Who governs reconstruction? Changes and continuity in policies, practices and outcomes - Rebuilding After Disasters: From Emergency to Sustainability - page 151

external financial resources, explain the differences in reconstruction out-
comes between the three states. In certain cases it became apparent that the
reconstruction practices of most international NGOs continue to be primarily
dictated by the pressure to spend money and to present quick results to their
constituencies, a state of affairs that leads them to ignore local favourable
conditions and challenges and to deviate dramatically from international
guiding principles.
This chapter is based on a review of policy documents and literature and
on field research in numerous villages in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat between
2004 and 2008. The three interlinked research projects were funded by the
Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation and the Swiss National Science
Foundation. They involved several junior and senior Indian researchers as
well as five Swiss graduate students who conducted, under my supervision,
several months of anthropological village studies in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu
for their master theses. 6,17,21,29,30,31
Reconstruction policies and practices in India
India is a federal state characterized by a clear division of roles and respon-
sibilities between the central government and state governments. In the wake
of a disaster, the central government has an overall policy-development
and supportive role and a key role in mobilizing financial resources. The
basic responsibility for rescue, relief and rehabilitation lies with the state
government, which enjoys relative autonomy in organizing relief opera-
tions, long-term disaster preparedness and rehabilitation measures. At the
district level, the district collector prepares district-level action plans, directs,
supervises and monitors relief measures and reconstruction and also assumes
a major role in regulating and coordinating NGOs. 13
In spite of India being characterized by strong governance, recent disasters
have shown that while government institutions are very effective in managing
rescue and relief operations, no state appears to be prepared for reconstruc-
tion through clearly defined pre-disaster policies. Accordingly, reconstruction
policies are generally only designed following specific disasters.
Whereas recent examples indicate that national civil-society organizations
have a tangible influence on state governments' reconstruction policies, there
is little evidence that these are being influenced by international principles
such as UNDRO's guidelines for shelter after disaster. 32 This does not neces-
sarily mean that the latter's reconstruction policies contradict or impede the
adoption of good practices, but simply that at least in India they appear to
have a rather marginal role in defining reconstruction at the local level. To a
large extent, reconstruction is determined by negotiations between the state
government and national civil-society organizations.