Paper details

Paper authors	samrat sinha
In panel on	Alternative Humanitarian Principles & Non-Traditional Humanitarians
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

The occurrence of internal armed conflict has been an integral part of India’s historical development since the advent of Independence. There have been approximately 75,000 fatalities in insurgency related violence in the regions of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Central India (Maoist Conflict) and Northeastern India since 1990 (Institute for Conflict Management 2018). In addition, more than 1 million people have been internally displaced in various episodes of insurgency and ethnic violence (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre 2018). There is also increasing evidence of the adverse long-term impacts of violence on health and educational systems in affected districts. These impacts include breaking down of health systems, destruction of schools, reduction in school enrollment, extensive internal displacement, rising food insecurity and increasing maternal and infant mortality. Within the setting of a highly fragmented evidence-base, one of the most under-researched aspects of the response to internal armed conflict, has been the emergence of a diverse array of endogenous victim-assistance programmes (of which state-led programmes are the most extensive). Victim-assistance programmes are formulated at three levels: first, at the level of the central (or federal) government (and mainly driven by the Ministry of Home Affairs and related security agencies); second, by provincial governments; and third, micro-level initiatives led by civil society organizations (or community based organizations) with some cases of cross-cutting government-NGO partnerships. Whereas the existence of these approaches have been long established in official documents, there is a dearth of academic literature on the normative and empirical implications of these policies. This is primarily due to the absence of publicly available evaluations of these programmes. In addition, the lack of evidence is further enhanced, as many of these programmes are implemented in areas experiencing ongoing violence (and not subjected to international oversight or monitoring).
In the course of mapping the varieties of State-led programming, the paper further interrogates the idea of "State-driven humanitarianism" by constructing an in-depth case study on the evolution of a flagship government scheme being implemented across a various contexts within India. The programme titled “Revised Guidelines of Central Scheme for Assistance to Civilian Victims/Family of Victims of Terrorist/Communal/LWE Violence and Cross Border Firing and Mine/IED Blasts on Indian territory” is currently being implemented by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA),Government of India(GoI).Three major puzzles stand out. First, what were the initial preconditions that led to the creation of this specific programme between 2009 and 2010 despite the occurrence of several conflict situations since 1947? Second, what factors led to the programme being extended to cover victims of inter-state violence (especially along the highly militarized Line of Control or LoC with Pakistan)? Third, what determinants explain the high degree of variation in the implementation and coverage of this programme across the conflict-affected districts? The paper develops the case-study by utilizing a number of official documents, policy guidelines and secondary data, combined with in-depth fieldwork in key conflict-affected districts. Using process tracing methods, the paper further seeks to understand the degree to which the affected communities (and intended beneficiaries) are able to influence, modify and shape the policy preferences of the government agencies and negotiate the emergent contestations. The paper also points to the necessity of developing comparative case studies of endogenous State-led victim assistance models and provides key recommendations for further work in this policy domain.

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