Also published in Spanish.

This Book Will Help Development Planners, Development Administrators And Local Leaders Of Non-Governmental Organisations Engaged In The Task Of Rural Development Academicians And Students Of Rural Poverty Studies And All Those Who Are Moved By The Bane Of Poverty In The Country.

At the start of each decade the World Development Report focuses on poverty reduction. The World Development Report, now in its twenty-third edition, proposes an empowerment-security-opportunity framework of action to reduce poverty in the first decades of the twenty-first century. It views poverty as a multidimensional phenonmenon arising out of complex interactions between assets, markets, and institutions. This Report shows how the experience of poverty reduction in the last fifteen years has been remarkably diverse and how this experience has provided useful lessons as well as warnings against simplistic universal policies and interventions. It shows how current global trends present extraordinary opportunities for poverty reduction but also cause extraordinary risks, including growing inequality, marginalization, and social explosions. The World Development Report 2000/2001 explores the challenge of managing these risks in order to make the most of the opportunities for poverty reduction.

In recent years there has been considerable debate in India on the efficacy of IRDP in mitigating rural poverty. The government agencies like Planning Commission, Reserve Bank of India, National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development have been conducting several evaluative research studies, all over India, since the inception of the programme from the Sixth Five Year Plan. Those studies have presented a rosy picture of the success of IRDP. The line of judgement adopted by these studies were mere calculation of the proportion of households which have crossed poverty line by comparing pre-IRDP and post-IRDP income figures. This methodology, however, fails to make an adjustment for inflation, changes in family size, internal payment of loan, access to common property resources, availability of potable water, health and educational facilities which significantly influence the living condition of the poor. The studies made by different research organizations, individuals, institutions differ on different points. But the common considerations underlying all these studies is the failure to a large extent of this massive anti-poverty programme. The present study is a clear deviation from the earlier studies on two points. Firstly, a new methodology of Typological approach is adopted to assess the impact. Secondly, there is an attempt to restructure the present IRDP by way of an inter-industry model of the Leontief type. The findings will prove an essential reading not only to the academics but also to the planners, policy makers and government agencies.