Ambedkar’s Vision of Economic Development for India

263 Pages·2020·2.544 MB·English

by  Gummadi Sridevi

Ambedkar’s Vision of Economic
Development for India
This book discusses Ambedkar’s engagements with the issues of social justice,
economic development and caste enclosures. It highlights his significant
contributions in the field of trade, public finance and monetary economics,
Indian agriculture, education, among others, and examines their relevance
in contemporary India.
The volume analyses the basic theoretical conceptions in Ambedkar’s
writings which attributed a key role to industrialisation, favoured
economic planning and progressive labour laws. It reaffirms these theories
and illustrates that focus on social and economic democracy promotes
productivity, equitable distribution of wealth and an inclusive society. Through
an analysis of Ambedkar’s interdisciplinary works, the book discusses
issues of rural poverty, lagging infrastructure growth, the persistence of an
exploitative ruling class and the economic and social marginalisation of
the downtrodden which are still relevant today. Further, it offers solutions
for a restructuring of the society under democratic principles which would
recognise the basic right of all to social dignity, and devise means to insure
against social and economic insecurity.
Insightful and authoritative, this volume will be of great interest to
students and researchers of economics, sociology, development studies and
social exclusion.
G ummadi Sridevi is an Associate Professor at School of Economics,
University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad. She has completed collaborative
research projects supported by ICSSR on climate change, food security and
education. She’s currently working on a collaborative ICSSR-IMPRESS
major research project on Commons. Her research areas cover a wide
range of issues relating to food security, health, gender, climate change
and economics of discrimination. She has published articles in various
journals and edited volumes. She has 13 years of teaching experience at the
University of Hyderabad. She has been teaching courses such as economics
of discrimination, international trade and payments, microeconomics and
mathematical economics.

