ARI Working Paper Series

Between 1991-2011, the state of Andhra Pradesh, once the state with the biggest child workforce in India made rapid strides in decreasing child labor. The decrease in child labor can largely be explained by an active collaboration between a grass roots movement started by M.V. Foundation, a local NGO, and the bureaucracy of Andhra Pradesh. Based on fieldwork in Andhra Pradesh, this paper explores how a movement that started in a small locality was gradually expanded and scaled upwards – ultimately resulting in significant changes within the policy domain. Through the lens of child labor policy, this paper tests theoretical propositions on state-NGO relationship in India and argues in favour of a central role for innovate strategies of community participation. Further, it explores the state-NGO relationship in the context of the history of social movements in Andhra Pradesh that created a culture of active community participation and has culminated in the foundation of a dynamic NGO sector in the state.