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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Last Among Equals: Power, Caste and Politics in Bihar’s Villages review: Last mile democracy -Amit Basole

Last Among Equals: Power, Caste and Politics in Bihar’s Villages review: Last mile democracy -Amit Basole

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published Published on Feb 18, 2022   modified Modified on Feb 20, 2022

-The Hindu

In his book on Bihar, M.R. Sharan provides a closely observed, scholarly, and empathetic account of the struggle to make constitutional promises a reality in rural India 

M.R. Sharan’s splendid book brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. The scene is a public meeting at “Narega Chowk” in Ratnauli village, Muzaffarpur district of Bihar. Activists of Bihar Manrega Watch (BMW) are helping resolve grievances. An old woman speaks. She has worked a full 100 days on MGNREGA a few years ago only to never get paid for it. When she brings her grievance to the meeting, even the activists are surprised at the lack of documentation on her part and chastise her for it. At the end of the meeting, the author observes her, in a corner of the tea-shop, “clinging to a pole and staring at the steadily pounding rain, soundlessly mouthing the words” to a protest song. 

This and many other moments fill the book and demonstrate the deep empathy of the author. Following economist Albert Hirschmann, Sharan aims to convey “a feeling for what he witnessed as village life and politics in Bihar.” He succeeds brilliantly, bringing the reader a powerful cocktail of RCTs (randomised controlled trials) and Srilal Shukla’s Raag Darbari. The writing is witty and poignant, the scholarship is deep, and the style is eminently readable. Sharan also has a gift for simile. One of the book’s characters is described as speaking “in staccato bursts, like an Aaron Sorkin character on a Zoom call with intermittent connection.” 

Sanjay Sahni’s story 

The real-life, amazing story of Sanjay Sahni, a Bihari migrant in Delhi, an electrician-turned-MGNREGA activity-turned aspiring MLA, is the glue that holds the book together. The story starts with Sanjay hearing the word “Narega” in his village of Ratnauli. Ratnauli is where most of the book’s action takes place. Back home in Janakpuri (in Delhi), it is 2011, and Sanjay is becoming more and more curious about what goes on in his neighbourhood internet cafe. One day he musters up the courage to walk in and sit at a computer. Wanting to do something “important” and “worthy of the computer” he types the words “bihar narega” in the search engine. With a series of breathless clicks on the official MGNREGA website, he travels to Muzaffarpur, then Kurhani (his block) and reaches his village. One last click and he is virtually meeting people he knows. ‘It was like I was sitting in Delhi, but also in my village,’ says Sanjay to the author. 

Sanjay senses that he has struck upon vital information. He spends cash he can ill-afford to print out pages and pages of MGNREGA wage payment records. His subsequent efforts, carrying those pages to Ratnauli, finding evidence for corruption and building a peoples’ movement to improve MGNREGA functioning in his village occupy a large part of the book. The story culminates in his inspiring campaign for MLA in the 2020 Bihar elections. 

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The Hindu, 18 february, 2022, https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-reviews/last-among-equals-power-caste-and-politics-in-bihars-villages-review-last-mile-democracy/article65052658.ece?homepage=true


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