International Organisations and Rural Employment Programmes in India: Emerging Trends

The advent of foreign capital and technology into the Third World countries including India in the late fifties has substaintially affected the orientation of the economy of the latter. The Third World counties are led to a situation where they are compelled to accept the enticing new-style development models of International Governmental Organisations (IGOs). The impact of these on the economy of different countries is not always condusive to the development process. On the other hand it has helped to subserve the interests of the IGOs, Multi-national corporations and the ruling class of the Third World. The experience with the rural development programmes launched in India at the instance of IGOs appears to be no different. Through these programmes are grounded in the rhetoric of radical change, they remains basically incremental or reformist within the conventional liberal paradigm. Although there have been many studies on the rural employment programmes in India, very few have noticed the covert designes of IGOs in formulating and implementing these programmes which have adversely affected the rural poor and economy. The present study seeks to examine the impact of rural employment programmes vis-a-vis IGOs in the betterment of the living standards of the rural poor.