The share of rural population in total population of India was 74.3 percent in 1991 which decreased to 72.2 percent in 2001. According to 2011 Census, rural population was 68.8 percent of total population. With prospect of industrialisation and the consequent migration of rural population to urban areas, the percentage share of rural population in total population is expected to decline to 60 percent by 2030. Nevertheless, in the present scenario the bulk of Indias population lives in rural areas. Alleviation of rural poverty has been one of the primary objectives of planned development in India. Ever since the launching of the First Five Year Plan on April 1, 1951, the policies and the programmes have been designed and redesigned with this aim. It has now been realised that a sustainable strategy of poverty alleviation has to be based on increasing the productive employment opportunities in the process of growth itself. Rural poverty is inextricably linked with low rural productivity and unemployment, including underemployment. Hence, it is imperative to improve productivity and increase employment in rural areas. This book explains the problems of rural masses in India and examines public policies and programmes to solve them.
Democracy is on trial in the climate crisis. It is charged with having failed to prevent dangerous climate change. To its critics, the very same features of democracy praised as its defining virtues—popular sovereignty, the accountability and responsiveness of elected officials, public debate and deliberation—are handicaps that impede effective climate action. However, this trial is not over and it would not be safe to deliver a verdict at this stage. The case for authoritarian regimes is flawed in both theory and practice and while it is late for preventing the worst impacts of climate change, there is still a window to provide a climate-safe future. Here, it is overwhelmingly democratic nations that are taking the lead. With this in mind, this Report focuses on democracy and the climate crisis in the Asia and the Pacific region. A regional approach based on case studies has been chosen to contextualize the challenges to democracy arising from this crisis. The Asia and the Pacific region is significant for several reasons—it is the most populous in the world; it is a region that will be disproportionately affected by climate change and where many countries are considered highly vulnerable; and, as this Report makes clear, it is also a place where there have been vibrant innovations to democratic institutions and practices for dealing with the climate crisis.
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