Dynamics of Economic Life in Rural India

Over the years, after independence, a plethors of literature on rural India has come up. Dr. L.N. Dahiyas book easily gets apart from other works on the socio-economic life of a village. The book is not erely an outcome of his first hand observation of a village named Ladhot situated in Rohtak district in Haryana, at the same time it presents the dynamics of a Haryana village in general by broadening the thematic sweep and by closely enalysiing to show what can be done to introduce reforms in a village of the kind of Ladhot. Dr. Dahiya has enalysed the village life and its economy from all possible angles; he has done so by taking into account a host of factors including land and agriculture, population, distribution of essets, occupational structure, unemployment, education, food and nutrition, village institutions, caste relations, social traditions and taboos, village institutions, politics and several others. Dr. Dahiya has sketched the village in reference to its economy, social life, aspirations, frustration and handicaps of the people in simple terms. The book is an eye-opener not only for villagers, it is sufficiently oriented to promote realistic thinking on the part of those who plan for the villages. In sum, Dr. Dahiya has competently handled his material and has provided significant insights into the total life of the typical village in Haryana. His explorations, findings and suggestions relevant to the basic dimensions of life in Ladhot are expected to be singularly rewarding in the Indian context of socio-economic activities.