Regional Development and Public Policy Challenges in India (India Studies in Business and Economics)

This book emphasizes the need for experimenting with more deliberate and rigorous policy processes to attain balanced regional development, which can promote both equity and efficiency in India’s development discourse. The institutional mechanisms for dealing with regional imbalance in India have not been very successful so far. With rising discrepancies in development, demand for autonomy continues along with a new dimension of regionalism arising from submerged identity along with political and economic aspirations, which demanded new channels for solution. So far, attempts to create space for autonomy have possibly not optimally accommodated the conceptual mechanisms like equity and democratic process. Thus democratizing policy process using six pillars of voice: knowledge, objective, fundamental values, implementation framework and public awareness can ensure a better policy outcome for dealing with the persistent challenges of regional disparity in India. This book further focuses on the need for democratizing the policy process for regional development through discussion and inclusion. Such a transition needs innovation in policy regime, which can be attained through following six pillars (i) Democratic voice of stakeholders in policy development and implementation; (ii) Clear policy objectives that advance the common good, based on voice; (iii) Unbiased, sound and comprehensive knowledge and data bases. (iv) Consistency with constitutional values; (v) A sound implementation framework ensuring user-friendliness, transparency and rationality of decision-making processes, effective grievance redress, clear accountability and independent evaluation; (vi) Public awareness and support of policies with relevant and public participation in implementation. This book emphasizes the need for experimenting with more deliberate and rigorous policy processes to attain balanced regional development, which can promote both equity and efficiency in Indiaĺls development discourse. The institutional mechanisms for dealing with regional imbalance in India have not been very successful so far.With rising discrepancies in development, demand for autonomy continues along with a new dimension of regionalism arising from submerged identity along with political and economic aspirations, which demanded new channels for solution. So far, attempts to create space for autonomy have possibly not optimally accommodated the conceptual mechanisms like equity and democratic process. Thus democratizing policy process using six pillars of voice: knowledge, objective, fundamental values, implementation framework and public awareness can ensure a better policy outcome for dealing with the persistent challenges of regional disparity in India. This book further focuses on the need for democratizing the policy process for regional development through ℗ldiscussion and inclusion. Such a transition needs innovation in policy regime, which can be attained through following six pillars (i) Democratic voice of stakeholders in policy development and implementation; (ii) Clear policy objectives that advance the common good, based on voice; (iii) Unbiased, sound and comprehensive knowledge and data bases; (iv) Consistency with constitutional values; (v) A sound implementation framework ensuring user-friendliness,transparency and rationality of decision-making processes, effective grievance redress, clear accountability and independent evaluation; (vi) Public awareness and support of policies with relevant and public participation in implementation Front Matter....Pages i-xxv Introduction and Overview....Pages 1-17 India’s Growth Performance 2000–2012: Region-Based Perspective....Pages 19-72 Poor Versus Prosperous India....Pages 73-103 Poverty and Inequality in India: Regional Disparities....Pages 105-160 Miseries of the Red Corridor Region of India: What Do the Data Tell Us?....Pages 161-193 Intra- and Interstate Inequality in the Northeast Region with Special Reference to Assam....Pages 195-236 Growth, Development Outcome and Fiscal Balance: How Have Indian States Performed?....Pages 237-255 “Inclusive Growth” and Income Inequality in India Under Globalization: Causes, Consequences and Policy Responses....Pages 257-289 Examining the Regional Imbalance in China: Comparison with India....Pages 291-307 The Way Forward: Public Policy to Address Regional Imbalances in India, Process and Outcome....Pages 309-322 Back Matter....Pages 323-331