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Nature, Extent, Causes And Issues In Agricultural Distress, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

This paper explains the nature and extent of distress in Indian agriculture by analytically separating the issues therein into two interrelated domains—the agricultural and the agrarian—the former being about production and the latter about distribution; the former about the farm and the latter about the farmer; the former about the inadequacies and inappropriateness of the agricultural developmental programmes, and the latter about the livelihood of the people involved in or dependent upon agrarian activities. In this broader thinking farmers’ suicides and indebtedness become symptoms of a larger malaise. Drawing on our understanding of farmers’ suicides, we show some interrelated demand-side …

Informal Workers And Their Rights, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

The four fundamental principles and rights at work are intrinsic and with a pragmatic relevance that also find resonance in the Constitution of India through its Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles. Our interpretation through a Rawlsian prism also adds to our understanding of these four fundamental principles. An evaluation of the Indian context points out that more than 90 per cent of the workforce is informal workers and that the proportion of informal workers is also increasing in the organised sector. Further, our analysis indicates shortcomings in the four fundamental principles. Their freedom to organise is limited as most work …

Poverty In India And Its Decompositions: A Critical Appraisal Of The New Method, Durgesh C. Pathak, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

This paper has two objectives. First, it critically discusses the new method of measuring poverty. In doing so, it raises some concerns implicit in the report - (a) the need to go beyond calories to have an understanding of nutritional requirement, which could not be adequately addressed in the new method, (b) the need to incorporate expenditure on health, education and sanitation, as these are not being adequately provided by the state, which also raises serious apprehensions on whether India is a welfare state, and (c) the need to come up with multi-dimensional measures of poverty. Nevertheless, the paper contends …

Assignment On Commodities And Capabbilities, Ritika Palit

Srijit Mishra

No abstract provided.

Sen On Capabalities, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

A lecture discussing capability based on Sen's Commodities and Capabilities.

Nussbaum On Sen, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

This lecture is based on Nussbaum's paper Capabilities as Fundamental Entitlements: Sen and Social Justice, Feminist Economics, 9 (2-3), 2003, 33-59.

Sen On Rawls', Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

This is a lecture based on Sen's paper What do we want from a theory of justice? Journal of Philosophy, Vol CIII, No. 5. May 2006.

Some Questions: Understanding Rawls, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

There are a few questions which give three different possibilities (libertarian, utilitarian, egalitarian) as Sen puts it but they also represent Rawls' equality of liberty (first principle), choosing the capable (first part of second principle) and providing for the most disadvantaged (second part of second principle).

Rawls On Justice, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

These are based on Rawls' Justice as Fairness: A Restatement

Open Book Test 1, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

This is the first test. It is open book and discussions are allowed. Send your responses by evening.

Ends And Means Of Development, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

Lecture on Sen's Development as Freedom

Development As Freedom: Introduction And Perspective, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

This presentation discusses the introduction and perspective chapter from Amarty Sen's Development as Freedom. This is meant for the course on 'Contemporary Issues in Human Development and Policy'.

Two Decades Of Human Development, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

This is Lecture 1 of the course 'Contemporary Issues in Human Development and Policy' offered during January-May 2012 at IGIDR

Introductory: Knowing Each Other, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

This is an introductory lecture for the course 'Contemporary Issues in Human Development and Policy' being offered at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.

Course Outline, Contemporary Issues In Human Development And Policy, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

This is the course outline for 'Contemporary Issues in Human Development and Policy: A New Millennium Perspective' January-May 2012, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.

Hunger, Ethics And The Right To Food, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

he management of hunger has to look into the issues of availability, accessibility and adequacy of food supply. From an ethical perspective, this paper argues in favour of the right to food. But, for this to become viable, the state has to come up with an appropriate and effective bill on food and nutrition security, address the issue of inadequate provisioning of storage space by state agencies leading to rotting of food grains - a criminal waste when people are dying of hunger; and rely on local level institutions involving the community, that complement the administrative structure to identify the …

Access To Land: Some Issues, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

The paper, or rather note, is a brief review of some existing literature. It underscores the need for improved land access to the tiller from the point of view of both equity and efficiency. Some of the suggestions are: (i) opening up of the land lease market so that tenancy does not go underground (ii) in states like West Bengal where tenancy is protected, provision could be made to make them owners in part of the land while giving up claims for the rest, (iii) reduce transaction costs in land markets, which include fees but also bribes being paid, (iv) …

Group Differential Measures, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

This lecture about group differential is based on ongoing research that proposes measure to capture the fact that same gap at a higher level of attainment or lower level of failure should be considered as worse off.

Multidimensional Poverty, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

This lecture is based on the paper by Alkire and Foster, OPHI WP No.32 and the example is based on discussion generated within the classroom.

Measuring Literacy: Promimate And Secluded Illiterates, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

This paper discussed proximate and secluded illiteracy, a concept introduced by Basu and Foster. It critically evaluates it and also discusses triplot, a graphical method to pictographically shown three dimensions in a two dimension plot.

