Economic Reforms, Unemployment and Poverty : The Indian Experience

Contents: Preface. 1. Economic reforms; an introduction. 2. Economic liberalisation and globalisation: conceptual framework. 3. Economic reforms and the Indian economy. 4. Extent of unemployment and pattern of employment opportunities. 5. Extent of poverty and alleviation measures. 6. Role of government in employment generation and poverty removal. 7. Economic reforms: an assessment. Appendices. Bibliography. Index.

"Poverty and unemployment are the two most formidable problems of the Indian economy. Employment generation has been an important objective of development planning in India. Though employment opportunities have increased over the years, growth of population and labour force has aggravated the unemployment problem year after year. The achievement of employment-for-all-objective is nowhere in sight.

Due to lack of employment opportunities millions of people still live below the poverty line. More distressingly, there is no hope of the two formidable problems of poverty and unemployment being solved in the near future. The Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07) document acknowledged, in the Preface itself, that the unemployment problem would aggravate, much less mitigate, during the Plan Period and thereafter.

Indian economy took a new direction when the Government announced its New Industrial Policy in the Parliament in July 1991. Since then, the economic reforms process has encompassed all areas of the economy. The wide-ranging reforms, initiated and implemented since 1991, have induced greater efficiency and competitiveness in all spheres of economic activity. How these reforms have impacted on the growth pattern in terms of employment generation and reduction in poverty is a matter of intense debate among economists and social scientists. The present work is a small contribution to the existing and growing body of literature on various aspects of economic reforms in India." (jacket)