Describe the changing nature of the State in the developing societies in the context of inclusive growth in the 21“century. (2018, 10 Marks)
The post-colonial state was long described as Gunnar Myrdal‘s “soft state“, strong in legislation but weak in enforcement, or Hamza Alavi‘s “overdeveloped state“, a bureaucratic-military apparatus inherited from colonial rule. In the twenty-first century the agenda of inclusive growth, growth whose benefits reach the poor and excluded, has reshaped what this state does.
From producer to provider and enabler
| Phase | Role of the state |
|---|---|
| 1950s–70s | Planner and producer: public sector, import substitution |
| 1980s–90s | Facilitator: liberalisation, structural adjustment |
| 2000s onward | Provider and enabler: market-led growth plus entitlements |
The state did not shrink as neoliberal reform expected; it was restructured, producing less and regulating, targeting and delivering more.
Features of the inclusive-growth state
- Rights-based welfare. India legislated entitlements to work (2005), education (2009) and food (2013); Brazil’s Bolsa Família (2003) made conditional cash transfers a global model. India’s free-foodgrain scheme covers about 81 crore people.
- Targeting to universalism. India’s public health insurance was extended in 2024 to everyone aged 70 and above, irrespective of income.
- Technology-led delivery. Biometric identity, Jan Dhan accounts and mobile phones enabled direct benefit transfer; India promoted digital public infrastructure as a development model at the New Delhi G20 summit (2023).
- Participatory governance. Social audits, RTI and decentralised planning made the state more answerable, reflecting Amartya Sen‘s view of development as the expansion of real freedoms.
- Welfare as governance. Partha Chatterjee (The Politics of the Governed, 2004) reads this as political society: the poor negotiate benefits as governed populations rather than rights-bearing citizens, so welfare also manages consent.
- Global responsibility. The SDGs (2015), the India-France-led International Solar Alliance and Vaccine Maitri show these states shaping global public goods, not just receiving aid.
Limits and reversals
- Fiscal squeeze. UNCTAD (2025) counts 3.4 billion people in countries spending more on debt interest than on health or education.
- Exclusion errors. Authentication failures can deny legally owed benefits.
- Rights recalibrated. India’s VB-G RAM G Act (2025), in force from 1 July 2026, replaced MGNREGA: 125 guaranteed days, but a 60:40 Centre–state cost split for most states, normative rather than demand-driven allocation and a 60-day pause in peak farm seasons. Critics see a right turning into a budget-capped scheme.
- Capacity gap. Peter Evans‘s “embedded autonomy” remains rare.
Conclusion
The developing state has moved from a soft, overdeveloped controller to a welfare-and-platform state that blends markets with entitlements. Inclusion now depends less on new statutes than on fiscal space and administrative capacity.