Social Capital in India: A Cause of Concern?

Abstract

Hitherto there was limited analysis of social capital in India. Today with more and more emphasis being laid on socio-economic and human development and the need to ensure social cohesion and inclusion through growth and development, social capital formation has come to the forefront. Therefore, we need to look at innovative ways of ‘measuring’ social capital to reap rich dividends from it and for the country to prosper. Relevance of the topic emerges from the fact that India ranks very low in Prosperity Index, i.e. 101 among 142 countries, with its social capital rank being 138 in the year 2012. This paper is an attempt to relook at the concept of social capital, and to discuss various tools of measuring social capital formation and its contribution. Significantly it examines the role and challenges to social capital formation in India. It evaluates the factors such as inclinations, institutional networks, information flows etc that promote/deter social capital formation in India. One of our findings is that notwithstanding technological upsurge in capital formation in general, the importance of social capital as an explanatory factor in the regeneration of ‘disadvantaged’ groups remains undiminished in a country like India with distinct and diverse territorial communities. Appropriate initiatives, incentives, infrastructures and institutions – even if by reforms – are required to deal with imbalances in socio-economic structures and opportunities. In this regard, we make some suggestions towards better social capital assessment and access.