Political India: Engaging America

From The Hindu

CHENNAI: The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is of significant benefit to agriculture in the Cauvery delta area, according to sources in the Thanjavur district administration.

Speaking to The Hindu, Collector M.S. Shanmugham explained that until recently, work on A-class canals, the main ones connecting rivers directly to fields, was not included within the ambit of NREGS projects.

“However, after last year’s floods, I wrote to the government and managed to get a government order passed to permit NREGS de-silting projects to also take up A-class canals. The de-silting work and anti-flood operations have been of much benefit to agriculture in the district,” Mr. Shanmugham said. Additionally, this had significantly increased work opportunities in this district for NREGS workers.

In the Cauvery delta, canals make up the “nerve centre” of agriculture, which is highly dependent on the flow of water released from dams upstream, Mr. Shanmugham explained.

Given this “huge network of canals in Thanjavur the budgetary allocation to de-silt that entire network, if it were to be done by the Public Works Department, will be Rs.100 crore at least,” according to him.

However as the NREGS budget is effectively utilised for this purpose the financial burden is taken off the State government, creating a “win-win situation”.

Simultaneously, “Rs.1.4 crore in purchasing power is being pumped into the rural economy every week, in the form of wages for approximately 30,000 workers district-wide,” Mr. Shanmugham said.

Most workers tend to receive Rs.75-80 per day, and “there is usually no underpayment of wages as the schedule of rates clearly defines separate terms for hard soil, soft soil, jungle clearance work, and so on.”

Labour budget

According to data provided by the district administration, labour budget has been approved for 1440 canal, tank and road works projects for 2009-10 at an estimated cost of Rs.47.35 crore.

Funds to the tune of Rs.62.61 crore have been received by the district from Central and State governments for this year, of which 76 per cent has already been utilised.

Employment under the NREGS has been provided to 1,68,721 job cardholders in Thanjavur district thus far, generating 60 lakh mandays of work, according to the administration.

Labels: canals, Cauvery, delta, desilting, job card, NREGS, Public Works Department, Thanjavur

From The Hindu, with modifications

CHENNAI: Faced with a shortage of farm work and no recourse to alternatives, labourers in Tamil Nadu are demanding that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) be extended to more than 100 days per year.

A. Lalitha, A. Rani and B. Papathi are landless labourers who live in Tirukanurpatti in Thanjavur. They work on a road formation project under the NREGS in the burning heat of the mid-day sun. Sheltering in the shade of a solitary tree in the vicinity, they explained why an extension of the policy is vital to sustaining their livelihoods.

“The sudden shortfall in the monsoon has left us with very few options in farm work,” Ms. Lalitha explained. “I have been without work for one whole month until I joined this NREGS project four days ago,” she said. Her husband and the husbands of Ms. Rani and Ms. Papathi are without work currently as they are looking for farm jobs that have all but vanished. “When they do find work, it pays something like Rs.20-30 per day,” Ms. Rani says, and this makes it difficult to make ends meet and feed the family. Their husbands also spend a large part of the household income on alcohol consumption, they admitted.

In this context of employment insecurity and monsoon-dependence in agriculture the NREGS is a lifeline for the landless poor. “We would like to ask the government for at least Rs.100 as the daily wage,” Ms. Lalitha said. “As for the work, what we need is a minimum of 150 days per year. Even with such an increase we would be without work for some months. Ideally we would like to be offered 300 days of work per year if possible,” she said.

The same theme is encountered across different NREGS sites. For example in Vanarangudi village near Thanjavur, R. Malika and V. Sakuntala, both landless labourers, worked on a nearby NREGS site for 70-80 days last year. They are less confident about getting enough work on farms this year, given that the monsoon failure has hit farm employment hard: “We’re finding it difficult to get work on farms nearby and have to travel farther to find employment. Our situation would be better if we were paid Rs.100 per day and had more days of work on [NREGS] sites,” Ms. Malika said.

