Post-Independence Political and Economic Goals and Challenges: India October 11-13, 2016    

Indicators of South Asian underdevelopment present in the subcontinent at the time of Independence there were crises in *the growing contradiction between increases in birth-rate *sluggishness of industrial development *and the concentration of the economy in agriculture.

Shabnum Tejani *Effects of British actions on India *How and why did the British create caste and religious distinctions that either did not actually exist or were more fluid than the colonizers understood them to be? *What other effects of British rule changed the ways South Asians thought of themselves?

Important Acts at the Outset Establishment in 1950 of the Indian Planning Commission: First Five-Year Plan (1951/52) 1951 Constitution December 1954: the Congress Party adopted their goal to be the "establishment of a socialistic pattern of society." (mixed economy based on quasi-socialist goals) 1956-61: Second Five-Year Plan

1961-66: Third Five Year Plan 1969-74: Fourth Five Year Plan 1974-1979: Fifth Five Year Plan . . . BUT on June 26, 1975, Indira Gandhi declared the Emergency 1970s and 1980s: the Green Revolution and agricultural developments were main growth areas

1. Shabnum Tejani’s chapter in Pathways to Power provides historical context for many of the issues highlighted by Kashyap and by Dubey & Dhar. Considering her work, what led to the constitutional priorities that Kashyap identifies? What, in India’s sociocultural history, has led to prioritizing ‘social inclusion’?

2. Tejani notes that British efforts to “know” Indian society led to the former creating caste and religious distinctions that either did not actually exist or were more fluid than the colonizers understood them to be. What are some examples from her and Christophe Jaffrelot’s chapters in Pathways to Power of the role that such distinctions played in South Asia leading up to and following independence? What does Kashyap argue about the constitutional role of caste and class in the country today, though what is the actual reality?

Jaffrelot spends a lot of time on the post-1991 era. Big changes: India has moved from authoritarianism to bipartisanism, but also from secularism to sectarian factionalism The rise of power of the lower castes – now many in elite class Regionalization of politics The state continues to play a major role in agrarian sector Rise of corruption – and criminalization of politics

India’s population in 1960: 442 million India’s population in 2000: 101.4 million (1.014 billion) India’s population in July 2007: 1,129,866,154 (1.13 billion) India’s population in July 2016: 1,266,883,598 (1.27 billion; Hindus are 79.8%)

1991: a pivotal year for India’s economy and social development 3. Dubey & Dhar point to India’s economic transition in the 1990s from a closed, semi-socialist economy to one that embraced global capitalism to prompt the country’s socioeconomic transformation. What lead to this transition? What have been some of the social, political and environmental consequences of India’s liberalization? How is their argument for “rights-based access to social services” a remedy for India’s challenges of equitable distribution?

4. Jaffrelot carefully documents how liberal economic policies contributed to the creation of the “new rich” of India. What are the other (e.g., cultural, political) forces that he attributes to the rise of this group? According to Kashyap, what are some other outcomes that are a result of the divisive role played by the rich in India?

5. All three readings note how India is grappling with trying to ensure inclusive growth while also mitigating social exclusion. Provide some examples of these efforts from the readings (e.g., public interest litigation, reserved seats). To what extent have poverty alleviation programs and projects been successful? What contributes to this outcome?

While Dubey & Dhar argue that social exclusion has been practiced for centuries in India, what is different about the ways the Indian state ends up practicing it today? What would India need to do to adopt an effective inclusive growth strategy?