As I read Raghuram Rajan’s “The Third Pillar-How Markets & the State Leave the Community Behind” can’t help but reflect on how some communities (read villages / towns) work to uplift the village &how some don’t.

Why some communities are functional & why others are dysfunctional?

Why do village communities pressure their MLAs for a community hall (ಸಮುದಾಯ ಭವನ) even when the school building is crumbling or the Anganwadi lacks a building?

Why is tax collection by GPs nearly 100% in Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada & why is it less than 25% in Bidar?

Why do certain GPs successfully organize garbage collection & safe disposal while others litter garbage all over the village? This happens when the Govt funding for waste managment is uniformly available for all GPS.

These are interesting ?s for development theory & practice.

People demand samudaya bhavana & not school building because it is the community’s responsibility to get a space for its activities, while schooling is seen as the govt’s job

So long as the community does not think it is it’s job to care for it’s young, this apathy will continue

Samudaya Bhavans are built on caste/communal lines:
Ambedkar bhavan
Kanaka Bhavan
Basava Bhavan
Vishwakarma bhavan
Shaadi Mahal
etc.

Each one of these is a small building.

It is possible to pool resources & build one large common community hall. But things don’t work that way

When I visit a village school I ask for the # of students in the Govt school & the # going to a pvt English school.

Community has the power of collective action to support the Govt school. There are good examples. But the local elite largely chooses to support a English school.