India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is a unique initiative in the history of state sponsored social security interventions, which guarantees at least 100 days of employment on local public works to anyone who demands for it. NREGS is in operation since 2006. This is world’s largest public-works programme ever, covering around 45 million households every year. Launching of the NREGS indicates a renewal of importance of public-works programme in the global South during the last decade. After 9 years of its continued implementation, there seems to be a dearth of systematic and scientific studies based on grassroots primary survey on how this programme is being implemented and why there is a renewed interest around this programme among the academics and development practitioners across the world. This thesis therefore seeks to understand i) what impacts NREGS created at the household level and ii) the political economy behind its implementation. This thesis comprises of three essays or chapters. Chapter1 and Chapter 3 are based on a threewave household-level longitudinal primary dataset and Chapter 2 is based on a threewave village-level longitudinal primary dataset. All the surveys were conducted between the period 2009 and 2012 in West Bengal state of India. First core chapter of this thesis addresses the research question: what are the impacts of the NREGS participation on household level economic variables and whether participation in NREGS can work as a proxy for collateral in accessing the informal credit for consumption smoothing? Second core chapter addresses the research question: whether the Village Council level ruling political party preferentially allocates the NREGS fund to optimise its chances re-election. Third core chapter addresses the research question: whether there is any non-poor capture of NREGS and whether households’ explicit political affiliation with the ruling party matters in obtaining any extra dividend under NREGS.

This qualitative study analytically compares State-madrasa and inter-madrasa relations in Hindu-majority West Bengal and Muslim-majority Bangladesh. It uses Migdal’s State-in-Society approach to explain the nature and bases of these interactions as expressed in three interrelated arenas: educational, organisational, and political. The central question addressed in the educational arena is why some madrasas (recognised madrasas) respond positively to State-initiated incentives for reform while others (unrecognised madrasas) reject the same. In resolving this puzzle, the study seeks also: 1) to classify madrasas in each setting according to their relative thresholds for engagement with the State; and, 2) to identify how, and to what extent, the State can extend the appeal of its reform scheme to unrecognised madrasas. In the organisational arena, the study focuses exclusively on those madrasas that reject State-initiated reform, asking how they organise independently of the State. A key objective here is to determine how inter-madrasa relations vary between Muslim-minority and –majority contexts, and which specific aspects of the State’s policies most encourage such variation. The study’s third empirical section examines State-madrasa relations as expressed through two phenomena in the political arena. The first phenomenon involves the politicisation of recognised madrasas by the State (represented by political parties and their student wings). The study explicates the mechanisms through which this politicisation occurs, identifies the factors facilitating/impeding such politicisation, and assesses the impact of this politicisation on the political allegiances of individual students. The second phenomenon sees representatives of unrecognised madrasas (attempting to) reach into the State complex by launching madrasa-based political parties. The study focuses on this phenomenon to gauge the relationship between a madrasa man’s careers in the educational, organisational, and political arenas: To what extent can madrasa-based political entrepreneurs leverage influence wielded in the educational and organisational arenas towards success in the political arena? And do those who succeed in entering the State complex use this opportunity to promote the societal interests they represent in the educational arena, or in pursuit of increased authority in the organisational realm?

Present study deals with training and development strategies in IT service industry in Kolkata region. This study highlighted present trends and common practices in training and development activities in specific and in human resources management in general. InfoTech sector is a thrust area of economic development in developing economies, like in India. Government and private joint initiatives make this sector a sunshine industry sector. Potentials of human resources explore in the professionally managed IT service companies. The training and development activities strengthen capabilities of IT service companies and help them to achieve excellence. Present study evaluated the heart of this knowledge industry, which centered on knowledge workers. Present study briefly elaborated the training and development practices of two top-ranked companies in Kolkata and found some unique modes of delivery of training. This study also pointed out that companies placed in higher value-chain have long-term vision as compared to ones in lower in value-chain.

NJ, Univ., Dep. of Economics, Diss.--Princeton, 2004. / Kopie, ersch. im Verl. UMI, Ann Arbor, Mich. - Enth. 3 Beitr.

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This thesis shows how the Process Analysis Method (PAM) can be applied to assess technologies used to mitigate arsenic from drinking water in rural India, using a set of sustainability indicators. Stakeholder perspectives, gathered from a fieldwork survey of 933 households in West Bengal in 2012, played a significant role in this assessment. This research found that the ‘Most Important’ issues as specified by the technology users are cost, trust, distance from their home to the clean water source (an indicator of convenience), and understanding the health effects of arsenic. It was also found that none of the ten technologies evaluated are economically viable, as many do not charge user-fees, which creates reliance upon donations to meet recurring costs. Utilisation of a technology is strongly related to sociocultural capital, but in many cases, features that contribute to sociocultural value, like regular testing of the treated water, are not included in the financial budget. It is suggested that increased awareness might change attitudes to arsenic-rich waste and its disposal protocols. This waste is often currently discarded in an uncontrolled manner in the local environment, giving rise to the possibility of point-source recontamination. All technologies proved to have difficulties in dealing with waste, except the Tipot and Dug wells which produce no waste. Of the methods considered, the BESU technology scored highest, but still only with 47-62% of the maximum scores achievable within each domain. This explains the widespread failure of mitigation projects across the region. The indicators and metrics show where improvements can be made. A model scheme based on these findings is outlined which could be applied with the objective of increasing utilisation and improving sustainability. It can be concluded that a product stewardship approach should be taken in regard to design, implementation and operation of the technologies, including the creation of a regulated toxic waste collection and disposal industry.