A4
Hard-cover
•
2005
Pages: 312
ISBN: 8171884482
INR 995
Law, Liberty and Livelihood: Making a Living on the Street goes beyond mere macro-statistics and statistical controversies regarding the impact of liberalisation on the poor and endeavours to further the understanding of the processes and dynamics involved in various urban livelihoods. It documents through primary research the 'official' as well as the 'actual' regulatory and licencing processes by direct interactions with varied stakeholders. The case studies of railway porters, street vendors, small shop keepers, cycle and auto rickshaw drivers, household-based industries, as well as small school operators provide graphic details of what ails India's entry-level professionals - the bottom rung of the economic ladder from which the poor can hope to climb to economic success while providing some of the most essential services to city people.
The book recommends...
Create Spontaneous Order: Pursuit of urban livelihoods by the poor should not be viewed as a trade-off vis-à-vis the quality of life of urban residents. It is not a zero-sum game. The objective of urban management is not to create one correct and complete Master Plan. It will never be. The focus should be on institutions and processes through which the plans of individuals and communities would emerge and get implemented. The most fundamental question is not what decision to make but who is to make it - through what processes and under what incentives and constraints, and most importantly, with what feedback measures to correct the decision.
Exit LPQ; Enter LPG: Remove all licences, permits and quotas across the board for entry-level professions. City managers would do well to stick to the main rule of doctors: First, do no harm. Empower the poor with economic freedom - the freedom to earn an honest living in the vocation of their choice.
Apply Livelihood Freedom Test: Test all existing and new rules and regulations for their impact on the freedom to earn an honest living. Does any law restrict opportunities of any person to earn an honest living, particularly the one that requires little capital or skills? If so, then Review, Revise, or Remove. Occupational delicencing and deregulation should take priority in the agenda of the government, before embarking on massive employment generation schemes.
Decentralise Governance to Ward Committees: Change the locus of decision-making from the single municipal body to multiple wards - transfer ownership and management of public space and services to wards.
The Master Plan of every city of India should be rolled up into a bottle, corked, and thrown into the Indian Ocean. Corked, so that years later when the bottle is found, the absurdities of the Master Plan will become glaringly obvious when compared to the actual development of the city.
Jeevika: Livelihood Documentary Competition - www.jeevika.ccsindia.org - complements the research programme as part of the Law, Liberty and Livelihood Campaign of CCS. Join the livelihood freedom movement - for the sake of the poor !
"Try opening a corner grocery shop and you will find why India is Kafkaworld, not Disneyworld. License-permit raj did not die with economic reforms, it just got old and even more inefficient. Read this extremely revealing study on how market based solutions can counter the obduracy of government."
- Surjit S Bhalla
Distinguished economist, popular commentator and
Managing Director, Oxus Research and
Investments, New Delhi.
"The Indian state has failed so far to create an economy capable of providing enough jobs for the poor, and yet it believes it has the right to prevent the unemployed from exercising their right to livelihood. If this is not evil, it is hard to think what is."
- Tavleen Singh
Well-Known journalist, columnist, and
television commentator.
Parth J Shah is founder president of Centre for Civil Society, New Delhi, a think tank for public policy solutions within the framework of rule of law, limited government, and competitive markets.
Naveen Mandava is a Research Associate with the Centre for Civil Society and is also the Coordinator of the Research Internship Programme Researching Reality. He shifted from electronics to applied microeconomic research when he saw the ability of public policy solutions to influence the lives of the poor.