Policymaking and Expertise in Telangana State: Mediating Knowledge and Interests in Pursuit of Economic Development and Social Justice in Hyderabad

This chapter examines the role of expertise and knowledge in policymaking and delivery in the recently formed state of Telangana in South India. In the context of rescaled state space and political authority, the problem is framed as one of mediation between different types of knowledge and interests in pursuit of a political settlement. This question was explored through a comparative analysis of two distinct policy arenas, welfare housing and urban development, with a focus on the capital city Hyderabad. Both arenas relied to a degree on expertise external to government, but this was much more explicit in the case of urban development policies, where expert bodies remained nonetheless subordinate to political imperatives and authority. For welfare housing, policy design and implementation were left entirely with the government, but the evidence suggested a narrowing of the epistemic community shaping policy.