Employment generation programs and long term development- the case of India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

Abstract

The impact of neo-liberal policies on labor and employment opportunities in developing country like India has been less than satisfactory. The purpose of this dissertation is to study the role of government in employment generation and the impact of employment generation on long term development. In order to do so, the case of India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has been taken as a case study. The study argues that employment generation programs by the government is not only important to create jobs, but is also necessary for long term development of the country. The study concludes the impact of an employment generation program is not limited to a narrowly understood concept of economic growth. Instead, by using an alternate understanding of development-namely the capability approach, it can be concluded that employment generation has long lasting impact on the development of rural communities. Field work in two states of India have been used as evidence to support this argument. To make the case for employment generation various approaches have been taken including Marxian, post colonial and heterodox economic approaches like Keynesian and Kaleckian economics.