Policy analysis demonstrates how time banking reduces administrative friction in Indian public services, indicating non-monetary currency can advance equitable community co-production.
Key Points
To evaluate time banking as a non-monetary process reform for enhancing ease of living and fostering community-led co-production of public services in India.
Evaluated time-banking mechanisms using Sanjeev Sanyal’s six-type process-reform framework alongside administrative data from Indian flagship schemes.
Designed a hybrid digital–analogue operational model coupled with an intersectionality mapping tool to account for social power dynamics along caste and gender lines.
Showed that implementing time banks reduces administrative friction and broadens public service delivery without incurring additional fiscal outlays.
Demonstrated that structured reciprocity networks can counter historical caste and gender hierarchies by equalizing the exchange value of all participants' labor.