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Rural Social Infrastructure Development in India

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DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES ON CREATING A FAIRER SOCIETY

A fair society is one that is just, inclusive and embracing of all without any barriers to participation based on sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, ethnicity, age, class, ability or any other social difference. One where there is access to healthcare and education, technology, justice, strong institutions, peace and security, social protection, decent work and housing. But how can research truly contribute to creating global equity and diversity without showcasing diverse voices that are underrepresented in academia or paying specific attention to the Global South?

Including books addressing key challenges and issues within the social sciences, which are essential to creating a fairer society for all with specific reference to the Global South, Diverse Perspectives on Creating a Fairer Society amplifies underrepresented voices showcasing Black, Asian and minority ethnic voices, authorship from the Global South and academics who work to amplify diverse voices.

With the primary aim of showcasing authorship and voices from beyond the Global North, the series welcomes submissions from established and junior authors on cutting-edge and high-level research on key topics that feature in global news and public debate, specifically from and about the Global South in national and international contexts. Harnessing research across a range of diversities of people and places to generate previously unheard insights, the series offers a truly global perspective on the current societal debates of the 21st century bringing contemporary debate in the social sciences from diverse voices to light.

Previous Titles

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• Pandemic, Politics, and a Fairer Society in Southeast Asia: A Malaysian Perspective edited by Syaza Shukri

• Empowering Female Climate Change Activists in the Global South: The Path Toward Environmental Social Justice by Peggy Ann Spitzer

• Gendered Perspectives of Restorative Justice, Violence and Resilience: An International Framework edited by Bev Orton

• Social Sector Development and Inclusive Growth in India by Ishu Chadda

• The Socially Constructed and Reproduced Youth Delinquency in Southeast Asia: Advancing Positive Youth Involvement in Sustainable Futures by Jason Hung

• Youth Development in South Africa: Harnessing the Demographic Dividend edited by Botshabelo Maja and Busani Ngcaweni

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• Building Strong Communities: Ethical Approaches to Inclusive Development by Ifzal Ahmad and M. Rezaul Islam

• Family Planning and Sustainable Development in Bangladesh: Empowering Marginalized Communities in Asian Contexts by M. Rezaul Islam

• Critical Reflections on the Internationalisation of Higher Education in the Global South edited by Emnet Tadesse Woldegiorgis and Cheryl Qiumei Yu

• Exploring Hope: Case Studies of Innovation, Change and Development in the Global South edited by Marcelo Sili, Andrés Kozel, Samira Mizbar, Aviram Sharma, and Ana Casado

• Social Constructions of Migration in Nigeria and Zimbabwe: Discourse, Rhetoric, and Identity by Kunle Oparinde and Rodwell Makombe

Forthcoming Titles

• ‘Natural’ Disasters and Everyday Lives: Floods, Climate Justice and Marginalisation in India by Suddhabrata Deb Roy

• Globalization and the Transitional Cultures: An Eastern Perspective by Debanjana Nag

• Neoliberal Subjectivity at Work: Conduct, Contradictions, Commitments and Contestations by Muneeb Ul Lateef Banday

• The Emerald Handbook of Family and Social Change in the Global South: A Gendered Perspective by Aylin Akpınar and Nawal H. Ammar

• An Introduction to Platform Economy in India: Exploring Relationality and Embeddedness by Shriram Venkatraman, Jillet Sarah Sam, and Rajorshi Ra

• Gender and Media Representation: Perspectives from Sub-Saharan Africa edited by Margaret Jjuuko, Solveig Omland, and Carol Azungi Dralega

• Unearthing the Institutionalised Social Exclusion of Black Youth in Contemporary South Africa: The Burden of Being Born Free by Khosi Kubeka

Title Page

Diverse Perspectives on Creating a Fairer Society

Rural Social Infrastructure Development in India: An Inclusive Approach

BY

M. Mahadeva

Institute of Finance and International Management (IFIM), India

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL.

