individually, india’s poor gain very little from the social relationships they’re engaged in. you know quite well that positive social capital, or advantages gained from being associated with the right individuals and groups, isn’t something they can build even if they choose to invest in such relationships. they’re mostly excluded from any such associations. i hope someone studies the idea of social capital in india and defines it correctly in the indian context.

mayank’s post focusses on govt run anti-poverty programs – which themselves are an admission that the poor can’t access capital on their own. definitely not social capital. the only associations that have had a positive, but limited, impact on the poor in india are the dwacra (women self-help groups) groups. these again depend heavily on govt funds and facilitation. they don’t represent a triumph of social networks in india – they’re starfish-like but..they’d collapse without support from outside. that’s my limited understanding of the relationship between anti-poverty programs and social networks in india.

thanks for pointing this out.. i guess i should’ve checked this out. but can’t delete the post now, considering it has already gone into the feed. i”ll add an update linking to your post.

i’m sorry for this.

Check the link for yourself and compare: http://mayankkrishna.blogspot.com/2007/04/poverty-alleviation-starfish-way.html

I am flattered indeed!!