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‘At Least the Government is Watching out for us Now’: Dalit perceptions and experiences of governance and cash transfers in three villages in Sarlahi, Nepal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2019

KRISTIE DRUCZA Open the ORCID record for KRISTIE DRUCZA [Opens in a new window]
KRISTIE DRUCZA*
Affiliation:
The Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Email: kristie.drucza@yahoo.com.au
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Abstract

This article provides qualitative case studies and applies citizenship theory to reveal the way in which being in receipt of a cash transfer can help local poor and excluded Dalits to understand what it means to be a citizen of Nepal's state. Cash transfers can contribute to an individual's subjective sense of inclusion and citizenship. Although Dalits encounter disparities and rights abuses when dealing with local government over their cash transfer entitlements, their responses reveal a sense of agency in the positive way in which they interpret their entitlements. Although they may be mistreated at the local level, they feel valued because the central ‘state’ recognizes their plight and identity. Cash transfers are understood by Dalits through the lens of social exclusion, patronage, and the hierarchical society in which they live. They are an effective way of reaching large numbers of formerly excluded citizens and indicate that the state now includes them. As such, they can contribute towards building an inclusive state.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 53 , Issue 6 , November 2019 , pp. 2041 - 2078
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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96 In Sarlahi, many languages are spoken and this creates minorities and majorities. Maithili is the second most common language spoken after Nepali (country wide) and the Bajika language is a dialect of Maithili and is only spoken by a minority of people. Those who speak Bajika are more excluded than those who speak Maithili and have lower self-esteem on average.

97 The Rosenberg self-esteem scale is a ten item Likert scale with four response options, from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The maximum score is 30 and less than 15 suggests low self-esteem. See https://www.wwnorton.com/college/psych/psychsci/media/rosenberg.htm, [accessed 5 March 2019].

98 There have not been any local elections in Nepal since before the end of the conflict and thus there is no local government as such. What respondents mean by ‘local government’ are the civil servants they encounter within their area of residence.

99 Note: one person chose not to respond to this question and some answered 5 for central and 1 for local government. In this instance, this graph records the score for the central government.

100 Note: one person chose not to respond to this question.

101 Note: three people chose not to respond to this question.

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107 It is difficult to substantiate discrepancies. Only when people in the same VDC and on the same benefit have different amounts in their identity book might instalment errors be proven. In Dangre Khola, a Dalit widow who lived in the lower hills was paid NPR3,000 as her first instalment six months late and received only one other instalment that year bringing the 2012 annual total to NPR5,050 when it should have been NRP6,000. A Christian Dalit widow who lived in the same VDC but closer to town was NRP2,000 short of her yearly amount. In 2013, the widow from the hills received only one instalment whereas the one closer to town received two instalments. It seems that both widows have missed payments at different times. Even non-Dalit beneficiaries who had identity books revealed that instalments were rarely made according to the government's schedule.

108 Note: four respondents chose not to respond to this question.

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112 Chatterjee, The Politics of the Governed, p. 74, describes political society as the set of institutions, actors and cultural norms that provide the links between ‘government’ and ‘the public’. The activities of government agencies are negotiated and contested or ‘opened up’ in ‘political society’. In contrast civil society is ‘the closed association of modern elite groups, sequestered from the wider popular life of communities, walled up within enclaves of civic freedom and rational law’ (ibid., p. 4). A population group produced by ‘governmentality’ must have ‘conferred legitimacy within the domain of the modern state’ to effectively make its claim in political society (ibid., p. 75). Receiving a cash transfer provides that much-needed legitimacy for Dalits.

113 Kabeer, Introduction, p. 197.

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