First edition 2025

Copyright © 2025 M. Mahadeva.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83608-381-8 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83608-380-1 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83608-382-5 (Epub)

Dedication Page

Dedicated to People of Rural India

Contents

List of Tables and Appendixes

List of Abbreviations

• ACHS – Apex Cooperative Housing Society

• AHS – Affordable Housing Strategy

• AHF – Affordable Housing Fund

• AIP – Annual Implementation Plan

• AREP – Accelerated Rural Energy Programme

• ARWSP – Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme

• APBS – Aadhar Payment Bridge System

• BPL – Below Poverty Line

• BNP – Bharat Nirman Programme

• CCDU – Communication and Capacity Development Unit

• CGF – Credit Guarantee Fund

• CHS – Cooperative Housing Society

• CRSP – Central Rural Sanitation Programme

• CSC – Community Sanitary Complex

• CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility

• DBT – Direct Benefits Transfer

• DDUGJY – Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyothi Yojana

• DIP – District Implementation Plan

• DLCC – District Level Consultative Committee

• DPIP – District Project Implementation Plan

• DRI – Differential Rate of Interest

• DWSC – District Water and Sanitation Committee

• EWS – Economically Weaker Section

• FSC – Farmers Service Centre

• GOI – Government of India

• GJRHFS – Golden Jubilee Rural Housing Finance Scheme

• GLA – Group Lending Approach

• HIG – High Income Group

• HFC – Housing Finance Company

• HMF – Housing Micro Finance

• HSCAS – House Sites Cum Assistance Scheme

• IAY – Indira Awas Yojana

• IBA – Indian Bank’s Association

• IHL – Individual Household Latrine

• ILP – Individual Lending Practice

• IRDA – Insurance Regulation and Development Authority

• IT – Institutional Toilet

• JLG – Joint Liability Group

• JRY – Jawahar Rojgar Yojana

• KJP – Kutir Jyothi Programme

• KPMG – Klynvald Peat Marwick Goerdeler

• LPG –Liquefied Paraffin Gas

• LIG – Low Income Group

• LPCD – Litre Per Capita Per Day

• MIG – Middle Income Group

• MFI – Micro Finance Institution

• MCGFT – Micro Credit Guarantee Fund Trust

• MNRES – Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Sources

• MSME – Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise

• MOU – Memorandum of Understanding

• NRFIP – National Rural Financial Inclusion Plan

• NABARD – National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

• NBCP – National Bio-Mass Cookstove Programme

• NBO – National Building Organization

• NBMMP – National Bio-Mass Manure Management Programme

• NMFI – National Mission for Financial Inclusion

• NAREDCO –National Real Estate Development Council

• NHP – National Housing Policy

• NBFC – Non-Banking Financial Company

• NCFE – National Centre for Financial Education

• NGO – Non-Governmental Organisation

• NPS – National Pension Scheme

• NSSC – National Scheme Sanctioning Committee

• NSSO – National Sample Survey Organization

• NRHHP – National Rural Housing and Habitat Policy

• NREGS – National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

• NUHHP – National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy

• NRLM – National Rural Livelihood Mission

• NULM – National Urban Livelihood Mission

• NHB – National Housing Bank

• NHBRS – National Housing Bank Refinancing Scheme

• NPA – Non-Performing Asset

• NRSF – National Rural Shelter Fund

• NRDWP – National Rural Drinking Water Programme

• PAC – Plan Approval Committee

• PACS – Primary Agriculture Credit Society

• PMJDY – Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana

• PMAY-HA – Prime Minister Awas Yojana-Housing for All

• PMUY – Prime Minister Ujjwal Yojana

• PHS – Primary Housing Society

• PPPMAH – Public Private Partnership Model Affordable House

• PRI – Panchayat Raj Institution

• PLI – Primary Lending Institution

• RLEGP – Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme

• RBI – Reserve Bank of India

• RRS – Regular Refinance Scheme

• RF – Revolving Fund

• RFI – Rural Financial Institution

• RRB – Regional Rural Bank

• RSAH – Refinancing Scheme for Affordable Housing

• RUHF – Rural and Urban Housing Fund

• RCFI – Report of the Committee on Financial Inclusion

• RSMPC – Rural Sanitary Mart and Production Centre

• RHANC – Refinancing Households Affected by Natural Calamity

• SC – Scheduled Caste

• ST – Scheduled Tribe

• SBM – Swatch Bharat Mission

• SCB – Scheduled Commercial Bank

• SCB – State Cooperative Bank

• SFB – Small Finance Bank

• SGSY – Swarna Jayanthi Gram Swarozgar Yojana

• SUH – Shelter for Urban Homeless

• SIDBI – Small Industries Development Bank of India

• SDG – Sustainable Development Goal

• SHG – Self-Help Group

• SHPI – Self-Help Promotion Institution

• SRLIGU – Special Refinance for Low Income Group (Urban)

