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At its best, the work of the social sector is about changing society—the underlying norms, attitudes and power relations—and at the very least, ameliorating some of the ills present, for example, paucity of access to health or food. It is this desire for change or amelioration that provides the motive force for organisational members. To build this motive force, organisation development (OD) interventions need to work on some or all of the following: building greater ownership of organisational staff through tweaking governance methods and organisational structures, (founder-led or an institutionalised structure); mirroring expected norms within community with those observed in the organisation; having clarity about the vision of the community; working with organisational dilemmas; and having a clear theory of change. The last implies building and understanding the complex nature of society and social change and interventions therein; and as a corollary, a culture of debate and thoughtfulness.

In a world of having large part suffering from the inadequacies of basic needs and inter-class and inter-regional income disparities, investing upon the development of different social sectors from the state exchequers have been one of the top agendas of the policymakers. It is not a different issue for the states and provinces of the developing countries like India. Besides having positive roles on economic betterment, spending on social expenditures sometimes work in favour of the ruling political parties to gain confidence from the voters. The states thus compete in this area. Under this background, the present study attempts to examine whether the states of India are converging in social sector’s expenditure for the period 1980–81 to 2017–18. Applying the neoclassical growth and panel unit roots models the study observes unambiguously that there are absolute and conditional β convergence and σ convergence in per capita social expenditure among the states. JEL Classification: H72, O470, C23, O530

The study attempts to examine the impact of social sector development on inclusive growth in India. Ever since Independence, India’s encounter with gnawing poverty and stark deprivation, particularly of the weaker and the marginalised sections of society, cajoled India’s planners to moot the development policies with the sole objective of exacerbating growth with equity. That is why since the beginning of the planning era, the stress had been laid on strengthening and expanding the social sectors with the premise that it would boost the inclusive growth agenda, manifesting in equal access to employment and economic opportunities; equal participation in decision-making and reduction in poverty and inequality. In conformity with the objective of our study, we intend to gauge the effect and contribution of different components of social sector development in India, on inclusiveness of growth using time series data for the period of 1985–1986 to 2015–2016. It was found that the expenditure related to ‘social security and welfare’ contributes significantly towards inclusive growth in India while the expenditure incurred on ‘welfare of marginalised class’ and ‘rural development’ exudes negative association with inclusiveness of growth.

Acknowledging the contribution of social infrastructure towards building up human capital, this article analyses the trend and pattern of social sector expenditure in India in the 2000s. Rhetorical commitment of successive Indian governments towards inclusive social development and poverty alleviation in the 2000s has not been backed up by adequate financial allocations and this has merely served to maintain the status quo on social sector spending. The new pattern of tax shares between the centre and states has resulted in higher inflow of ‘untied fund’ from the central government accompanied by lower allocations of ‘tied fund’. Subsequently, states have not exhibited any definitive sign of using their newly accrued fiscal autonomy to prioritise social sector expenditure. Along with greater public investment for development of human resources, this article emphasises on the need for appropriate monitoring and evaluation framework, and change in the budget making policy with greater involvement of people directly affected by changes in public policies related to social sector.

A vast range of issues has been debated and discussed in India in the context of the social sector during the last decade, including the right to education, land rights, food security, health for all, gender equality, women’s empowerment, livelihood and employment guarantee. Successive governments have also tried to promote the idea of sustainable and equitable economic growth and development but the reality is that high levels of both economic and social disparities continue to exist. Contemporary political discourse contains recurring references to increasing inequality in society in both developed and developing nations. Against this background the international community, in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), developed a new template of sustainable development goals (SDGs)—17 goals and 169 strategies for the implementation of a global development agenda. However, in a country as diverse as India, equitable development can be brought about only through the implementation of broad-based inclusive social policies backed by an adequate reservoir of financial resources. It was felt that the character and contour of such an approach for development thus needed debate and discussion and it was in this context that a two-day national seminar, Indian Perspectives on Social Sector Issues and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Policies, Prospects and Future Directions, was organised by the Council for Social Development to arrive at a consensus on social development.

