Dravidian populism and social protection

K A LA IY A RA S A N A .

TAMIL NADU has witnessed recurrent anti-caste movements

and an assertive political mobilization of lower castes for
over a century.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a political party which came to power
in 1967 with a broad
social base of lower castes and classes, has had a
tremendous impact on Tamil Nadu’s policy regime and institutions.
One
crucial legacy of this history is a slew of populist measures – undertaken
in the past three decades – designed to
address popular concerns.1
Setting aside criticisms, these populist policies have made a marked
material difference to the
living conditions of the traditionally
dispossessed lower castes and classes. Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze argue that
the
state has seen a gradual consolidation of universalistic social
policies and built an extensive network of ‘lively and
effective
healthcare centres’ offering access to people from across social groups.2

This essay maps this making of universalistic social

policies in the state. In order to do so, it focuses on certain basic
social
outcomes particularly in health and education and traces the processes which
led to relative success including the
policy intervention in provision of
basic services in the state. The essay also advances a set of explanations
which made
such interventions possible and successful in both design and
implementation.

As for outcomes, Tamil Nadu has performed better on most

of the social indicators compared to other states in the
country. For
instance the state’s fertility rate has long been below replacement rates,
comparable to developed countries.
The Total Fertility Rate has shown a
sharp decline from 3.9 in 1971 to 1.7 in 2013. The corresponding figures for
all-
India are 5.2 and 2.3 (Sample Registration System 2013). Similarly, the
state has done extremely well in controlling
mortality rates. Infant
Mortality Ratio (IMR) has shown a drastic decline from 121 in 1972 to 19 in
2015 while the
decline for all-India is 139 to 41. The Maternal Mortality
Ratio too stands much better than the all-India average.

As in the overall trend, health indicators when broken up

by caste groups too show that Tamil Nadu has done better than
all-India. As
per the Nation Family Health Surveys, in 1992-93, the IMR (Infant Mortality
Rate) for the SCs in Tamil
Nadu was 90 points and it had come down to 37
points in 2005-06. The corresponding figures for all-India stand at 107
and
66 points respectively. In the case of indicators relating to child
immunization and mother’s antenatal care too,
deprived caste groups in
Tamil Nadu have performed better than that of all India. The child
immunization rate in Tamil
Nadu was about 80% while merely 43% for all-India
in 2005-06. On many health indicators, deprived caste groups in
Tamil Nadu
performed better than dominant caste groups in all-India. Child nutrition
rates show that the state has been
doing well as compared to all-India
thanks to ICDS and the mid-day meal programme. The state has one of the best
reproductive health and child care in the country. The percentage of
pregnant women who deliver their baby at a health
facility is 99% in Tamil
Nadu, the highest in the country.

Similarly,
education too has been far more socially inclusive as compared to all-India.
As per the 55 round of the
National Sample Survey, about 90% of children in
the age group of 6-14 years were in school in Tamil Nadu in 1999-
2000 in
comparison to 76% children for all-India. The corresponding figures for
2007-2008 are 97.4 and 87% respec-
tively. The state has managed to retain
98.8% of SCs in the age group of 6-10 and 94% of them in the age group of
10-
14 in schools which is much higher than the all-India average. An outcome
indicator that captures the spread of literacy is
the reduction in gender
gap. Tamil Nadu had a gender gap greater than that at the all-India level
until 1981. However,
since 1981, the gender gap in literacy in Tamil Nadu
has recorded a significant decline. We also see a huge decline in the
TFR
(Total Ferti-lity Rate) during this period. Female literacy has a direct
bearing on the TFR.

As in education and health, the state has seen a much

faster rate of reduction in poverty. The rate of poverty reduction
during
1993-94 to 2011-12 was 35 percentage points for rural Tamil Nadu and 27
percentage points for urban Tamil
Nadu. The corresponding figures for all
India are 24 and 18 percentage points respectively. The state has, thus,
done
better in both the level and rate of change in poverty. The well
functioning PDS (Public Distribution System) has
contributed to poverty
reduction. These social outcomes are determined by a range of factors
including the state’s policy
inter-ventions, the relatively well
established health infrastructure, the mid-day meal scheme, among others.