• SLBC – State Level Bankers Committee

• SWSM – State Water and Sanitation Mission

• TSP – Total Sanitation Programme

• TSCPIP – Total Sanitation Campaign Project Implementation Plan

• UCB – Urban Cooperative Bank

• UT – Union Territory

• UN – United Nation

• UNCHS – United Nations Centre for Human Settlements

• UNICEF – United Nations International Children Emergency Fund

• VHP – Village Housing Programme

• WHO – World Health Organization

• WU – Water User

• ZP – Zilla Panchayat

About the Author

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M. Mahadeva is an alumnus of the University of Mysore and earned all three degrees BA, MA and PhD in Economics, specialising in the fields of development economics, inclusive economics, urban and institutional economics and cooperative systems. He has also earned Doctor of Literature (DLitt) degree in Economics on his thesis ‘Human Settlements and Developments Issues in India’ from the European International University, Paris, France. He has a total research and administrative experience of over 27 years working at Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) and served as Professor and Dean Research at the Institute of Finance and International Management (IFIM), Bangalore. Also, he has been an Educational Administrator as a Trustee of the Panchajanya Vidya Peeta Welfare Trust (R), which is running over a dozen educational institutions (schools, colleges, post-graduation), including Dr Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Bangalore. He has earned five international fellowships from ICSSR, IDPAD, SICI and Commonwealth Foundation and was a visiting scholar in the Netherlands, France, Canada and United Kingdom. He has worked with the Institute for Housing and Urban Studies (IHS), Rotterdam, Institute of Social Science Studies, Paris, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Centre for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto and School of Policy Studies and University of Bristol. He has published over 95 research publications, including three authored books and one edited book in his areas of specialisations in the peer-refereed international and national journals of Social Sciences. He has also contributed popular writings in the leading dailies and magazines on various issues affecting different social walks of the society. He has completed nearly a dozen research projects on various dimensions of poverty alleviation interventions, macro-management schemes, input subsidies, social policies, women entrepreneurship and housing policies as well as development. He has successfully guided four doctoral theses and awarded PhDs from the University of Mysore in the areas of urban, informal, institutional and agriculture economics. His outreach activities include as Chairman of the Sub-Committee of the former Planning Commission, Member of the Working Groups, Member of the Mid-Term Appraisal of Five-Year Plans, Director of the Board, Academic Referee, Subject Expert, Reviewer, Curriculum Designer of Infrastructure and Urban Economics, etc. He has delivered several keynote speeches, inaugural addresses, invited talks and television programmes across the country over the years. Finally, as a Member of Karnataka Public Service Commission for six years, including the In-Charge Chairman for eight months was responsible for the recruitment of over 10,000 public servants transparently for the government services. He has also introduced a number of administrative and examination reforms in the gazetted and non-gazetted officers’ examinations of the state and upheld the principles of natural justice and social justice in all measures in the recruitment.

Foreword

It is a privilege to pen the foreword for the treatise Rural Social Infrastructure Development in India: An Inclusive Approach eminently authored by Dr M. Mahadeva, a former Member of the Karnataka Public Service Commission. It addresses crucial aspects of rural development focussing on the housing for and financial access to marginalised sections of society. In India, fulfilment of the basic needs of the common man is a constitutional responsibility of the State, as enjoined by the Directive Principles of State Policy for achieving the Welfare State ideals.

The author emphasises the importance of accomplishing, at least in a phased manner, the social advancement and highlights the role of the State in providing these services in terms of globally recognised Human Rights and International Treaties, to which India happens to be a Party Signatory. Apex Court of the country has observed that the International Conventions and Treaties, subject to all just exceptions, are a source of domestic law (Kesavananda, AIR 1973 SC 1461). This book critically examines historical neglect of these areas and advocates for responsive and proportionate development initiatives based on ground realities and contemporary emerging trends. It applauds recent efforts in structuring inclusive housing policies and financial coverage, as milestones in development-centric governance.

This work of seminal importance highlights India’s progressive Sustainable Development Goals, marks significant achievements and indicates areas such as poverty, hunger, education, health, and human settlements. It calls for the pragmatic policy revisions to meet constitutionally ordained goals within the outer limit of 2030. The author concisely offers valuable insights and policy implications concerning further development initiatives designed for advancing the living standards in rural India.

