1969 Articles

Concluding Remarks

Bhagwati, Jagdish N.; Sukhamoy, Chakravarty

The article presents information regarding a survey that was carried on to find out developments of agricultural sector in India. The Survey highlights the similarity of the Indian analyses of policy issues with that in many other developing countries, as also some striking differences endemic to the Indian economy and scene. On one hand, it is noted that the concern of Indian economists was familiar with issues such as trade and exchange rate policies, foreign aid and private foreign capital and response of agricultural production to price change. The structural planning models, the analysis of choice of technique problems on the assumption of a labor surplus economy and the debate on food grains policy in terms of zonal restrictions emphasizing India’s federal set up underline the somewhat uncommon character of India’s economy and political structure. Among the issues which have been prominent, but which have been decided to omit from the Survey, are whether income and wealth inequalities have been accentuated during the three Plans, with related questions about the trends in the real income of agricultural landless labor and in the concentration of industrial capacity and invested capital in the hands of a few top industrial houses, and whether decentralization in rural administration and planning, via the so-called Panchayati Raj system, has been beneficial for agricultural planning and growth.