Structural adjustment

This book takes its place in the current debate on the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) in India, as a comprehensive collection of papers that focus on the implications of SAP for industry, environment, agriculture and social security. Economists and policy makers review the elements and consequences of the current integration with the world economy, the scope for major changes in development policies and strategies and the roles of the state and markets during liberalisation.

The authors examine the expectations that SAP will release the forces of growth, the options before the Indian economy, and, the consequences of SAP in a large, agrarian economy like India. Some of the contributors focus on the likely long-term environmental consequences of the programme being introduced. What is the likely impact on food availability. educational opportunities, entitlements for the poor and the consequences for poor households? Given that there is a certain uniformity to the SAP can it be used in different countries and at different times equally effectively? Are there lessons to be learnt from elsewhere? These are only some of the issues posed by the various contributors in their efforts to elucidate the processes of globalisation.

On social concerns many of the papers argue that substantial support systems may be required as subsidies are reduced, forcing the poor to spend more on basic consumption. A cut in the budgetary base for social programmes may also aggravate the attendant problems of caste, class, the lack of land reforms and the presence of persistent poverty and unemployment.

The editors have put together a volume where the papers search for enduring solutions to the problems of achiev ing economic growth consonant with the ideals of social justice.