At another roadwork project in Bodidasanpatti village in Theni district NREGS workers S. Vidiyammal and T. Veerama explained that last year they worked only 25 days on NREGS projects, far below the 100 days promised by the policy. “Most years we only find about four months of work in agriculture,” they said. Five days of work per week and a salary of Rs.100 per day would make a big difference to their livelihoods, according to Ms. Veerama.

District authorities corroborate the significant positive benefits of the NREGS for rural labour. “The right to employment is in effect being implemented via the NREGS,” argued M.S. Shanmugham, District Collector, Thanjavur. The “guaranteed” element of the scheme has been understood well by the workers and “they even complain directly to me sometimes when they have been provided fewer days of work than they have requested,” Mr. Shanmugham said.

The administration in Tiruchi district reports a similar situation: “A large number of labourers in the district are demanding more than 100 days of work. In most such cases the workers have already completed 100 days of work and desire further employment,” says J. Dhanashekharan, Project Officer responsible for the NREGS in the District Rural Development Agency.

Given the sharp drop in agricultural production resulting from monsoon failure this year, the voices of the rural poor in Tamil Nadu districts are a clarion call for extending the NREGS. With drought or drought-like conditions in many districts the Government of India needs to rapidly consolidate and build further from its initial efforts to provide employment security to the rural workforce. In this context the recent proclamations by the Finance Minister that more than 100 days of employment will not be provided is a regressive step that could undo the progress made thus far towards reducing the vulnerability of the landless poor.

Labels: 100 days, agriculture, employment security, monsoon failure, NREGS, Thanjavur, Tiruchi

From The Hindu

CHENNAI: Agrarian distress is spreading through parts of Thanjavur and Tiruchi districts, gathering speed as farmers realise the full impact of monsoon failure.

The release of water from the Mettur dam on July 28 was significantly later than the usual date of June 12. This delay has caused the failure of the Kuruvai crop to the extent of 30,000 hectares in Thanjavur.

In neighbouring Tiruchi the original target of 6,000 hectares of Kuruvai was missed by a wide margin: “Only 4,224 hectares have been reconciled,” T.Soundiah, the District Collector, explained to The Hindu. Paddy has not been the only casualty of the monsoon failure, according to Mr.Soundiah, who also pointed out that only 610 hectares out of a potential 54,000 hectares are being cultivated under millets.

Farmers depending on pump irrigation have seen marginally more success with Kuruvai than their counterparts who depend on canals. In Thanjavur, 15,000 hectares of Kuruvai were cultivated using pump irrigation.

However, even pump irrigation is no guarantee of sufficient water. A farmer K.Sundararajan who cultivates 10 acres of paddy in Thanjavur has pumps and bore-wells and is also not far from the river bank. Yet he says, “I have been unable to plant Kuruvai this season and have only got enough water for my animals to drink.”

In the “rice bowl” of Tamil Nadu farmers are left with intensifying distress. They are being constricted by a wide array of deteriorating circumstances including water shortages, power shortages, inaccessibility of loans for farm inputs, and barriers against mechanisation.
Optimism about the next round of cultivation for the Samba crop is fragile.

The Secretary of the Cauvery Delta Farmers Association, S.Ranganathan, explained, “If we get the normal amount of water and it is released on time – on June 12 – we can expect up to seven months of continuous water through the canal system. However, this year we can only expect water for 1.5 days in every 10 days.”

Insufficient power supply

Power supply for pumps is also insufficient, according to J.Varadarajan, who owns 50 acres of farmland in Devangudi, Thanjavur district. Normally he uses 4 bore-wells, each of which can irrigate up to 15 acres if continuous power is provided.

“Given the fluctuation in power supply, we are only able to irrigate about 5 acres per well,” Mr.Varadarajan noted. “I have also received no water via the canals, and my dependence on the bore-wells is even more,” he said. However this dependence has led to an imbalance in the pH of the soil which potentially reduces the yields of all farms in the vicinity.

Farmers are struggling to combat the drop in yields by increasing input productivity. In part, this is driven by finance for fertilisers, pesticides and equipment being completely beyond the reach of small and medium farmers. P.Manikavasakam and V.Jivakumar, who cultivate five acres and one acre of land respectively, explained that under the AIADMK administration they might have got a loan of Rs.9,000 with an acre of land as collateral. “At present we can only expect to receive a loan of Rs.1,000 to 2,000, which is barely sufficient to finance transplantation of paddy,” Mr.Manikavasakam rued.