Ambedkar’s Vision of
Economic Development
for India
Edited by Gummadi Sridevi
First published 2020
by Routledge
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© 2020 selection and editorial matter, Gummadi Sridevi; individual
chapters, the contributors
The right of Gummadi Sridevi to be identified as the author of the
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ISBN: 978-0-8153-8216-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-05157-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of figures vii
List of tables viii
List of contributors x
Foreword xvi
Preface xxi
Acknowledgements xxvi
PART I
Ambedkar’s economic thought 1
1 Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s vision of economic development
of India and its relevance 3
G. NANCHARAIAH
2 Ambedkar’s thought on economic development and
poverty alleviation 24
SUKHADEO THORAT
3 Dr. Ambedkar: inter-disciplinarian with commitment 38
R. S. DESHPANDE AND KHALIL SHAHA
4 Economics of Babasaheb Ambedkar 53
ANAND TELTUMBDE
5 Ambedkar’s anti-caste ideology and the making of a nation 71
R. THIRUNAVUKKARASU
PART II
Economic development and marginalised groups 91
6 Performance of Indian economy in the post-reform
period: growth, inequality and well-being 93
R. RADHAKRISHNA
vi Contents
7 Economics of discrimination: theory, evidence and the
role of state 127
P. DURAISAMY AND MALATHY DURAISAMY
8 Social discrimination and suicides in higher educational
institutions: role of state 145
K. LAXMINARAYANA
9 Between beef and carrion: the politics of food consumption 158
GAYATRI NAIR
10 Changing context of caste, gender and land relations
in India 169
DONTHA PRASHANTH, PATTURI BALAJI AND MATTA SRINIVAS
11 Inter-group inequality in Punjab: does caste matter? 183
NITIN TAGADE, AJAYA K. NAIK AND CHANDRANI DUTTA
12 Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s view on agricultural holdings
and collective farming: the case of Telangana state 205
Y. SREENIVASULU AND TAJUDDIN MD.
Bibliography 218
Index 229
Figures
6.1 GDP Growth Rates in India at Constant Prices 95
6.2 Profit and Wage Share in NVA in Organized
Manufacturing Sector 97
6.3 White-Collar to Blue-Collar Wage Differential in Indian
Organized Manufacturing 97
6.4 Trends in Weighted Coefficient of Variation (%) in
GSDP per capita across Indian States (2004–05 prices) 98
6.5 Scatter Diagram of States by GSDP Per Capita Growth
and Poverty Reduction during 1993–94 and 2011–12 110
6.6 Relative Poverty of SC/ST to All (1993–94 and 2011–12) 112
7.1 Trends in Real Wages by Gender, 1983–2012 131
7.2 Trends in Real Wages by Social Group, 1983–2012 132
11.1 Share of Population by Socio-religious Groups
in Punjab – 2012 188
11.2 Comparison of MPCE across Socio-religious Groups
in Punjab (In Rs.) – 2012 189
11.3 Comparison of MPCE among Social Groups by the
Richest and Poorest Quintile Groups in Punjab 200
12.1 Trends in percentage of operational holdings and area
by marginal farmers in Telangana 210
12.2 Trends in percentage of operational holdings and area by
large farmers in Telangana 211
12.3 Trends in percentage of cultivators declining over period
in Telangana 212
Tables
1.1 Change in the Agricultural Equipment During 1898
to 1910 in Baroda State 14
6.1 Annual Growth Rates of GDP and Per Capita GDP
at Constant Prices: India, 1913–2014 94
6.2 Share of Private Corporate Sector and Public Sector
in NDP and Share of Private Corporate Sector in Gross
Capital Formation 96
6.3 GSDP Per Capita at 2004–05 Prices and its Annual
Growth Rates across Major Indian States 99
6.4 Social Sector Development Indicators in BRICS 104
6.5 Annual Growth Rates (%) of Per Capita Monthly
Expenditure by Broad Expenditure Groups 105
6.6 Annual Growth Rates of Social Welfare 106
6.7 Annual Growth Rates of Atkinson Inequality
Coefficient (Aε) 107
6.8 Incidence and Performance of States in Poverty Reduction
between 1993–94 and 2011–12 109
6.9 Classification of States by Growth and Performance
of Poverty Reduction (1993/94–2011/12) 111
6.10 Incidence of Poverty, Malnutrition and CED of Woman
in India 113
6.11 Incidence of Multi-dimensional Poverty in the Households
with a Woman and a Child Below 5 years 114
6.12 Distribution of Households with a Child Below 5 Years
and a Woman by Multidimensional Poverty in India 114
6.13 Ranking of States Based on Inverse of Deprivations,
Inverse of Poverty, Average Real MPCE and Real GSDP
Per Capita 116
6.14 Ranking of States on Performance in Reduction in Income
Poverty, Decline in Malnutrition and Improvement in
Education in Post-reform Period 117
6.15 Measures of Happiness for Selected Countries 119
Tables ix
7.1 Ratio of average monthly earnings of females over males
in DHTP labour market, 1961, 1971 and 1981 130
7.2 Discrimination against Women in DHTP Labour Market
in India 135
7.3 Wage Discrimination Among Social Groups, 2004–05 136
7.4 Segregation Index in the Scientific and Technical Labour
Market 138
7.5 Wage and Job Discrimination against Gender and Caste
in the Indian Labour Markets 139
11.1 MPCE and Economic and Non-economic Asset
Distribution by Socio-religious Groups in Punjab 186
11.2 Regression estimates for the MPCE generating equation 192
11.3 Expected MPCE of Household (in Rs.) 192
11.4 Decomposition of the Difference in Mean MPCE between
High Caste (HC) and Scheduled Caste (SC) 194
11.5 Decomposition of the Difference in Mean MPCE between
Hindu High Caste (HHCs) and Hindu Scheduled
Caste (HSCs) 194
11.6 Decomposition of the Difference in Mean MPCE between
Sikh High Caste (SHC) and Sikh Scheduled Caste (SSC) 195
11.7 Individual Contributions to the Decomposition of the
Difference in MPCE between High Castes and Scheduled
Castes, Pooled Estimates 196
11.8 Individual Contributions to the Decomposition of the
Difference in MPCE between HCs and SCs (separately
for Hindu and Sikh households), Pooled Estimates 197
11.9 Distribution of Population by Social Groups and MPCE
Quintile Groups in Punjab – 2012 199
11.10 Gini Ratio and Its Decomposition by Observable
Characteristics in Punjab 201