IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/agspub/v14y2025i2p180-207.html

India After 75 Years of Independence: Reflections on Development and Persistent Challenges

Author

Listed:
  • Manish Kumar
  • Praveen Jha

Abstract

India’s economy has undergone significant transformation since independence. This article examines the Indian economy 75 years after independence and highlights key concerns in current times. It begins with a snapshot of the country’s economic growth and structure. A key finding is that the benefits of economic growth have not reached a large section of the population. The article goes deeper and analyzes the crisis in the world of work and the agriculture sector, which remains the backbone of the economy and the largest employer. This sector has suffered neglect in recent times, further exacerbating the crisis. To move forward, India must prioritize the prosperity of its workforce and address the crisis in rural areas. This is crucial to ensure inclusive economic growth and development.

Suggested Citation

  • Manish Kumar & Praveen Jha, 2025. "India After 75 Years of Independence: Reflections on Development and Persistent Challenges," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 14(2), pages 180-207, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:agspub:v:14:y:2025:i:2:p:180-207
    DOI: 10.1177/22779760251338106
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/22779760251338106
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/22779760251338106?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lucas Chancel & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman, 2021. "World Inequality Report 2022," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-03693233, HAL.
    2. Manish Kumar, 2019. "India’s Rice Export: What Is in It for Farmers?," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 8(1-2), pages 136-171, April.
    3. Praveen Jha & Preksha Mishra, 2023. "Changing World of Work and Rural Diversification," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 12(4), pages 399-430, December.
    4. Manish Kumar, 2022. "Power Asymmetry and Unequal Exchange in the Agricultural Value Systems: Case Study of Paddy," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 11(3), pages 308-332, December.
    5. Praveen Jha, 2019. "Prospects for Labour and Contemporary Capitalism: An Assessment With Reference to India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 62(3), pages 319-340, September.
    6. Jha, Praveen, 2016. "Labour in Contemporary India," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199467143.
    7. Avanindra Nath Thakur, 2023. "Public Procurement, Land Ownership and Agricultural Price Variation Across States: The Case of Paddy Cultivation in India," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 12(3), pages 319-351, September.
    8. Vikas Rawal, 2013. "Changes in the Distribution of Operational Landholdings in Rural India: A Study of National Sample Survey Data," Journal, Review of Agrarian Studies, vol. 3(2), pages 73-104, July, 201.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Praveen Jha & Preksha Mishra, 2022. "Persistent Vulnerabilities in the World of Work and Contemporary Capitalism: Some Reflections on India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(2), pages 347-372, June.
    2. Malerba, Daniele, 2022. "Just transitions: A review of how to decarbonise energy systems while addressing poverty and inequality reduction," IDOS Discussion Papers 6/2022, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    3. Jha, Praveen K. & Kumar, Dinesh, 2021. "India's participation in global value chains and some implications for economic and social upgrading: A case study of the automobile sector," IPE Working Papers 156/2021, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    4. Sibanarayan Mishra & Minaketan Behera & Alok Ranjan Behera, 2023. "Agricultural Improvement of Marginalized Tribal Farmers Through Watershed Development: A Case Study in Odisha," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 12(3), pages 273-294, September.
    5. Arrigoni, Simone, 2024. "Who gets the flow? Financial globalisation and wealth inequality," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    6. Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline, 2022. "Rendre acceptable la nécessaire taxation du carbone. Quelles pistes pour la France ?," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(1), pages 15-53.
    7. repec:avg:wpaper:en17986 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Cheol Hee Son & Yong Un Ban, 2022. "Flood vulnerability characteristics considering environmental justice and urban disaster prevention plan in Seoul, Korea," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 114(3), pages 3185-3204, December.
    9. Baksi, Sandipan & Mahato, Rakesh Kumar, 2022. "“Homestead Landlessness”: A Case of Rural Unfreedom in Two Villages in Bihar," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 12(01), June.
    10. Pattison-Williams, John K. & Haggar, Jeremy P. & Morton, John F., 2018. "Intergenerational perceptions of household wellbeing in India’s Western and Eastern Ghats," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 10, pages 51-57.
    11. Tom Celig & Tim Alvaro Ockenga & Detlef Schoder, 2025. "Distributional equality in Ethereum? On-chain analysis of Ether supply distribution and supply dynamics," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
    12. Anne-Sophie Robilliard & Emmanuel Fourmann, 2026. "Potential sources of income inequality in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries," Post-Print hal-05491314, HAL.
    13. Gurpreet Singh & Praveen Jha & Nivedita Sharma, 2025. "Precarious Transitions: Rural Non-farm Employment in Bihar, India," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 14(3), pages 335-365, September.
    14. Disslbacher, Franziska & Haselmayer, Martin & Rapp, Severin & Lehner, Lukas & Windisch, Franziska, 2025. "The Good Council: Deliberating Inequality in a Field Experiment," SocArXiv zcuw6_v1, Center for Open Science.
    15. Inmaculada Martinez-Zarzoso & Leon Pilgrim, 2023. "Revisiting the link between income inequality and emissions," Working Papers 2023.04, International Network for Economic Research - INFER.
    16. Bathla, S. & Kumar, A., 2018. "Income Inequalities among Agricultural Households in India: Assessment and Contributing Factors," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277329, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. Uzar, Umut, 2024. "The dynamic effect of income distribution, natural resources, and freedom of press on ecological footprint: Theory and empirical evidence for emerging economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    18. Bremer, Björn & Bürgisser, Reto, 2022. "Lower Taxes At All Costs? Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Four European Countries," SocArXiv e6ds9, Center for Open Science.
    19. Zechlin, Linus, 2025. "Economic complexity and financial development: A multilayered analysis of the European Union," IPE Working Papers 258/2025, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    20. Kidjie Saguin & Michael Howlett, 2022. "Enhancing Policy Capacity for Better Policy Integration: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in a Post COVID-19 World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-13, September.
    21. Martin Calisto Friant & Walter J. V. Vermeulen & Roberta Salomone, 2024. "Transition to a Sustainable Circular Society: More than Just Resource Efficiency," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 23-42, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:agspub:v:14:y:2025:i:2:p:180-207. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.