One of the major objectives of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, which imparts training to Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, is not only to sensitize them towards the plight of rural people, but also to equip them with an in-depth understanding or rural issues. The IAS officer trainees are required to prepare a village study report as a part of their district assignments after conducting extensive questionnaire based house-hold survey. The South India volume of the series on Socio-Economic Profile of Rural India contains papers of the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, prepared by eminent bureaucrats and academicians. The basic ingredients of these papers are borrowed from the village study reports of the IAS officer trainees. Undoubtedly, the state papers are of high quality because they are enriched by inputs from the long-experiences of the authors in the field of rural development. The other four volumes of this series are also in the pipeline. They cover North-East India (Assam, Manipur, Tripura and Nagaland), Western India (Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan), North and Central India (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh) and Eastern India (Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR V.K. Agnihotri
V.K. Agnihotri, an IAS officer of 1968 batch, belongs to the Andhra Pradesh Cadre of the Service. Born on 25 August 1945, he obtained his Masters degrees in English Literature and Political Science from the University of Allahabad, Allahabad. He obtained his Ph.D. in Public Policy Analysis and Design from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Before joining the IAS, he was on the Faculty of English Studies at University of Allahabad. He was recipient of several awards and honours during his distinguished academic career, and has been a Visiting Fellow at the Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford, in 1991-92. Among several responsible positions with the State and Central Governments, Dr. Agnihotri has held posts of Collector of Visakhapatnam District, Director of Handlooms and Textiles, Government of Andhra Pradesh and Development Commissioner for Handlooms (Ministry of Textiles), Government of India. He was with the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie from 1992 to 1998, initially as the Joint Director, and later as Professor of Public Administration. Currently, he is Additional Secretary in the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions), Government of India. His areas of specialisation and public service quality, public policy, administrative reforms, e-governance, rural and cottage industries, panchayati raj and primary education. He has several publications to his credit, including books entitled Environment and Development, Skills for Effective Administrators, Public Policy Analysis and Design and Dimensions of the New Economic Policy.
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