Hdi: The Old, The New And The Elegant, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

This lecture critically discusses the HDI measure, the old measure of linear averaging (arithmetic mean), the new measure of geometric mean and a proposed new measure which is the inverse of the shortfall of the Euclidean distance from the ideal.

Conflict Resolution Through Mutuality: Lessons From Bayesian Updating, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

If priors are deterministic (zero or unity) and conditional evidence is uncertain (lies between zero and one) then Bayesian updating will lead to posteriors that are the same as priors. This in a sense explains the persistence of fundamentalist belief. Under such a belief system, only if conditional evidence is deterministic and diametrically opposite to that of the prior then a process of change can set in. Conflict resolution is possible through dialogues that calls for mutual respect and allows reasonable pluralism – a Rawlsian prerequisite. If interaction is the basis then self-defeating scenarios can be avoided by giving space …

Persistence Of Crisis In Indian Agriculture: Need For Technological And Institutional Alternatives, Srijit Mishra, D. Narasimha Reddy

Srijit Mishra

The crisis in Indian agriculture has two dimensions - agricultural developmental and agrarian livelihood. Some aspects of the agricultural crisis are decelertion in production, productivity and value of output from early 1990s in almost all crops. Withdrawal of the state from public investment in irrigation and related infrastructure, providing access to formal credit, and waning link between research & extension and farming. As a result, the farmer faces multiple risks, vagaries of weather, price shocks, and spurious inputs among others, further compromising on his already lower returns. On agrarian crisis, what is worrying is that the deceleration in agriculture happened …

Editorial: Contemporary Issues In Global Economy And Policy Analysis, Sushanta Mallick, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

No abstract provided.

Progress In Human Development: Are We On The Right Path, Hippu Sk Nathan, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

The conventional measure of Human Development Index (HDI) is a linear average across dimensions, HDI1. Under this, poor attainments in any dimension gets perfectly compensated for better attainments in any other dimension HDI2, which is based on Euclidean distance measuring shortfall from the ideal, addresses the above anomaly. In our analysis of progress, we use HDI2 to develop the notion of an ideal path and penalty to capture deviation from this; and a measure of fluctuation. The measures are applied to 127 countries for the period 1990-2004. The results show that Sub-Saharan countries have suffered on account of sharp decline …

Editorial: Emerging Issues In Developmental And Sectoral Performance - The Indian Experience, Sushanta Mallick, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

The selected six papers focused on different aspects of development policy. The aim is to put together diverse development issues and their implications in different segments of an economy, which are critical issues for low- and middle-income countries in a globalised financial system that places high risk for greater capital mobility into these countries. This special issue focuses on different structural aspects that can give rise to varying degrees of country-specific risks. While the first two papers investigate challenges facing development or improvement in standard of living, the next two papers focus on labour market reform and trade liberalisation in …

Nutrient Based Subsidy (Nbs) & Support Systems For Ecological Fertilization In Indian Agriculture, Srijit Mishra, Gopikrishna Sr

Srijit Mishra

The intensive agriculture model was introduced in India in the 1960s as part of the Green Revolution. This brought in a package which included massive irrigation projects, new high yielding input responsive varieties and chemical fertilizers. Initially, it did increase production. But now, the food production is stagnating and one has been observing diminishing returns and falling dividends, especially in the agriculture intensiveareas of the country.

The chemical and synthetic fertilizers, particularly Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (NPK), are highly subsidized. The amount of subsidy on this has grown exponentially during the last three decades from a mere Rs. 60 crore …

Risks, Farmers’ Suicides And Agrarian Crisis In India: Is There A Way Out?, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

Poor returns to cultivation and absence of non-farm opportunities are indicative of the larger socio-economic malaise in rural India. This is accentuated by the multiple risks that the farmer faces – yield, price, input, technology and credit among others. The increasing incidence of farmers’ suicides is symptomatic of a larger crisis, which is much more widespread. Risk mitigation strategies should go beyond credit. Long term strategies requires more stable income from agriculture, and more importantly, from non-farm sources. Private credit and input markets need to be regulated. A challenge for the technological and financial gurus is to provide innovative products …

Agrarian Scenario In Post-Reform India: A Story Of Distress, Despair And Death, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

Indian agriculture today is under a large crisis. An average farmer household’s returns from cultivation would be around one thousand rupees per month. The incomes are inadequate and the farmer is not in a position to address the multitude of risks: weather, credit, market and technology among others. Social responsibility of education, healthcare and marriage instead of being normal activities add to the burden. All these would even put the semi-medium farmer under a state of transient poverty. The state of the vast majority of small and marginal farmers and agricultural labourers is worse off. An extreme form of response …

Suicide Mortality Rates Across States Of India, 1975-2001: A Statistical Note, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

Age-adjusted (5+ years) suicide mortality rate (per 100000 persons) has been calculated by sex across states of India for 1975-2001. Farmers and non-farmers suicide mortality rate are also given for 1995-2001.