Paper short abstract:

This paper examines outcomes of the Basic Services for the Urban Poor (JNNURM) in India. Focusing on Pune and Bhubaneswar, two cities with very different historical trajectories, the text describes and analyses efforts to institutionalise a more participatory and pro-poor politics.

Paper long abstract:

Research on the BSUP sub-Mission of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in the two Indian cities of Pune and Bhubaneswar enables us to explore the ways in which grassroots organizations supported by NGOs can build political relationships that enable disadvantaged households and their communities to advance political inclusion and opportunities for asset accumulation.

The interaction between civil society and both political elites, and at the broader level the polity, has been the subject of considerable discussion. This is particularly the case in India where Chatterjee's distinction between civil and political society resonates among both academic and non-academic observers because of the way in which it captures an exclusionary and exploitative politics. The findings from these two cities enable us to explore the processes through which grassroots organizations, supported by NGOs, are able to advance the institutionalisation of policies, programmes and practices through which the interests of low-income and disadvantaged households are advanced. A temporal analysis stretching back over 15 years helps us understand the dynamic processes that lie behind the creation of development options that are less exclusionary. Findings offer an understanding of what inclusion might mean and how it might be secured.