On the importance of small scale agro-based industries.

Dr.Malik has been actively associated with various academic bodies in the discipline of Public Administration. Dr. Malik has specialized in Rural Development and Personnel Administration.

Monograph exploring India's rural development potential in the field of rural industry and rural area industrialization - focuses on issues of industrialization policy, with particular reference to subsidies and other types of incentives, considers the appropriate choice of technology, the development of cottage industries and small scale industries, and includes a list of rural industrial projects. References and statistical tables.

Viewed mainly as the growth of manufacturing sector as opposed to agriculture and the increased use of inanimate sources of power in the production of goods and services, rural industrialization offers the greatest scope for absorbing the existing and growing labour force outside the field of agriculture. However, rural industrial scene continues to be characterised by the concentration of labour force in agriculture, predominance of traditional crafts, low levels of technology, hereditary mode of production, poor productivity and returns and low labour efficiency and utilisation. Besides glorification of traditional crafts and self-employment, caste-industry nexus, and above all policy bias in favour of agriculture as against industry and large and medium capital-intensive industries as against small village and cottage industries also worked as strong impediments to the development of rural crafts. Drawing from the nationwide experiences, this book examines the problems of the growth and modernisation of rural industries from socio-economic perspectives and probes into the organisational and technology system underlying their production structure with all its implications an ramifications. The reversal of the policy favouring large modern industry sector and the spread of tiny small industries throughout the country with full package of organisational, technical, financial and marketing support in adequate measure have been strongly advocated. In addition, the integration of the development of rural industries with the overall programme of industrialisation was emphasized.

China and India are the most extraordinary economic success stories of the developing world. Both nations’ economies have grown dramatically over the past few decades, elevating them from two of the world’s poorest countries into projected economic superpowers. As a result, the numbers of Chinese and Indians living in poverty have rapidly fallen and per capita incomes in China and India have quadrupled and doubled, respectively. This book investigates the reasons for these staggering accomplishments and the lessons that can be applied both to other developing nations and to the problem of poverty that remains in these two countries. The contributors pay particular attention to agriculture and the rural economy, examining how initial conditions and investments and the prioritization and sequencing of different policies and strategies have led to successes, and how the agricultural and rural sectors connect to overall economic expansion. They also emphasize the importance of anti-poverty programs and safety nets in helping poor people escape poverty. The book offers a set of policy and strategic options for future growth and poverty reduction. These include setting the right priorities for public spending, identifying trade and market reforms, building social safety nets for the poorest of the poor, and building accountable institutions that can provide public goods and services effectively. The book concludes by examining future challenges to China and India’s economic development, such as the need to ensure growth that is sustainable, equitable, and environmentally friendly. The Dragon and the Elephant offers valuable insights to development specialists anxious to multiply the benefits experienced by two of the greatest economic successes in recent times.

Twenty years ago India was still generally thought of as an archetypal developing country, home to the largest number of poor people of any country in the world, and beset by problems of low economic growth, casteism and violent religious conflict. Now India is being feted as an economic power-house which might well become the second largest economy in the world before the middle of this century. Its democratic traditions, moreover, remain broadly intact. How and why has this historic transformation come about? And what are its implications for the people of India, for Indian society and politics? These are the big questions addressed in this book by three scholars who have lived and researched in different parts of India during the period of this great transformation. Each of the 13 chapters seeks to answer a particular question: When and why did India take off? How did a weak state promote audacious reform? Is government in India becoming more responsive (and to whom)? Does India have a civil society? Does caste still matter? Why is India threatened by a Maoist insurgency? In addressing these and other pressing questions, the authors take full account of vibrant new scholarship that has emerged over the past decade or so, both from Indian writers and India specialists, and from social scientists who have studied India in a comparative context. India Today is a comprehensive and compelling text for students of South Asia, political economy, development and comparative politics as well as anyone interested in the future of the world's largest democracy.