Indian Development: Selected Regional PerspectivesJean Drèze, Amartya Sen India is a country of great diversity. The commonly used indicators of `quality of life' (such as life expectancy, infant mortality, and literacy) vary tremendously between the different states, rivalling international contrasts between very low performing countries and very high achieving ones. This volume of essays reflects an attempt to draw lessons from the disparate experiences within India, rather than from contrasts with the experiences of other countries. It supplements Drèze and Sen's India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity, which studies what we can learn from international comparisons of policies, actions, and achievements. The essays challenge exclusively economic judgements of the development process. The first task is to identify the ends of economic and social development in order to have a basis in which to found the means and strategies. The second task is to understand a wider range of means than those related simply to the use or non-use of markets.The first two overview essays study the issues at the national level, focusing on policy debates and district-by-district demographic indicators, respectively. They are followed by detailed case studies of three very different states: Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and West Bengal. |
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achievements agrarian reforms agricultural labourers all-India Amartya Sen Andhra Pradesh basic education bias in child Bihar Census of India cent Centre child mortality child survival Cochin Communist consumption decline Delhi demographic Development district Drèze E.M.S. Namboodiripad Economic and Political effect estimates expenditure female disadvantage female labour-force participation female literacy female-male ratio fertility gender bias Government of India growth head-count ratio higher households important income inequality infant mortality instance Institute Izhava Karnataka Kerala Kerala and India Krishnan land reform landless landlords Left Front levels literacy rates Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Malabar male literacy ment mortality rate movement Namboodiripad National Sample Survey Nayar organizations Palanpur peasant per-capita Political Weekly population programmes proportion region relations role rural areas scheduled castes Scheduled Tribes social South India statistically studies Table Tamil Nadu teachers tenants Tharakan Thiruvananthapuram tion Travancore University Press urban Uttar Pradesh variables wage West Bengal women workers