The better
performance of Tamil Nadu in health indicators has to be located in the
enhanced access to public health
services and rate of utilization. The state
has achieved these outcomes without any marked diffe-rence between health
expenditure patterns between many other states and Tamil Nadu. The state has
been a leader in provisioning free primary
health care (which includes
immuni-zation, ante-natal care, and post-natal care). The health
infrastructure has been biased
towards primary health. For instance, the
number of PHCs (Public Health Centres) has gone up from 400 in 1980s to
1747
in 2017. The state has a higher PHC density than that of all-India viz.,
population covered by the PHC in Tamil
Nadu is 32100 whereas the
corresponding figure for all-India is 49200. The wider coverage of the PHC
in the state
becomes clearer when we look at the coverage of villages.
Primary health accounts for about 45% of the total budget
which is much
higher than any other state in India.
An important aspect of Tamil Nadu’s success in public
health is the supply of free medicines in government run health
centres. The
state has set up an elaborate network consisting of the state pharmaceutical
corporation (TNMSC) and a
well developed supply chain with compu-terized
records to ensure affordable medicines to all. The result of such
measures
is reflected in the secondary data. For instance, the National Sample Survey
(71st round, 2014-15) indicates
that the average expenditure a household
incurs for hospitalization in a government health facility is far lower in
Tamil
Nadu. The expenditure per household incurred in availing
hospitalization in public health institutions in Tamil Nadu was Rs
459 in
rural areas and Rs 780 in urban areas. The corresponding figures for
all-India are Rs 5512 and Rs 7592.

The history of
PDS in the state is closely linked with the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam)
assuming power in
1967. The DMK came to power with the promise to supply
three measures of rice per rupee. Since then, the state has
been maintaining
universal PDS while most of the states in India have gone in for targetted
PDS since 1997. The
coverage of different caste groups by the PDS too shows
that groups placed at the bottom in the caste hierarchy, such as
the STs and
the SCs, have better access to the PDS in the state than their counterparts
at all- India level. Along with the
increased coverage, the basket of
commodities provided at the PDS has also widened. Initially, the TNCSC
provided
rice, wheat, sugar and kerosene. Under the special public
distribution scheme, it further included tur dal, urad dal,
palmolein oil,
fortified wheat flour, rava and maida at subsidized prices. In addition, the
corporation also started supplying
cement at a concessional rate and free
LPG stoves under the scheme of free LPG connections to poor families.

Most importantly, the price of essential commodities

under the PDS in Tamil Nadu is much lower than in the open market
and even
the prices fixed by the Government of India. The effec-tive and transparent
functioning of the PDS has also
ensured the least leakages in the country.
For instance, Tamil Nadu has a diversion rate (the proportion of grain that
does
not reach bene-fi-ciary households) of 4.4% as against 44% of
all-India, one of the lowest among the states compared.
By all accounts the
PDS has been functioning exceptionally well in Tamil Nadu. The political
commitments nurtured
through paternalist populism coupled with collective
action by people have contributed to this success of the PDS in the
state.

Tamil Nadu has

the distinction of being the first state in post-independence India to
introduce free mid-day meals for
schoolchildren. The programme actually
started with slogan of ‘combating classroom hunger’. The scheme is
universal
and the main concern about access is that children from different
caste backgrounds should eat together (which generally
happens). The
programme has helped retain children in schools and effectively reduced
dropout rates of children coming
from poorer caste and class background.
Over 90% of the schools have proper kitchen infrastructure which is
periodically upgraded and modernized. The mid-day meal centres are also
equipped with weighing scales, mats for
children to sleep on, educational
charts and toys.

The success of the programme is being attributed to

pressure from above and below.3
Strong political will and efficient
bureaucrats ensures that the scheme
receives the required budgetary support while pressure from below makes the
officials accountable for efficient delivery. In addition to mid-day meals,
the ICDS (Integrated Child Development
Scheme) also has contributed to the
state’s success in ensuring nutrients to children. The aim of the ICDS is
to provide
integrated health, nutrition and pre-school edu-cation services
to children under six through local anganwadis. The state
has already
achieved the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) in terms of a reduction in
IMR and MMR. Strong
political will and popular pressure from below were the
key reasons for the success of the programmes in the state.

Besides the
various innovative schemes, a key intervention which has shaped both the
design and implementation of
public policy in the state is the age-old
policy of affirmative action. Since the 1920s, the state has put into place
some
form of affirmative action for lower castes in education and jobs. If
the reservation policy ensured the effective
representation of all caste
groups in all rungs of bureaucracy, the political mobilization by Dravidian
parties has ensured
the representation of lower castes in the legislature.
The recent data available for caste-wise profile of the legislators
shows
that 62% of them are OBCs, 18% are SCs and 11% are upper castes while about
9% of them are from religious
minorities mirroring the population
distri-bution of the state.4
This increased representation in the legislative assembly is
reflected in
the bureaucracy and professional bodies owned and managed by the state. The
total reservation in
government administrative bodies and educational
institutions is 69% in the state.

After independence, the state was the first to push

through a constitutional amendment to reintroduce reservation in
public
services on a new pattern of 25% for OBCs and 15% for SCs. After assuming
power in 1967, the DMK set up a
Backward Class Commission which recommended
increasing the existing reservation of 25% for backward classes, and
identifying the most backward groups to make special provisions for them. If
the DMK led by Karunanidhi in 1971
increased the reservation of SCs from 15%
to 18% and for OBCs from 25% to 31%, given the competitive elec-toral
compulsion, the AIDMK led by M.G. Ramachandran further increased the OBC
reservation to 50% in 1984, thereby
pushing the quantum of reservation in
the state to 69%. As a result, the state has been able to build a cadre of
bureaucrats and professionals across caste groups.

