Pro-poor Growth & Governance in South Asia

This is a study of issues in good governance in South Asia, viz. in the countries of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. The focus is on the interconnections between governance, decentralization (of authority and decision making) and poverty eradication. The book submits a stratagem to turn South Asia's greatest handicap, poverty, into a source of strength, in which the poor contribute directly to growth. The key to this pro-poor growth strategy, according to the authors, is community mobilization through social movements and non-governmental development initiatives. The book is divided into three parts, the conceptual framework, illustrative case studies and lessons for macro/microeconomic policy. Part I critically evaluates conventional developmental thinking and suggests the outline of an alternative pro-poor developmental strategy. Part II, the backbone of the volume, is a collection of six case studies from selected locations in south Asia, covering both rural and urban experiences. Part III draws lessons from these studies for a value-driven policy with both short-term and long-term implications. The book is a first of its kind, examining in-depth issues of vital importance to the development of the South Asian region. The importance of this volume lies in the synthesized lessons for policy and implementation drawn from cases where new ground has been broken in the conceptualization of social mobilization and pro-poor growth.