India: Social Development Report 2012: Minorities at the Margins

In India, the debate around social development has sharpened with the arrival of neoliberalism, which has widened the gulf between the rich and the poor. The India: Social Development Report 2012 (SDR 2012), prepared by the Council for Social Development, evaluates the life conditions of Indian citizens by assessing social developmental indicators-political, social, and cultural. Instead of focusing solely on economic growth, it treats social development as a function of economic growth, social policy, and effective poverty reduction measures. It deals with key issues of social development and interrogates the concept of development, as well as its meaning for those who are deprived and disadvantaged. The papers included in this report, besides giving an overall picture of social development, focus on the minorities in India with respect to certain key sectors such as education, poverty, food security, and health. These factors play an important role in the betterment of the conditions of the deprived and minority communities and their life chances. The contributions combine empirical studies and critical analysis to explain the impact of policy interventions on social development and the challenges that remain. On the whole, the Report addresses the relationship between India's developmental process and social policy discourse. Contributors to this volume - Savio Abreu is Director, Xavier Centre of Historical Research, Alto Porvorim, Goa; Nilachala Acharya is Senior Research Officer, Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, New Delhi; Indu Agnihotri is Director, Centre for Women's Development Studies, New Delhi; Arshad Alam is Assistant Professor, Centre for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Mohammed Sanjeer Alam is Associate Fellow, Lokniti/Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi; Surajit Deb is Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Ram Lal Anand College (Evening), University of Delhi; Muchkund Dubey is President, Council for Social Development, New Delhi; Tanweer Fazal is Associate Professor, Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi; Jayati Ghosh is Professor, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Prabir Kumar Ghosh is Senior Research Fellow, National Council of Applied Economic Research-Centre for Macro Consumer Research, New Delhi; Tajamul Haque is Director, Council for Social Development, New Delhi; Mushirul Hasan is Professor, Department of History, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi; Zoya Hasan is Professor, Centre for Political Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Himanshu is Assistant Professor, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Praveen Jha is Professor, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Jawed Alam Khan is Senior Research Officer, Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, New Delhi; P.M. Kulkarni is Professor, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Rajeev Kumar is Senior Researcher, Collaborative Research and Dissemination, New Delhi; Oommen C. Kurian is Senior Research Officer, Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes, Mumbai; Pooja Parvati is Research Coordinator, Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, New Delhi; R. Ramakumar is Associate Professor, Centre for Study of Developing Economies, Research Facilities: Nutrition Research Facility, School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai; Mohan Rao is Professor, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Rowena Robinson is Visiting Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, and Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai; Abusaleh Shariff is Chairperson, Centre for Research and Debates in Development Policy, New Delhi, and Executive Director, US-India Policy Institute, Washington, DC; Amit Sharma is Research Analyst, National Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi; Khursheed Anwar Siddiqui is Consultant, ACNielsen ORG-MARG Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi; Avanindra Nath Thakur is Research Scholar, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Prashant K. Trivedi is Fellow, Giri Institute of Development Studies, Lucknow.