This treatise being a product of years of research and field work, merits a place of pride in the bookshelves of academicians, administrators, policymakers and the like. Dr M. Mahadeva deserves a deep appreciation for his contribution.

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Justice Krishna S. Dixit,

Judge, High Court of Karnataka,

Bangalore

Preface

India, despite being largely rural, did not have the development share of the country, in terms of the public investment for the promotion of various economic productive activities, nor was the public expenditure proportion to the population. These public development indifferences ever since independence have concreted the prevalence of poverty and deprivation in all forms. It is disheartening to note that even the modern basic needs have not been fully provisioned, as the public interventions have been grossly inadequate and not proportional to the demand. Thanks to the realisation of the development indifferences and programmatic/mission-mode approaches towards the rural transformation at the beginning of the current century. These interventions have contributed to easing the situation, although they still need to go a long way. Apart from the domestic attitudinal change, the international pressure or mandate has complemented the limited success the country achieved on a few foundational fronts. But, concerning the human settlement issues especially in achieving an inclusive society, the performance of the country is far below the average. Building an inclusive society in rural areas is a distant dream, as not only some of the services are abandoned to socially distanced sections even today but also public interventions are altogether missing in this regard. This fact has been highlighted by the research wing of the parliament recently and ignited the necessity for reinvigorated approaches to fundamental issues like poverty, hunger empowerment and healthy lives in rural areas. Secondly, the first decade of the century is a watershed to the housing sector, which is a principal component of human settlements. Interestingly, inclusive housing development strategies are contemplated to mainstream the hitherto excluded homeless families into decent settlement paths. Separate policy design for inclusive housing, affordable housing programmes, exclusive housing finance mechanisms to meet the financial needs of the rural areas and special impetus to the existing social housing schemes have been the four important policies pursued. The national consensus heralded by the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007–2008) has resulted positively for the backward regions. These strategies mainly intend to create new rural housing stock at par with urban areas, along with increasing access to safe drinking water, sanitation and lighting. At the same time, inclusive strategies must go a long way to arrest the existing mismatch between the households and the housing stock. The gap between the two has resulted in housing poverty with deprivation of the amenities conspicuously and at an alarming level.

Thirdly, one of the conspicuous failures of India’s banking system is its ineffectiveness in terms of the coverage of people for the services and financial exclusion of the poor and vulnerable sections. The incidence is largely apparent in the rural, backward and semi-urban areas of the country. This failure has facilitated informal financial practices on a large scale, knowing of the unaffordable and uneconomic financial services. Being high cost, informal sources are also known for harassment on defaults. The enormous operations of the local money lenders are a major setback to the development of economic activities in the backward regions. A major turnaround, however, is the proactive initiative of the government over the last decade, which has attempted to mainstream the hitherto financially excluded sections into the financial network. Also, financial inclusion is achieved to a greater extent and is aiming at achieving ‘Total Financial Inclusion’ through Direct Benefit Transfer and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). These initiatives have taken the excluded ones to access financial services manually and digitally and decimated the financial operations of the local money lenders in rural areas. Lastly, the process of transforming rural India is reignited by human-centric needs like drinking water, sanitation, energy and a clean environment around rural households. It must be noted that the drinking water quality in rural areas is contaminated with excessive iron, fluoride, salinity, nitrate and arsenal, which has been brought to the forefront officially. The incidence is the case of about 2.17 lakh rural habitations in the country. Similarly, creating an environment that is completely free from open defaecation and provision of household toilets is yet to take deep root at the village level for want of public financial support. This situation of household drainage connectivity is in no way different, as the success is very tardy, and still, most of the households face the challenge of good living conditions.

Having domiciled in rural areas and living in my village (Sindhuvalli 571311, Mysore District), I have been observing the living standard of the people, their sufferings, deprivations and various dimensions of poverty directly for over five decades and also watching the changing texture of the rural areas on account of the development interventions of the state, public institutions and people’s participation in development in the last couple of decades. My work exposure as a research faculty member at the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore for roughly two decades has prompted me to capture the changes taking place and document same. The best part of rural transformations that have taken place is without the penetration of the market influence or market investment but with limited and inadequate public actions and people’s participation. Investment from the market is almost nil or very negligible in the rural transformation process, as it is considered not rewarding in the business. At the same time, people in stress in rural areas have realised that they should supplement public assistance to improve access to housing and other services. It is very much the case of house construction under Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY), as the public housing assistance is grossly meagre and inadequate given the spiralling rise in the building materials and construction costs. The homeless beneficiaries tend to meet the unmet costs voluntarily with their savings or informal borrowings towards the additional housing amenities. Incidentally, financial access created under PMJDY and other related interventions has further facilitated commercial financial assistance for housing and other productive activities. These arguments have been evidenced with detailed discussion in the related chapters of the book.

