An appraisal of India’s social sector assumes significance fifty years after the country achieved independence, forty years after it initiated planned development and seven years after it embarked on a course of economic liberalisation. Eschewing the extreme positions of both the left and the right, the contributors to this volume provide sober assessments of the quality of life experienced by large numbers of Indians, particularly the poor and the deprived among them. The original essays by scholars and professionals cover a wide and heterogeneous canvas. Among the issues discussed are the population problem; the impact of officially sponsored employment generation and social security schemes; the provision of and access to health care; caste-based discrimination and the policy of job reservation; education and literacy; the production and distribution of food; and governance and the law. Overall, the book draws attention to various measures involving public awareness and activism in order to make the state more accountable and to make existing welfare measures more effective. While each chapter is the product of either new research or is an original synthesis of existing material, this collection is not intended to offer new revelations so much as to serve as an uncomfortable reminder, to counter the increasing sense of complacency, and to challenge readers to engagement on issues of how India is doing and where it is headed. It will attract a wide readership among those involved in development issues, social welfare and policy, economics, politics and sociology; NGOs and all concerned citizens will also find this book of considerable interest.
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