Impact of Liberalisation on Agriculture and the Rural Economy: the Indian Experience

ARC invites you to a guest lecture by Professor Madhura Swaminathan, Sociological Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.

Impact of Liberalisation on Agriculture and the Rural Economy: the Indian Experience

This lecture examines the effects of liberalisation policies, introduced since 1991, on the agricultural economy of India. The analysis is based on national level macro data as well as on insights gained through a series of village studies conducted in different parts of the country. The presentation deals with the following themes: land reform, public investment in agriculture and rural infrastructure, rural banking, squeeze on crop incomes, employment and the system of public distribution of food. In each of these areas there have been major policy changes during the last 18 years, associated with financial and trade liberalisation. The impacts of these changes on rural households, particularly small cultivators and agricultural labourers, are examined.

Madhura Swaminathan is Professor at the Sociological Research Unit of the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. She has worked extensively on issues of poverty, inequality and the standard of living with special reference to rural India. In recent years, the focus of her research has been on food security. She has been engaged with colleagues in conducting a series of village studies. She has held visiting positions at the London School of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas (Mexico City), and taught at the University of Oxford, the University of Helsinki, and the Helsinki School of Economics

Arranged by the Asia Research Centre, CBS