DEVELOPMENT AND DISPARITIES: Experiences from Southern India

The Independent India of 1947 was steeped in poverty, ignorance and squalor. An overwhelming proportion of the population was in semi-starving condition, and literacy reached to less than a fifth of the population. The task before the government was gigantic. People's expectations were also high. The Constitution of India has promised almost everything cherishable in this world. But, what happened to the laudable objectives ultimately? How much could be achieved in the last half-a-century's development efforts? Did the masses benefit adequately from it? Was there an all-out effort at resource mobilisation and its proper deployment? Did the backward regions and weaker sections get their due share of attention? These are some of the questions to which this study addresses itself. Concentrating on the Southern Region of India, which is relatively the largest developed region, this comprehensive study focuses primarily on the disparities in development—inter-state, inter-district, rural-urban and among economic categories—and is based on a wealth of data collected from different states, including many secondary sources. It can prove to be a path-finder to those who want to bring development in India in the proper sense of the term.