Collectivised approach

Mr.Ranganathan makes a strong case for a collectivised approach to agriculture. Pointing to a sharp drop in agricultural yield in the lands that he farms, he said, “The solution lies in increased mechanisation, which has however not gained momentum in the Delta region. Given that threshers, for example, cost Rs.18-20 lakh, the entire village must pool its land as collateral and obtain finance.”

However, the interest in collective action is being thwarted by the diminishing prospects of those who remain in agriculture. They face the grim reality of having to choose between watching their margins get squeezed as their indebtedness grows and forsaking the lands that their families have cultivated for generations.

Labels: Cauvery, delta, fertiliser, Kuruvai, mechanisation, Mettur dam, power, pump irrigation, rice bowl, Thanjavur, Tiruchi, water

From The Hindu

CHENNAI: The “Every Child a Scientist” programme, aimed at promoting scientific curiosity and awareness among the next generation, has been highlighted in the 19th Annual Report of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF).

Students of Corporation schools from economically challenged sections form the target group of this innovative programme according to the report, released on the occasion of MSSRF Founding Day.

“With support and formal orders from the Commissioner of Education, the centre has established good rapport with Corporation Middle School [staff], orphanage schools and government aided schools…” the report explains.

The programme provides students with multimedia learning centres, including computer education, as well as interactive lectures on biotechnology, biodiversity, health and hygiene, global warming and greenhouse effects and medicinal plants.

The feedback from students notes that the programme has given them “an opportunity to master some of the concepts in science and environmental issues.”

The programme received a boost in November 2008, when a Canadian delegation of 100 navy men donated computers, binoculars and digital cameras after a visit to the programme centre.

Labels: M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation

Support MSSRF in coastal systems research, Ram tells A.P.

From The Hindu

CHENNAI: The M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) reaffirmed its focus on tackling social inequalities through scientific and action-oriented research as it celebrated its Foundation Day and the release of its 19th Annual Report on Friday.

Dignitaries and proponents of agricultural research and development in India felicitated the MSSRF and its chairman M.S. Swaminathan on the occasion, which coincided with his birthday.

Focus areas

Ajay Parida, Executive Director, MSSRF, outlined some of the important achievements of the Foundation to date. In a presentation covering MSSRF focus areas such as coastal systems research, biodiversity, biotechnology, eco-technology and food security, he said, “The focus of the foundation has been pro-poor, pro-nature, pro-women and pro-livelihoods based on technology and information dissemination.”

Reflecting the MSSRF’s emphasis on tackling social inequalities through scientific research, Dr. Parida pointed out the Foundation’s achievements in capacity building in biodiversity for Panchayat Raj institutions, promoting organic farming to boost farmers’ income, holistic management of watersheds, climate change initiatives and grass-roots training for farmers.

Pro-poor policies

Delivering the address of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who could not be present due to unforeseen circumstances, M. Singh, Principal Secretary to the government, said the MSSRF had continued to do “a great job under the able guidance of Dr. Swaminathan.” He outlined some pro-poor and pro-agriculture policies recently implemented in Andhra Pradesh such as Jalayagnam, for water conservation and management, the Aam Aadmi Bhima Yojana, pensions for the poor and the Rs.2 a kg rice scheme.

Independent review

Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu N. Ram, who is a trustee of the MSSRF, touched upon a recent independent review of the Foundation’s work by economists Uma Lele and Kavita Gandhi. Praising the integrity of the institution, Mr. Ram said: “Although the review identified some weaknesses and deficits, the Foundation has done very well overall.” It had delivered practical outcomes on the ground, he said.

The food security atlases that the MSSRF had brought out spotlight the failure of India to make a dent in mass deprivation, hunger and nutrition deficiencies, he said.

