This book examines the inclusive development experiences and impacts of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). It discusses the theoretical assumptions underlying the inclusive development of Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS), and draws conclusions based on robust data and real-world experiences with the MGNREGS - which has attracted global attention as India's most ambitious, rights-based development initiative and most expansive work-based social security measure, the world's largest public works programme, and people-centric approach to development. The book argues that the Scheme holds vast potential, and, in fact, has made significant contribution to the promotion of livelihoods of the poorest of the poor, but that the weak institutions of local-self-governance, entrusted for implementation of the Scheme, are incapable of exploiting them to the full. It ends with a concrete policy suggestion: the inclusive development experiences gathered with the EGS and presented here could offer a source of policy change in many developing Afro-Asian countries whose situations are similar to India's, provided the local conditions in the respective country are taken into consideration when designing the EGS. Its significance as a social security measure has increased in post-COVID loss of jobs and livelihoods of the poor.

Social Sector Development in North-east India is the first comprehensive book that makes a strong case for people-centric social sector development of North-east India. This book argues that human capital formation through social sector development should be the strategic goal of development of this region, as the prospect for service sector development is much higher compared to that of the primary and secondary sectors. This needs a course correction in the erstwhile approaches of development, which has been driven by political and strategic considerations such as national security and the territorial integrity of India. This book advances an argument for a shift in approach of development policy from top-down, infrastructure-focused to bottom-up, people-centric and social sector development-focused. It also critiques the mainstream understanding of North-east India that treats it as a geographical entity and a monolithic socio-cultural society, ignoring its rich ethnic diversities, cultural pluralities and regional variations.