India’s growth story in various sectors–industry, services, mining, and power–particularly since the dawn of the new millennium, though impressive, has not been inclusive. Whereas urban areas have developed fast, the rural areas still lack the basic infrastructure of connectivity, marketing and adequate means of employment generation. Poverty remains a major issue with our huge population living in rural areas, particularly in BIMARU states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. In addition to low income, problems of violent conflicts, food insecurity, illiteracy, ill health, unemployment, gender inequality, unhygienic living, etc. are various aspects of rural society. It is therefore imperative to analyse the prevailing conditions and draw strategies for rural development to make the country’s growth broad based. Agriculture is still the mainstay of rural economy. The sector provides livelihood to over sixty per cent of labour force. Besides, it contributes nearly twenty-two per cent to India’s Gross Domestic product, accounts for eighteen per cent of our exports and supplies the bulk of wage goods and raw materials for several industries. It is necessary to address agrarian distress through effective policies which are able to deal with the problems of low productivity, over dependence on nature, inadequate credit and marketing facilities. The book contains articles from erudite scholars and experts in the field of rural development, who have deeply analysed the pertinent issues and made valuable suggestions thereon. It will prove very useful to the researchers and students of economics, government executives concerned with the formulation and execution of policies for rural development, parliamentarians and legislators, and the common readers interested in rural development.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR K R Gupta
Dr. K.R. Gupta is a well-known expert in the field of International Affairs. He has published over two dozen books and more than hundred papers in leading journals published in India and abroad. His latest publications include India-Pakistan Relations with special Reference to Kashmir, 3 Vols., Rural Development in India, 3 Vols., International Terrorism: World Viewpoints: Conventions, Resolutions, Legislations, Terrorist Organisations and Terrorists, 2 Vol., International Terrorism: Response of India, Pakistan and the United States, World Viewpoints on National Missile Defence, 2 Vols., Selected Documents on Nuclear Disarmament, 4 Vols., Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), Issues in Indian Economy, 4 Vols., Liberalisation and Globalisation of Indian Economy, 5 Vols., A Study of World Trade Organisation, GATT Accord and India: A Critical Analysis of Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations and Their Implications for India, GATT Accord: Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, GATT and Underdeveloped Countries: A Study of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and International Economics.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Prasenjit Maiti
Dr. Prasenjit Maiti (b 1971) is a political sociologist. He joined the development sector after teaching and researching at the Postgraduate and MPhil levels of the University of Burdwan during 1995-2002. He was on secondment at the Institute of Federalism, University of Fribourg, Switzerland (1999). He was the Director of North Africa, Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent on the inaugural Technical Committee of Fed-Net (2004) hosted by the Forum of Federations: An International Network on Federalism (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada). Dr Maiti was professionally associated with Action Aid, West Bengal Pollution Control Board, Consumer Unity and Trust Society, The Energy and Resources Institute, Council for Development Studies and Shelter Promotion Council in the recent past. He coordinated publication of the Urban Development Debates series (Volumes I-IV) brought out by Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi (2004-05). Dr. Maiti served as Reviewer (2001) for policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management (College of Education, Division of Criminal Justice, University of Cincinnati). He is also Referee for Environment and Development Economics (University of York, Heslington, York) published by the Cambridge University Press and Crime Prevention and Community Safety (Perpetuity Press, Leicester) as well as Reviewer for Globalization and Health published from London. His mainden publication on the problems of governance in the Indian context (2002) is based on his doctoral thesis developed from a German Research Council project under the auspices of the Department of Political Science at the South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg. Dr. Maiti was invited to the International Conference on Federalism 2002 organized by the Swiss Government at the University of St Gallen (2002).
There are no reviews yet.