Underscoring the “need to strengthen the financial foundations of the MSSRF,” Mr. Ram appealed to the Government of Andhra Pradesh to further support the Foundation’s work in areas such as coastal systems research. The State might stand to benefit from the results of such research, he pointed out.

Formally releasing the MSSRF Annual Report, Mihoko Tamamura, Country Director, World Food Programme, said: “We would like to see continued leadership from the MSSRF as a great platform for heated debates on food security in India.”

Call for convergence

Acknowledging the support received from external institutions and his colleagues within the MSSRF, Professor Swaminathan emphasised that “we cannot afford incremental progress in agriculture.”

Given the nutritional emergency facing the country, the “stubborn” hunger figures and overall stagnant productivity rates, Professor Swaminathan argued that India needed to “produce a convergence between health, nutrition, food security and gender outcomes.”

“When we can develop nuclear submarines, why can’t we improve food security,” he asked.

Labels: biodiversity, biotechnology, coastal systems, food security, M.S. Swaminathan, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, N. Ram, World Food Programme, Y.S. Rajasekara Reddy

From The Hindu

CHENNAI: Variations in taking up the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) are being observed at the district level in areas such as Theni.

Geographical variations within Theni correspond to differential rates of taking up the scheme. The southern parts of the district such as the Cumbum valley are well irrigated due to their proximity to the Periyar river. The lush farmlands of this region, with crops such as paddy and coconut and vineyards, stand in stark contrast to the dry tracts of Andipatti to the north-east.

Implementation of the NREGS in Cumbum has been low, according to District Collector P. Muthuveeran. “In areas such as Cumbum and parts of Uttamapalayam there is agricultural work available throughout the year. In these regions, agricultural workers are relatively well-off and some of them own land.”

On the other hand, in Andipatti the implementation has been much stronger. The district administration’s efforts to boost employment under the NREGS are yielding results. In 2008-09, 317 works were sanctioned in Theni, of which 89 were completed.

With an expense of Rs.129.37 lakh, 841,900 man-days were generated, according to statistics provided by the Collectorate.

A text message that the Collector receives at 11 a.m. each day updates him on the number of workers at NREGS sites in the district. Recently the figure has been around 14,700, up from about 8,000 workers in November 2008, when he assumed office. “Over 105,972 people in eight blocks have registered for a job card and every week we are spending approximately Rs.54 lakh on the NREGS projects,” Mr. Muthuveeran said.

According to official data, 1044 families completed 100 days of work in 2008-09 and this figure is expected to more than double in 2009-10. The list of projects includes laying of roads, de-silting of rural tanks, strengthening of side bunds and deepening and strengthening of irrigation supply channels.

Though the daily wage rate under the NREGS has been fixed at Rs.80, on an average workers were paid in the range of Rs.61-75 per day, Mr. Muthuveeran admitted. The shortfall would, in most cases, be due to a lower level of work completed than that prescribed by the guidelines.

With the wage rate likely to rise to Rs.100 in the next few months, the implementation in areas such as Andipatti may be expected to rise further, according to Mr. Muthuveeran.

However in the Cumbum valley, where the wage rate could be as much as Rs.130 according to farmers in Theni, agriculture would probably continue to remain the primary area of employment for workers.

Labels: agriculture, Andipatti, Cumbum Valley, NREGS, rural labour, Theni

Quid pro quo in services sector negotiations is needed. But so are rules on hiring and firing.

Jagdish Bhagwati, University Professor at Columbia University and Senior Fellow in International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, is regarded as one of the foremost international trade economists of his generation. He has been Economic Policy Adviser to Arthur Dunkel, Director General of GATT (1991-93), Special Adviser to the UN on Globalization, and External Adviser to the WTO. In this interview to The Hindu in Chennai, Professor Bhagwati outlined some of the key challenges that remain for India in the climate change discussions in Copenhagen in December 2009 and in the upcoming negotiations on the Doha Round. Edited excerpts

On climate change: how much progress do the recent discussions, including agreeing a cap on global temperature rises, represent for countries like India and China? In some cases domestic constituencies may be hard to convince on the actions required to meet targets.

