Pradesh Experience - Tapa dura

Why does poverty, particularly poverty among women, persist? One reason might be that we do not have the appropriate knowledge on which to base policies and interventions. But even if there was technical consensus on how to reduce poverty, the real issue is whether the power structures in society will allow interventions that reduce the advantages of the wealthy. Without power, the poor in general and poor women in particular, will not be able to argue for and to force the introduction of policies and interventions that improve their well-being. Hence, the need for empowerment. Organisations of the poor are central to inclusive growth. Andhra Pradesh has been in the forefront of promoting these organisations, especially for poor women. This volume assesses and analyses the Andhra Pradesh experience. The papers in the volume will be useful to researchers and policymakers alike since they chart a specific and concrete experience in enhancing organisations of poor women.

S. Mahendra Dev is currently Director (Vice-Chancellor), Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, India. He received his PhD from the Delhi School of Economics and his Post-doctoral research at the Economic Growth Centre, Yale University, USA. He has written extensively on agricultural development, poverty and public policy, food security, employment guarantee schemes, social security, farm and non-farm employment. He has more than 100 research publications in national and international journals. His recently published book is Inclusive Growth in India: Agriculture, Poverty and Human Development (2011). He has been a consultant and adviser to many international organisations, such as UNDP, World Bank, IFPRI, ILO, FAO and ESCAP. He has been a member of several government committees including the Prime Minister's Task Force on Employment and Rangarajan Commission on Financial Inclusion. He was member of several working groups for Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Five Year Plans.Ravi Kanbur is T.H. Lee Professor of World Affairs, International Professor of Applied Economics and Management, and Professor of Economics at Cornell University, USA. He holds a bachelor's degree from Cambridge and a doctorate from Oxford. He has taught at Oxford, UK, Cambridge, UK, Princeton, USA and Columbia, USA. He has published in the leading economics journals such as American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Economic Theory, and Economic Journal. Prof. Kanbur has served on the senior staff of the World Bank, including as Principal Adviser to the Chief Economist of the World Bank, and as Director of the World Bank's World Development Report.S. Galab is PhD from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India. He is currently Professor, Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad, India. He has written extensively on agricultural development, poverty, women empowerment, child well-being, agrarian relations, safety networks and self-help groups. He has more than 30 research publications in national and international journals. He has been a project director for Andhra Pradesh District Poverty Initiatives Programme (APDPIP), Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Programme (APRPRP) (World Bank projects) and Young Lives and various other projects like NREGS, Wage Employment Programmes etc. He has been a member in the Commission on Farmers' Welfare in Andhra Pradesh, Departmental Committee of Centre for Regional Studies, Working Group on Poverty Elimination Programmes, Expert Group on Agricultural Indebtedness.G. Alivelu is currently Assistant Professor, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad, India. She received her PhD from B.R. Ambedkar Open University in 2007. Her research interests include areas of industry and services. She has published research articles in both national and international journals. Her recently published book is on Indian Zonal Railways. She has contributed papers on industry for Human Development Report of Andhra Pradesh. She is a member of working group for the Twelfth Five Year Plan for the Government of Andhra Pradesh. She also conducted collaborative projects with Department for International Development (DFID), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, the Netherlands on issues like state business relations and also on water and sanitation costs and service levels.