Funds Spent: The Lessons and Challenges of Kerala’s Exceptional Experience

Abstract

This chapter is a systematic examination of the phenomenon of the ‘spending’ of Welfare Funds in the Indian state of Kerala, which contrasts with the general picture of the underspending of similar funds in other States of India. Undertaken through an examination of parliamentary and judicial records, interviews, and a review of the available literature, it shows the evolution of Welfare Funds for construction workers and the sociopolitical processes that underpin it. This case is also an illustration of the ‘monitoring’ of public funds assuming a sociopolitical dimension, especially as the State reciprocated the politics of the street, where workers raised collective demands.

Keywords

• funding mechanisms
• income distribution
• banking
• empowerment
• financing mechanisms
• tax and development