If you look back at Kyoto, we have two problems. One is that there is a carbon sink up there and the bulk of it, something like 80 per cent, has come from the West, predominantly from the United States and the European Union (EU). So you have that as one fact. The other fact is the current flow obligation. Call the carbon sink the stock problem. Then we have the flow problem because we are currently discharging CO2 into the air. That is where China in particular, in gross emissions, is almost exceeding the U.S. now and we are the third or the fourth.

There the compromise was arrived at when people said, “You have been doing a lot [of polluting] in the past, you have damaged the environment, do not blame us, we should have no obligations now” – that was taken at face value. Tim Wirth, who represented the U.S., and Madeleine Albright, agreed that the way to fix this disparity between flow and stock obligations is to say “You do not have to pay anything now.” That was stalled in the Senate. Senator Byrd and Senator Hagel led the fight in the bipartisan [debate]. But the resolution was passed 95-0; they said: “We should not let off India and China; it will affect the competitiveness of our industries.”

I came up with the idea that we should address the stock problem separately from the flow problem. We should expect India and China to assume flow obligations but part of that solution has to be that the stock obligation is fulfilled by the West. Then I found that the Americans themselves have what they call a “Superfund,” under which strict liability is assigned for past damage – they have a tort liability.

But this addresses the stock side; what do you propose for the flow side?

If we say that the West has to give us money for us to adopt new technologies, why should they want to do that? They are all saying “No” right now. But if you say “You have got to pay for past damages if you want us to accept current obligations;” that is fair and equitable. Then that money, once the superfund is established, can be used for exactly the kind of things India is asking for — for mitigation, for accommodation, and for financing the creation of public goods and so on.

I have also tried hard to get the Indian side to accept this. I have sent my paper to the Prime Minister. Sometimes they say “But we have already asked for funds.” But that is not the issue. If you simply ask for funds, that sounds like asking for aid. This is not aid – it is really a matter of what the West owes if they want us also to do something. That is fair and equitable. So I think that is an area where you can really make progress on this issue. We will also have to decide what the current flow obligations we take on are. On the stock side, I think it should really be a way to get at this problem.

The U.S. has taken the approach of the Waxman-Markey Bill which was just passed in the Congress House. They are going to use cap and trade, which is the quantitative equivalent of a carbon tax. If India, for example, does not have a similar carbon tax, then they will put in a tax adjustment, meaning essentially it is a tariff against the Indians, thereby making them pay for it. At one level it is a matter of intimidation. I do not think it will work when we are objecting to it.

Supposing we lose [this debate] — do we then surrender? We cannot go against the WTO but the only thing we have to and should say is, “We can also take WTO action against you, if you start playing this game.” For one thing, we can say our petroleum tax is much higher than that of the U.S. and we can call it a carbon tax as it does relate to carbon also. So we can say “We will put a tax on your exports to us.” We can do that. We can play the same game within the carbon game or we can shift the two nuclear reactor sites under the G8 to the French or the Russians. We are now big enough, in my opinion, to contemplate such options.

Recent reports have indicated that 83 new measures that go against free trade principles have been enacted across countries. Are you not worried that these will be difficult to roll back?

Most of the actions reported are safeguard actions and anti-dumping actions. Those are actions where you are exercising your rights. One wishes they were not doing so, but you cannot really object to them as such exit strategies are built into WTO rules, at least on a temporary basis. Especially when things get rough – and right now they are – the ability to toe the line is being strained in many democratic countries. So that part does not really bother me that much. But if you go beyond that and look at protectionist interventions where you are violating your obligations, by doing things that you agreed not to do, that is something that is still not on a scale that you need to worry about.

In terms of effects on trade, are they any different from actions that violate WTO rules?

The effect would be identical. But the effect in terms of the prospective impact may not. When you undermine rules, people feel they can do a variety of things and they are not constrained. Therefore the expectations you set up are important. This is the problem about settling the Doha trade negotiations. Therefore the rules such as we have built in will get undermined. That is what people are worried about – the effect on the system. It is hard to quantify that because that is actually a matter of how the situation will unfold.

