Browsing by Author "Raonka, Pallavi"
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- Grassroots lessons: Implementation of pension schemes for single women and the elderly in Jharkhand, IndiaRaonka, Pallavi (2015-02-05)There is ongoing debate in India on whether Government spending on social security schemes should be cut. Advocates for spending cuts claim that they do not reach their intended people. However there is not much. There is lack of scholarship examining grassroots- level - implementation of pension schemes. This paper presents the data collected from field - based research in the Indian state of Jharkhand regarding the implementation of the National Social Assistance Program (NSAP). In contrast to the claims of low spending advocates we found high awareness of Central Government entitlements , among pensioners, that the scheme is reaching its intended people, - and that payments are supporting the most vulnerable and marginalized members of Indian society. This study draws upon the 81 interviews conducted with pensioners in January 2013 in Jharkhand, which is a poor state in eastern India where corruption is widespread. While we found that the pension schemes were being effectively implemented, we also found that there are considerable shortcomings, such as high transaction costs, confusing procedures, and unpredictability in payments. We also analysed the effectiveness of advocacy by groups such as Pension Parishad who support public action to extend the coverage of NSAP to poor widows and elderly people. This paper draws upon the voices of the people of Jharkhand to consider the importance of pension schemes and how they can be better implemented. The WGD program has sponsored a discussion series for the past several years, giving students and professionals an opportunity to share their research and discuss issues of Women and Gender in International Development.
- Munda Politics and Land: Understanding Indigeneity in Jharkhand, IndiaRaonka, Pallavi (Virginia Tech, 2021-02-02)The eastern state of Jharkhand in India has been the site of contention between Adivasi communities, like the Munda, and the national government. This is a relationship between these communities and centralized, outside power that has existed for centuries in different forms. To understand this ongoing conflict, we need to understand the root causes of contention. Various scholars have traced this to a general rejection by Adivasis of State-sanctioned neoliberal development projects like land-grabbing and mining. I analyze, based on a fifteen month long ethnographic study conducted from May 2017 to December 2018, the meaning of land for the Munda community, and how these meanings underlie the Adivasi-State conflict, based on several forms of qualitative data. I argue that at the core of this ongoing conflict lie questions of identity construction and representation, neoliberal market forces, gender, and a historical narrative of resistance against outsiders. Importantly, to best understand Adivasi politics and their relationship to their local environment, one must actively listen to how these communities represent themselves.
- Munda, Land, and Gender: Understanding Indigeneity in the Neoliberal State of Jharkhand, IndiaRaonka, Pallavi (Virginia Tech. University Libraries, 2019-11-14)The Women and Gender in International Development Discussion Series is organized by the Center for International Research, Education, and Development (CIRED) and is an InclusiveVT initiative of Outreach and International Affairs (OIA). The series offers an opportunity for scholars and development practitioners to share their research and knowledge surrounding gender and international development with the Virginia Tech community and beyond