India: Institutional Weakness and Human Rights Based Approach to Economic Development

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel

Abstract

The proposed inter-disciplinary panel will discuss factors explaining its right-based approach to economic development, and the limits of this approach. The panel is composed of experts in economics, law and governance. The panelists will present some results of the comprehensive research study carried out under a Major Collaborative Research Initiative (MCRI) grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada on Understanding Coordinated Compliance with International Trade and Human Rights Standards in Comparative Perspective (organized by the University of British Columbia's Asia Pacific Dispute Resolution Project).
In light of the failure of government institutions in vital sectors such as education and health to deliver services that matter for the quality of human capital of a society, India has undertaken human rights based approach to economic development, which creates legal rights to vital services such as ‘education’, ‘food’ and ‘employment’ through parliamentary legislation. Though various states and international institutions adopted the rights based approach to development, India’s exceptional policies in this sphere offer lessons for other states.
The proposed panel includes four papers: (1) on economic development, institutional capacity and India's human rights approach to development (by Moshe Hirsch); (2) on India’s National Food Security Act and the WTO Agreement on Agriculture (by Milind Murugkar); (3) On India's right to work and the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (by Ashwini Kulkarni); (4) India's Right to Education Act; Evidence and Practice (by Wilima Wadhwa).
The Chair, Prof. Ashok Kotwal will also serve as a discussant.

Area of Study

• South Asia

Session Organizer

• Ashok Kotwal, University of British Columbia

Individual Presentations

• Is it Feasible to Create a Legal Right for Employment? - Ashwini Kulkarni, Pragati Abhiyan

• On Economic Development, Institutional Capacity and India's Human Rights Approach to Development - Moshe Hirsch, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• Primary Education in India: Evidence and Practice - Wilima Wadhwa, Delhi University