For instance,
exams for the state medical services show that out of 2173 total seats in
2014, the OBCs got 77% seats,
which is much higher than their constitutional
share of 50% reservation while the SC account for 20% of the total seats,
i.e. 2% more than what they are entitled to. The SCs and OBCs could very
well now compete in the open quotas. The
sociological literature suggests
the social diversification of doctors in a stratified society offers a ‘feeling
of affinity’,
‘weakens caste ties’ and increases access to medical
services across social groups.

Competitive populism has thus ensured a path-dependency

in the provisioning of certain welfare measures in the state.
Irrespective
of party affiliations and ideological differences, the concept of social
justice has remained the guiding
principle of key policy interventions in
the state. A combination of populist welfare measures and the idea of social
justice
has produced a political commitment to the provision of certain
basic public services in the state. Under the DMK, the
combination of
affirmative action and Tamil identity worked to empower lower castes and
generated aspirations among
intermediate caste groups. An expanded education
enhanced the mobility of these groups who had certain ‘social
capability’,
i.e. minimum resources to avail newly found opportunities created by this
political mobilization.5

While an
assertive populism of the DMK offered fresh opportunities to new aspirations
of intermediate caste groups,
the paternalist populism of AIADMK gave more
attention to the needs of Dalits, women and the rural poor among
others.
Even though the policies associated with paternalist populism encouraged
little individual autonomy, the assertive
populism of the DMK combined these
welfare measures with the rhetoric of social justice. This made a material
difference to the lives of lower castes. For instance, the welfare measure
initiated through the Tamil Nadu Integrated
Nutrition Programme such as ICDS
and noon meal schemes made a substantial contribution to improving
nutritional
outcomes for infants, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

Many studies indicate that Tamil Nadu has been

transformed from a ‘socially fragmented society’ to a ‘poli-tically
integrated region’,6
enhancing the likelihood of coming together in good faith to collectively
uplift the people. Further,
sustained political mobilization has also
generated awareness among people of their entitlement and welfare schemes.
The
narrowing caste inequality has expanded freedom and made certain welfare
measures irreversible. Simultaneously the
institutions have been made more
responsible to the people. As a result, the welfare measures initiated by
the state more
often reach the last mile, more so since people often resort
to collective action to protest against the violation of their
entitlements.
Not only does the state have the lowest leakages (4%) in the PDS system in
the country, even central
welfare schemes such as the NREGA (National Rural
Employ-ment Guarantee Act) are better implemented here
because of heightened
awareness among people, a pressure from the demand side.

The state has

ensured better social outcomes, particularly in health and education. Such
outcomes are more broad
based and socially inclusive as compared to other
states, a direct reflection of focused state policy. Political parties that
inherited a legacy of a century long social mobilization have introduced
certain populist welfare measures specially
prioritiz-ing health and
education. Such mobi-lization, which often took place in the name of Tamil
identity and social
justice, has produced horizontal solidarities and
generated awareness among people about their entitlements. In turn, this
has
made institutions more accountable and ensured effective delivery of certain
public ser- vices. This notwithstanding
the state’s dismal record on
governance and combating corruption. Dravidian populism shows that when
populist political
regimes are supported by collective action from below, we
can ensure better social outcomes.

Footnotes:

1. A. Wyatt, ‘Populism and Politics in Contemporary

Tamil Nadu’, Contemporary South Asia 21(4), 2013, pp. 365-381.

2. The authors note that the relative success of Tamil

Nadu in comparison to other states lies in a set of universal social
policies
including universal PDS, ICDS, mid-day meals that the state has
been providing to its people. They also attribute the better performance
of
NREGA to robust administrative regulation and accountability due to pressure
from below. For further details, see Jean Dreze and
Amartya Sen, ‘Putting
Growth in Its Place’, Outlook, 14 November 2011.

3. Brinda Viswanathan, ‘Access to Nutritious Meal

Programmes: Evidence from 1999-2000 NSS Data’, Economic and Political
Weekly, 11
February 2006, pp. 497-505.

4. Jean-Luc Racine, ‘Caste and Beyond in Tamil

Politics’, in Christophe Jaffrelot and Sanjay Kumar (eds.), Rise of the
Plebeians? The
Changing Face of Indian Legislative Assemblies. Routledge,
Delhi, 2009.

5. Narendra Subramanian, Ethnicity and Populist

Mobilization: Political Parties, Citizens and Democracy in South India.
Oxford
University Press, Delhi, 1999, p. 74.

6. Citing Paul Brass’ (1979) work among others, Prerna

Singh argues that the solidarity that emerges from a sense of shared
identity-sub-
nationalism is the key for relative success of Tamil Nadu in
social outcomes. See How Solidarity Works for Welfare: Subnationalism and
Social Development in India. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 2015, p. 122.