Questioning whether certain sections of Indian society suffer from multiple deprivations, the Indian Human Development Report 2011 evaluates whether the social indicators of the excluded groups are converging or diverging with the rest of the population. The Report addresses three critical issues: (i) Do different social groups like the SCs, STs, and Muslims get excluded from the development process? (ii) Has India experienced inclusive growth in the true sense? (iii) How are flagship programmes/schemes of the government dealing with some of these concerns? Rich in data and analyses, this Report examines: human development index and profile for India and its states; economic attainment of the population, especially in terms of the two major sources of income-employment and assets; availability, access, and absorption of food and state of hunger and malnutrition; health indicators vis-a-vis inputs, processes, and outcomes; achievements and challenges in education; state of support infrastructure such as roads, electricity, housing, and telephony; and challenges facing vulnerable sections of India's population-child labourers, the elderly, and the disabled.
The 2011 WDR on Conflict, Security and Development underlines the devastating impact of persistent conflict on a country or region's development prospects - noting that the 1.5 billion people living in conflict-affected areas are twice as likely to be in poverty. Its goal is to contribute concrete, practical suggestions on conflict and fragility.
A flagship annual document of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Economic Survey 2011-12 reviews the developments in the Indian economy over the past 12 months, summarizes the performance on major development programmes, and highlights the policy initiatives of the government and the prospects of the economy in the short to medium term.
Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2011 in the subject Economics - Other, Aligarh Muslim University, course: Economics, language: English, abstract: Human development, which is about expanding people's choices, builds on shared natural resources. Promoting human development requires addressing sustainability- locally, nationally and globally- and this can and should be done in ways that are equitable and empowering. On the need for financing the human development, we observe that even the best macroeconomic policies may fail unless they are complemented by effective policies -policies that link the macro and the micro level and that bear directly on people live. Chief among these are the level and structure of government social expenditures and the design of the policy measures and programmes they support. The present paper tries to make a study on the financing of human development in India. The entire paper is divided into four parts. The first part is introductory which gives a brief account of the basic concept of human development and the various measures through which financing of human development could be observed. The second part of the paper talks about the trends in HDI in India vis-à-vis some of developed and developing countries. The third segment discusses about the trends in India's social sector expenditure as it affects the major dimensions of inclusive development like poverty alleviation, employment generation, health, education, and social welfare. The last section of the paper is given to concluding observations.
This report highlights that gender inequalities and women's subordination in India are caused by two formidable macro-structures: patriarchy and the exclusion of unpaid work from the macro-economy. The papers have explored pathways to break these structures gradually to achieve gender equality and empower women.
This book examines essential issues and perspectives on rural labour, helping readers understand the changes that are currently taking place in the labour markets, especially with regard to migrants from rural to urban areas, their socio-economic conditions, factors contributing to such mobility and associated problems. Further, it addresses the question of why the socio-economic conditions of rural labour have not experienced measurable improvements. Presenting a collection of painstakingly researched essays that focus on both India and China, the book addresses these challenges with an explicit focus on safeguarding the interests of rural labour under the neoliberal dispensation. The research is based on primary survey data and analytical issues from selected Asian economies, especially from India. On the basis of the findings discussed, it subsequently suggests ways forward so as to improve the wellbeing of migrant households and put an end to distress migration. Lastly, the book convincingly argues that improving labour market outcomes, and more specifically, generating employment and providing alternative livelihood avenues, represents the most pressing challenge in rural areas.
The early years of 1990s economic reform and change has neglected social sectors both in India and Central Asia. As a result, poverty has also increased in India and Central Asian countries. The economic, political, and social situation has worsened in all Central Asian states due to transition from command economy to market economy. The early 1990s political decision has been dominated by a narrowly conceived version of economic policy for both India and Central Asia. As a result, the quality and the structure of social protection changed in a negative way. Indeed, in some cases, the pursuit of a strict economic orthodoxy has left various sections of the community marginalized and alienated. Both the societies confront a number of challenges that is as profound as the economic changes of the past. The process of globalization and technical change has influenced economy and society in complex ways, including raising expectations of consumption and remuneration for skilled knowledge workers, creating greater demand for some information skills and services, causing unemployment amongst those with few qualifications, and destabilizing some traditional ways of life and increasing social exclusion. It detaches groups and individuals from social relations and institutions and prevents them from full participation in the normal activities of the society. In India and Central Asia, communities face social exclusion on the basis of their identity as ethnic groups, socio-economic groups, religious community, and gender. Inclusive development, therefore, is essential, and it should be the top priority in development programs of India and Central Asia. Research in this area has not been touched upon so far. Since Central Asian countries are relatively new and trying to establish their democratic institutions, this piece of work will be helpful for their nation-building processes. So far as the mutual benefit for both the regions is concerned, India is an old democracy, and its inclusive policy can be lessons for Central Asian countries. On the other hand, the experience of Central Asias policy implementation can be a lesson for India. This piece of work has potential impulses to policy makers, academicians, and researchers of these five Central Asian countries and India. This work can make a distinction than the conventional researcher in India by focusing on development studies, social exclusion, inclusive policies, and comparative studies in international developments. Key words: social exclusion, poverty, deprivation, development, diversity, India, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
This book discusses policies to achieve inclusive growth in India and realise the demographic dividend, which will end by 2040 when India will become an aging society. India is the world's fastest growing large economy, but jobs are not growing equally rapidly. The size of India's youth workforce is worrying, and the largely informal workforce is not covered by social insurance. Universal elementary education, despite the Right to Education Act 2009, is yet to be achieved. Health outcomes have improved only slowly over the years. Furthermore, sanitation still remains a very serious problem. As an economist and former policy-maker, the author discusses specific policies to address these problems, well beyond what is currently being practised. The book also deals with the governance issues that need to be addressed before inclusive growth can be attained.
