Agrarian Distress in Rural India: An Assessment of 25 Years of Economic Reform

Abstract

This presentation would discuss India’s agricultural policy and the performance of its agricultural economy, with specific emphasis on the period of economic ‘reforms’ after 1991. Continuity and change mark this period. On the one hand, many features of the long-run path of agrarian change continue into the contemporary agrarian regime. On the other hand, Washington Consensus-inspired policies after 1991 have introduced new dimensions to the contradictions of the earlier agrarian regime and have had acute adverse impacts on the conditions of life and work in rural India.

About the speaker

R. Ramakumar is the NABARD Chair Professor and Dean of the School of Development Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. His research has focused on agrarian change in rural India, agricultural credit policies, economic reforms and changes in rural livelihoods, communalism and social movements as well as the national identity project in India. He was also recently appointed as a member of the State Planning Board in the southern Indian State of Kerala. He is currently visiting reseach fellow at the URPP Asia and Europe, University of Zurich.