Do you not think protectionist “Buy American”-type clauses associated with the bailout funds will stall the Doha process further?

If you look at all these actions, it is a matter of what value of trade they cover. Look at anti-dumping actions. You find, typically in the literature, the argument that India is the worst user of anti-dumping actions, not the U.S. or the EU. But when you actually look at the value of trade you discover that it is minuscule compared to what [the U.S. and the EU] are doing. So you have to put it into some perspective like that. I do not think in the value of the trade covered, it amounts to anything very substantial.

[Regarding policies] like “Buy American”, they are going to realise as soon as they are out of trouble that this is not really what they want to do because there has been so much criticism. Even Obama, because of all these criticisms coming particularly from people who are worried about export markets, like Caterpillar and GE and so on, put in a rider or qualifier saying it has to be consistent with our WTO obligations.

What would be the elements of the open world economy? You mentioned trade and investment and the movement of natural persons.

What we are talking about is temporary immigration. We should be able to export services, but embodied in people. That is what we call the movement of natural persons. We are talking about service transactions. So the second leg is GATS, the General Agreement on Trade and Services.

These are some of the issues that can be put into the Doha Round but so far we have no real concessions on these issues. It is something which could be taken up by the Indian administration. But against that you have to give something in the services sector. What would we give? In areas like banking and insurance we are sufficiently developed and resilient to be able to offer something. It is difficult to offer, in my view, any entry subject to a given level of protection simply because we do not have a safeguard clause in the services sector.

This is what we could do – have a service sector quid pro quo, where both countries would be better off. But I think we need rules also on hiring and firing because that is where everybody is going now. Even in India there is great pressure. Is not that what the recent trouble in the airline industry is about?

Longer version of article

Labels: Buy American, China, climate change, CO2, Columbia, Congress, emissions, G8, GATS, India, Jagdish Bhagwati, multilateralism, pollution, superfund, WTO

From Education Plus, The Hindu

What’s the link between ethnographic women’s studies and macro-econometric modelling? Sounds like a joke? It’s not. The answer is Development Studies, a subject in which interest is soaring as numerous opportunities rapidly open up infrastructure development, NGO-related work, media and public policy.

Last week, Education Plus reported on the new M.A in Inclusive Development Studies introduced by the Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai, this year. This week, we consider other courses on offer in this field, as well as popular themes in development and the opportunities that are up for grabs by aspiring development practitioners.

In India, a macroeconomic theme that will remain a policy priority for years to come is infrastructure development. It has witnessed an unprecedented boom since 2003 and even received a shot in the arm in this year’s Union budget. The opportunities for students of development studies, development economics and related disciplines are immense, according to K. Rajivan, a World Bank development economist, based in India.

Dr. Rajivan explains that “managerial positions at international financial institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank usually require a Ph.D. or a master’s degree from abroad. However, given the investment boom in areas such as infrastructure finance, urban development, and small and medium enterprises, a range of new jobs is becoming available. These projects, often run with IFI participation as public-private partnerships, are based on public leverage and deployment of private capital on a large scale. They require people qualified in areas such as public finance, cost-benefit analysis, environmental, regulatory and competition economics, contract law and also ‘soft skills’ like negotiation and stakeholder consultations.”

New Vistas

Another macro area in which new vistas have opened to development studies graduates is public policy. “Many of our graduates are manning key positions in major public policy institutions such as the RBI and the Planning Commission,” says Professor Narayanan Nair of the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) at Thiruvananthapuram.

In the wake of the global recession and financial crisis, it is widely expected that regulatory functions and economic planning will be prioritised. Consequently, institutions such as the RBI and Planning Commission will be on the lookout for qualified candidates.

For those who delve deeply into the subject to the doctoral level, it becomes possible to straddle multiple roles within the broad ambit of development. For example, Prof. Nair points out that graduates of CDS such as Tirthankar Roy, C.R. Rammanohar Reddy, Narendra Pani and Ashoka Mody work alternatively in academia, media, IFIs and policymaking.