This book reflects my interest as well as the transformational changes observed in rural areas in the field of social infrastructure, upon the scientific presentations of public information. The narration of the social infrastructure chiefly includes housing situation and housing poverty, housing amenities and deprivations. Also, the reinvigorated public action over the financial exclusion with incidence and success achieved as a public service is captured within the social infrastructure in this book. Pondering over the good governance aspect and inclusive development strategies followed in the last decades to develop the social infrastructure is a valuable addition. Notwithstanding the achievement, it must be considered that the supply of housing units to the homeless be based on the size of the households to be very effective, as the housing need is not common. Similarly, the extent of housing needs and housing amenities may not be the same in entire rural areas across the country. Therefore, the book has categorised households into small (one to two persons), medium (three to five persons) and large (six to nine persons) in rural areas. Analogously, based on the actual housing shortage by types, states and union territories have been classified into high, medium and low-incidence regions to focus on the public actions. Goes without mentioning the high-incidence regions accounted for almost two-thirds of the total housing needs. Further, far from the satisfaction scenario is the provision of housing services, with which almost 60 per cent of households face deprivation in the country, and even larger deprivation (>81 per cent) in the high-incidence regions. Leaving aside the quality of the housing services which is in question always, the incidence of deprivation is still voluminous – about 78 per cent in the case of household clean energy followed by electricity (70 per cent) and latrine facility (53 per cent). The disheartening situation is that over 74 per cent of the households depend upon untreated water for drinking. Should it not reflect the development governance of the basic social needs of most countrymen in the last 75 years of rural transformation? This question is raised in the book and needs to be answered by the government with factual evidence in due course of time. It is also expected that public actions towards unmet social needs would be proportionate to the stressed household’s requirements.

M. Mahadeva

Sindhuvalli/Bangalore

Acknowledgements

While placing these perceptions for public discourse in this book, I have received academic support from many people which must be acknowledged and remembered. Professor M. Viswanathaiah, Vice-President of the Planning and Monitoring Division of Alliance University has been a constant source of encouragement. He encouraged and facilitated during my last stint at the Institute of Finance and International Management (IFIM) in all measures to author this book, which is gratefully remembered. Professor S. Baskaran, Head of Business Administration, Dr Ambedkar Institute of Technology has been a great source of technical help, especially in the computational and data collection aspects. Without his help, this book would not have taken the academic shape. He has dedicated his time to this work despite his other official engagements. I am deeply honoured that a proactive human Justice Krishna Sripada Dixit, Judge of the High Court of Karnataka has written the foreword to this book. Our common concern for the welfare of rural areas and people, especially in the development of social infrastructure and development mainstreaming, has bonded the personal relationship. The discussion over the rural development discourse has immensely benefitted me and is a great privilege to be known to Sri Krishna S. Dixit for over a decade. Sri Siddaiah, IAS (Former Commissioner, BBMP), Sri S. Mariswamy, IPS (Former Director General of Police) and Dr R. Raju, IFS (Former Additional Chief Conservator of Forest) have been a significant source of inspiration and shed light on different walks of life in rural India and shaped my understanding, which is gratefully remembered. Several of my colleague friends – Dr A.S. Somashekara Murthy, Education Officer, PVPW Trust, Dr C. Najundaswamy, Principal Dr Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Anand Kumar Naik, Systems Manager, Dr P. Lakshmi, Dr M.L. Nagarathna, Dr M Mahadev, Librarian, Pargabha, B.B. Venkatesh and Syeda Almas Bano, IFIM – have helped me at different stages of the outcome of the book. Their contributory interventions have been very significant to the book for which I remain grateful.

Lastly, my family members have facilitated every stage of this book and am grateful to Smt K. Nagarathna, S.M. Mukul, S.M. Sphoorthy, Dr Viswas, Dr C.R. Mahesha, B. Vandana and Vijayakumar. I have immensely benefitted from their timely help while authoring this book, for which I remain indebted. However, I am alone responsible for any factual and analytical errors in this book.