Charkha and Chip: Rural Industrialisation and Technology

In stock

Free & Quick Delivery Worldwide

Modern industrialization – a prime defining feature of the present era – is generally taken as synonymous with the preponderance of large scale, mass production enterprises in an economy leading to enormous increase in labour productivity, urbanization and a large and growing middle-income group specialized in the generation and utilization of high technology. Contrary to this kind of stipulation, one finds tenacious survival of small enterprises, household enterprises, own-account, informal enterprises, both in traditional and new lines of production, in practically all countries irrespective of the stage of industrialization. There seems to be inadequate realization that instead of imitating the industrial growth path and pattern of the West, a lot has to be done to mitigate the persistent adverse socio-economic effects of the early industrialisation of a few select countries in order to enable the countries like India to really prosper. The above propositions are all the more germane to the conditions prevalent in rural India and for their transition from the predominance of subsistence agriculture to a vibrant, people-friendly, diversified and prosperous economy, making creative use of the scientific and technological advances. While keeping these kind of considerations upper most in our thinking, a number of papers which seem likely to make a modest advance in generating, spreading, strengthening and concretizing widespread understanding over such issues, like the evolving relationships between rural industries and changing a developing technologies, the role of small entrepreneurs, dispersal of industries firm linkage between industrial growth and expression opportunities of the kind which contribute to equity and environmental sustainability and higher quality of life according to freely and competently exercised choices by the people at large in a cultural milieu have been put together in this volume. It is hoped that these sensitive and significant issues would receive ever more attention in days ahead as the struggles over the development path are getting a new lease of life as a result of widespread failures and disenchantment over the philosophy and outcomes of liberalization-globalisation-privatisation as the as the key elements of development policy in dozens of third world countries.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kamal Nayan Kabra

Kamal Nayan Kabra is Professor of Economics at the IIPA, New Delhi. Prior to that, he taught economics at Delhi University for a decade. Prof. Kabra is involved in training senior and middle level civil servants, and public sector managers at the Institute. He has also undertaken research and consultancy assignments for various central ministries, state governments, public enterprises, UN agencies and the ICSSR. He has held many positions during his career which include Director, Food Corporation of India; Chairman of the Committee to Review Forward Markets, Government of India; and Chairman of the Expert Committee on the Economics of Tobacco, Government of India. A prolific writer, he has published a large number of journals, articles and books, notable among the latter being The Black Economy in India: Problems and Policies; Nationalisation in India: 1947-80 (2 Volumes)’ The Political Economy of Brain Drain; Political Economy of Public Distribution of Food in India; Planning Process in a District and Development Planning in India.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Laxmi Dass

Laxmi Dass is a social activist and a rural development Practitioner. Influenced by Gandhian ideology at the age of 15, he got involved in the process of rural reconstruction on Gandhian lines. As a Chairman Akhil Bhartiya Gramudyog Mahasangh, he is devoting all his time for the promotion of Village Industries and the technologies required for this sector. Shri Laxmi Dass also worked as Chairman Khadi and village Industries Commission and during his tenure introduced several innovative ideas for promoting the Village Industry Sector. Mr. Dass has held so many responsibilities in the field of rural development including General Secretary Akhil Bhartiya Khet Mazdoor Kisan Parishad, Member Secretary Himachal Pradesh Bhoodan Yagna Board, and also Chairman Himachal Khadi and Village Industries Federation. The Government of India has appointed him Chairman Core Group on Textiles, under the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. He is also associated with TIFAC (Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council) for the development, downsizing and upgradation of technology to improve the quality of Village Industries and remove drudgery. He has co-edited “Sustaining Rural Industries”.

reviews

0 in total

There are no reviews yet.

Bibliographic information

Title
Charkha and Chip: Rural Industrialisation and Technology
Author
Edition
1st ed.
Publisher
ISBN
8121208831
Length
310p., Tables; Figures; Appendices; Index; 23cm.
Subjects