Tryst with destiny: critical essays on government development policies and anti - poverty programmes

This book is a collection of essays written by economists, and other intellectuals involved in the study of rural development, government officials and activist groups on the government's anti-poverty policies and programmes pursued and implemented from 1947 to date. These essays reflect an honest search for effective policies and programmes which could have a significant impact on the poverty of the poorest sections of the rural masses. The evaluation and criticism of past programmes and policies and the search for future policies and programmes have led most of the writers to conclude that as the majority of the rural poor are agricultural labourers, the most effective attack on their poverty by the government would be to create mass rural employment through government programmes. Quite a few of the essays also recommend that such employment for the rural poor should be guaranteed as fundamental right through legislation. It is the intention of the writers to not only initiate public debate on the subject but to also influence government's future development policies.
These essays were compiled by Young India Project, which has also contributed two essays to the collection. Young India Project is a registered non-profit society comprising of 19 activist groups working in solidarity in five different states. They are bound together by common end objectives. Their basic aim is to organise the rural poor and assist and guide them in creating a more just society. Young India Project's field office is located in the town of Penukonda, Anantapur District. Andhra Pradesh.