The Fourfold Gridlock: Reimagining Tribal Employment Governance through Capability, Parity, and Multilevel Reform in Kerala

This paper presents a critical inquiry into the governance architecture of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in Kerala’s tribal regions, foregrounding the intersecting barriers that constrain its transformative potential. Drawing on multilevel governance theory, Sen’s Capability Approach, and Fraser’s participatory parity, the study conceptualises tribal employment governance as a dynamic yet fragmented field shaped by institutional complexity, cultural dissonance, and historical marginalisation. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, the research integrates longitudinal quantitative data (2014–2025) from Wayanad, Idukki, and Palakkad with ethnographic fieldwork capturing tribal voices, worksite practices, and administrative responsiveness. The findings reveal that while Kerala’s decentralised governance model—particularly the Tribal Plus initiative—has improved gender inclusion, participatory planning, and grievance redressal, four persistent domains of gridlock continue to undermine structural empowerment: (1) Awareness & Information Gaps, (2) Capacity & Implementation Deficits, (3) Social & Economic Barriers, and (4) Governance & Accountability Failures. The study introduces a governance gaps map that clusters these domains, offering a diagnostic framework for policy reform. It argues that decentralisation alone is insufficient; meaningful tribal empowerment under MGNREGS requires deepened multilevel coordination, culturally embedded work design, and legally enforceable accountability mechanisms. By reimagining employment governance through the lens of justice, capability, and ecological context, this paper contributes a replicable blueprint for indigenous policy innovation. It advances the discourse on tribal welfare by bridging empirical evidence with normative governance theory, offering insights for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers alike.