ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

Articles by A RajagopalSubscribe to A Rajagopal

A Silent 'Revolution'? Women's Empowerment in Rural Tamil Nadu

One of the most significant social changes over the past 25 years in Tamil Nadu is the entry of women into the local political bodies at the village and village union levels through the 33% reservation system. Simultaneously, women are now, to a significant extent, organised in self-help groups. Through these about one-fourth of the households can access loans for small entrepreneurship or, rather more frequently, for smaller emergency/consumption loans. There has also been increased participation of women in the non-agricultural labour market and the emergence in Tamil Nadu of a rudimentary "barefoot" welfare state. In this article we report from a 25-year panel study of 213 agrarian households in six villages in Karur and Tiruchirapalli districts.

Agrarian Change and Social Mobility in Tamil Nadu

This is a study of social mobility over 25 years in six villages in the former Tiruchirapalli district in Tamil Nadu. The two most important external drivers are local industrialisation and social policy in a broad sense. It is shown that the overall effect seems to be a centripetal tendency in agrarian structure, with a movement towards a strengthened position for family farming and for the underdogs in the old agrarian society to leave agriculture altogether, seeking improved life chances in the non-agrarian economy, both inside the villages and in the wider economy.

Equity, Access Allocation: Conflict in the Bhavani

An increase in population, unplanned expansion in the command area of the river Bhavani in Tamil Nadu and the growing domestic and industrial demand for water have intensified competition among water users in the river basin.

Problems of Pumpset-Farmers in Tamil Nadu

support themselves in 10 days' time.
In response, the VKU has decided to start a fund-raising campaign to provide food to striking workers. However, supporting 3,000 workers and their families is a massive problem and it cannot be done without active support of all trade unions and other concerned organisations.

Tamil Nadu Co-operative Movement in Peril

Paris Convention on the protection of patents, designs and trade marks to cover not only industrial property, as originally conceived, but all intellectual property on a much broader basis. Rajiv Gandhi has actually argued that "we are always substituting third generation or fourth generation and we are never upfront when we are doing import substitution". Invariably, according to him, by the time we have a breakthrough in import-substituting, technology of the next generation or perhaps two generations ahead is already available to us readily and "that frustrates our scientists and technologists and our effort to go into production'. What he thus made out is a case for unhindered import of patented goods and technologies with Indian scientists and technologists to act as hired hands of foreign interests.

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