Regional inequality, in terms of cross-district variations, has attracted the attention of researchers and policy-makers alke, helping them to understand horizontal differences and provide alternatives in removing disparities. Several studies have indicated that such variations are an important reason behind the ethnic and political strife found in such regions—a problem that gets accentuated when these areas are dominated by the tribal and are simultaneously underdeveloped. Apart from historical and social factors and the endowment of natural resources, government policies and programmes have also contributed in creating unequal levels and trends in the socio-economic development of a region. Arunachal Pradesh, one of the least studied states in India and located in the north eastern part of the country, is in a transitional phase of its socio-economic development and has shown variations in the levels of development across districts. Given the quality of social capital available in the state, it seems that development is required not only to increase an adequate resource flow, but also to create an enabling environment to attract people towards realising the importance of social capital. For such an understanding, a mapping of cross-district variations in the development of the social sector in Arunachal Pradesh is vital. This study tries to assess the disparity in the social sector across Arunachal Pradesh’s districts by using the principal component analysis (PCA) method to rank districts. On the basis of ranks, the study attempts to analyse reasons behind the levels of disparity. In conclusion, on finding conceptual problems in traditional indicators of social sector development, some alternatives have been outlined.

Jaishri Jethwaney, Social Sector Communication in India: Concepts, Practices and Case Studies, India, SAGE Publications, 2016, 288 pp., ₹850, ISBN: 9789351508144.

This commentary piece seeks to outline the case for a ‘whole place’ approach to progressive economic development. It discusses how Local Enterprise Partnerships can expand their foci and considers the challenge for them of meeting social objectives. Local Enterprise Partnerships are not currently constructing coherent policy approaches to economic growth aspirations and social justice considerations. They offer an opportunity to enhance interplay between and within the commercial, public and social sector functions of the economy. It is through developing networks and relationships that Local Enterprise Partnerships can enhance resilience, and generate synergy to develop innovative solutions to socio-economic challenges. Universities and social enterprises are the exact sorts of organisations which are needed to support Local Enterprise Partnerships to ensure that these networks are given full consideration and representation in the strategic planning of local economies. The role of small-to-medium enterprises in delivering whole place economies is also important, and their views should be feed into strategic decision making at the local level, as arguably they have greater stakes in whole place economies. In conclusion, those Local Enterprise Partnerships who lead the way by embedding the social sector into their working practice will create the most sustainable economic and social benefits.

In accordance with current health care and social reforms designed to enhance service efficiency, the nonprofit and voluntary sector is playing a more prominent role in service delivery. Policy makers would benefit from greater information on ways to enhance coordination between the public health care and social sector and nonprofit organizations. This study has for aim to identify variables associated with the referral process from nonprofit organizations to the public health care and social sector. Data are based on a sample of 168 nonprofit mental health organizations in Quebec, Canada. Five variables were found to influence referrals to the public health care and social sector: (a) proportion of consumers with common mental disorders; (b) number of referrals to other nonprofit organizations; (c) referral rates to intersectorial organizations; (d) formal agreements with hospitals; and (e) participation in a mental health care regional roundtable. Implementing diversified strategies to streamline the referral process and enhance interorganizational collaboration is recommended.

Anupam Hazra, India’s Social Sector & Millennium Development Goals, Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 2013.

Entrepreneurship has been the engine propelling much of the growth of the business sector as well as a driving force behind the rapid expansion of the social sector. This article offers a comparative analysis of commercial and social entrepreneurship using a prevailing analytical model from commercial entrepreneurship. The analysis highlights key similarities and differences between these two forms of entrepreneurship and presents a framework on how to approach the social entrepreneurial process more systematically and effectively. We explore the implications of this analysis of social entrepreneurship for both practitioners and researchers.

Beneficiary assessment is a tool that can provide project personnel with information about community-based factors that may foster or limit social sector project success. The method is described as involving participant observation and intensive qualitative interviewing in the project communities by nationals trained to develop information attuned to the needs of local project management. This review presents the evidence accumulated from use of beneficiary assessment in World Bank projects since its introduction in 1982, examining how it has been utiltzed and to what effect, together with observations on how it may, in the future, be operationalized more extensively. These experiences illustrate a number of insights to be gained from use of this method: adequate communication between project staff and beneficiaries is often lacking; ignorance of the various social strata within the community can lead to inequitable/in efficient implementation; the role of community participation in project success is not always sufficiently understood; and there is a demonstrated need for project management to understand the living conditions, economic realities, and felt needs of beneficiaries.