Development

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The central proposition of this paper is that the Kerala economy must grow on a path that leverages the strengths of its ecosystem, both natural and social, in a way that engenders growth that is widely inclusive and inherently sustainable. The central concern must be whether and how far the various economic activities find a harmonious alignment with the differentia specifica of Kerala’s unique ecological wealth and social circumstances.

In 2018, almost 10 years after the process was initiated in 2009, the development plan of Mumbai was sanctioned. The first draft of the plan, which sought to significantly reform urban planning in Mumbai, was scrapped in 2015. However, contrary to the widespread assumption that the first draft was rejected due to public opposition, this paper argues that a key factor behind the scrapping was to reform one of the central regulations of the 1991 Development Plan of Mumbai, Regulation 33, which provides development rights incentives and planning relaxations to property developers in Mumbai. Through an analysis of Mumbai’s development plan process, this paper offers a glimpse into the divergent values and interests of powerful groups, and how these interests are coordinated and reconciled in the city. The process reveals the extent to which real-estate capital shapes urban space and common sense of urban planning in Mumbai.

The study of the inter-district convergence of per capita incomes in any state or country is crucial to policy agenda as it exposes the scenario of real income distribution. The present paper examines inter-district convergence of per capita income in West Bengal using the neoclassical growth and panel unit root models; the second is an advanced approach compared to the first. The results in line with the two approaches show that the districts are not converging in terms of income; rather the districts are diverging between 1993 and 2014. It is an alarming knock to the state since divergence in income leads to rising inequality across districts; it will hamper the development of the state.

The issue of the massive dropouts of Scheduled Caste students from colleges and universities in Punjab is investigated in this article. For understanding the dropout rates of the SC students, it has been argued that one should take a cognisance of social and economic processes of the Punjabi society.