Rajesh Veeraraghavan - Patching Development

Lekh

In the 25th episode, I speak to Rajesh Veeraraghavan, Assistant Professor in the Science, Technology and International Affairs program at Georgetown University on his new book Patching Development: Information Politics and Social Change in India (OUP, 2022). The book shows how Indian bureaucrats used ‘patches’ to resolve pesky last miles problems in the implementation of India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee program (NREGA) in Andhra Pradesh. Borrowing the 'patching' concept, Veeraraghavan demonstrates how digital technologies allowed senior bureaucrats overcome conflicts that center around politics, caste, class and gender, which invariably stymie and thwart development programs. The conversation begins by by mapping Veeraraghavan’s non-linear career trajectory leading to the book. Next, I ask Veeraraghavan to lay out these thorny last mile problems and how they affect policy implementation before moving to address how ‘patching’ helps address these problems. Veeraraghavan then describes how he sees technologies or 'patches' as fundamentally politics, connected to how power is exercised by officials to control and manage programs. The latter half of the conversation delves into social audits and how they serve as another institutional 'patch' in this process, trials of fieldwork in Andhra Pradesh, and what’s next from Veeraraghavan.