Disadvantaged Regions and Social Groups: Is There a Way Out?

Addressing and reducing disparities among different regions and social groups is important for its own sake and for accelerating growth. Though hard data on the impact of reducing these disparities on growth are not available, a recent McKinsey report concluded that India could add $700 billion of additional gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025, upping the country's annual GDP growth by 1.4 percentage points.1 One can imagine the huge positive contribution to GDP, if all the other disparities are reduced. Development paradigm at the national and international level undergoes changes constantly due the dynamics of growth and associated impacts as well as the pulls and pressures of the democracy. Vested interests apart, masses have their own way of finding their way into policies through various democratic means. The noughties of the new millennium brought with it the increasing realisation of the inadequacies of the Washington Consensus and need for the state to intervene more. The food crisis that preceded the financial meltdown leading to food riots in several countries brought back the focus on agricultural development globally and a sense of urgency in policy making and enhanced fund allocation of international donor agencies.