Development journalism

Journalism can be a rewarding line of work for those with strong writing skills. P. Sainath, an award-winning journalist covering issues relating to rural poverty, argues that “development is ultimately about people and their rights, how these are articulated and conflicts resolved.” He teaches a course on ‘covering deprivation’ at the Asian College of Journalism, and cautions that an excessive focus on “managing development ” or on “technical knowledge” detracts from the more people-centric and politics-centric understanding of development, say in terms of caste issues and land distribution in a particular Indian village.

As these examples suggest, development studies education and career paths can be widely varied. There is a choice to be made between quantitative and qualitative skills, between research and practical experience and from among the bewilderingly large number of sub-disciplines under the umbrella of development studies.

Charting a course that most closely matches your strongest abilities and interests is the most important step you could take as you contemplate entering this exciting area.

Labels: Chennai, development studies, Planning Commission, RBI, World Bank

From Education Plus, The Hindu

You've been watching the trends in the economy. You've realised that given your passion to work on Indian development issues, development studies is the subject for you. Now you cannot pick from the wide range of options available and ask yourself - what should I do?

If you're just finishing or have finished school, note that colleges offering undergraduate courses labelled `Development Studies' are rare. Development studies as a discipline can encompass any subject from human rights to financial modelling for project finance. Jobs in development usually require, therefore, a skill set that is technical and specialised; in addition they require integration of a broader understanding of development theory, for example, Amartya Sen's capabilities approach or the political theory of `late industrialisation'.

Most institutions thus prefer that students obtain a first degree in one social science subject, "ideally in economics", says K. Nagaraj, Professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS). Technical specialisations can follow in more advanced degrees.

At the master's level and above, the options are plentiful. Institutions offering M.A., M.Phil. or Ph.D. degrees in development studies include: The Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS), Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research (IGIDR), MIDS, IIT-Madras, the Delhi School of Economics and the Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata (IDS).

For M.A. courses, such as the one offered by TISS, candidates are expected to possess a strong (usually first-class) B.A. degree. For M.Phil. degrees, an M.A. in social sciences such as economics or quantitative subjects such as physics or statistics is preferred - IDS is an example.

"One of the best courses in development studies in the country," according to Dr. Nagaraj, is the M.Phil./Ph.D programme at CDS. Admission to the course is based on prior performance in M.A., a research proposal that demonstrates the candidate's understanding of theory, empirics and methodology and teaching qualifications (such as UGC), if any.

Research Methods, Economic Theory and Indian Economic Development are the core courses and account for 16 credits; a dissertation is awarded 8 credits. The blend of courses offered reflects "the parallel focus of our rigorous two-year programme: first, acquiring empirical tools for research, and second, understanding the theoretical framework of development issues," says K. Narayanan Nair, Professor at CDS.

Another course that experts like Dr. Nagaraj would recommend is the M.A. and Ph.D. programmes at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras. IIT-Madras offer a "unique five-year integrated programme, launched in 2006, [which] leads to Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in three major disciplines - Development Studies, Economics and English Studies."

Students enrolled in this premier institution could also expect to benefit from close contact with the rigours of the Engineering, Sciences and Management departments.

For M.A. degrees, the curriculum allows more flexibility. At TISS, for example, students have a wide range of concentration options in disciplines such as economics, sociology, political science, psychology, and women's, cultural and media studies.

Another option, often conditional on obtaining scholarships, is enrolling in the many development studies courses that are offered abroad, for example in the U.K. Oxford and the London School of Economics (LSE), in particular, have master's degrees that are popular.

Scholarships that support such study include, to name a few, the British Chevening, Rhodes (for those with strong extracurricular achievements as well) and Commonwealth scholarships.

Kaveri Kumar studied development at the LSE and now works in development in London. She says, "What I enjoyed most about the course was the freedom to explore various aspects of development theory; though working in development has been more about learning on the job rather than applying any principles I studied at university." As with the numerous options available within India, it is important to do your `due diligence' on foreign degrees and make an informed decision about applying.

Labels: Chennai, Chevening, Commonwealth, development studies, IIT-Madras, London School of Economics, M.A., M.Phil, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Oxford University, Ph.D., Rhodes, scholarships