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A
debate on 'Impact of Economic Reforms on Rural Livelihoods
in India' has been launched on the Livelihood Options
website.
It is now over ten years since the first round of economic
reforms were set in motion in India. Although fiscal stabilization
had ended by 1994-95, the Structural Adjustment Programme
(SAP) continues and over the last year liberalization and
globalization of key commodities affecting the rural sector
has picked up speed. It is yet unclear to what degree second
generation reforms will be implemented by the present government.
How
much do we know about the qualitative and quantitative impacts
of these economic reform policies on the diverse livelihoods
of the rural poor, whether they be wage workers, cultivators,
entrepreneurs or seasonal migrants? What do eyewitness accounts
and case studies tell us that secondary data cannot? What
will be the long-term impact of these reforms on the economic
and social structure of rural areas?
This
discussion forum seeks to share information and critical analysis
on these questions. It aims to build a diverse picture of
what has happened and what economic reforms mean for the future
of rural livelihoods and agrarian economies.
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