There is a wide diversity in the provision of public services in India. In some states one can go miles without seeing a functional school or a public health centre, where roads are poorly maintained, and electricity has not yet been introduced. In other places, governments tend to function remarkably well in extending basic public services to all. Tamil Nadu is among a few such states with an impressive commitment to services. This book examines the dynamics that led to Tamil Nadu’s commitment. I argue that incessant public action in Tamil Nadu underlies that commitment. People tend to act wh ... More

There is a wide diversity in the provision of public services in India. In some states one can go miles without seeing a functional school or a public health centre, where roads are poorly maintained, and electricity has not yet been introduced. In other places, governments tend to function remarkably well in extending basic public services to all. Tamil Nadu is among a few such states with an impressive commitment to services. This book examines the dynamics that led to Tamil Nadu’s commitment. I argue that incessant public action in Tamil Nadu underlies that commitment. People tend to act when services are not available or functional and thus create pressure on the government to deliver. Public action is relentless and it comes from all sections of the society, forcing those in positions of power to ensure that basic services are socially accessible to all. But only few decades ago most Dalits, women, or people from lower castes and classes would rarely enter administrative offices, police stations or other government offices–leave alone asserting themselves with these officials. The crux of the book deals with the socio-political changes that made this form of decentralized public action possible, with its tremendous consequences for governance. I also argue that these dynamics have a resonance in many other parts of India. While such changes started early on in southern India, similar patterns have emerged over the last twenty years in major North Indian states creating pressure on once dysfunctional states to deliver more and more services effectively.