Public Intervention and Rural Poverty-Case of Non-Sustainable Reduction in Andhra Pradesh

Case of Non-Sustainable Reduction in Andhra Pradesh G Parthasarathy Andhra Pradesh presents a unique case of poverty reduction, its performance between 1970 and 1988 being the highest among all the major states. This trend is not surprising for the 1970s, a period of rapid agricultural growth but is perplexing for the latter part of the 1980s when growth had slackened. These trends point to the significance of public intervention for poverty alleviation, in particular the Rs 2 a kilo rice scheme, which is evaluated here. However, the most effective measure that could be taken to reduce poverty is land reform, without which other schemes cannot have much impact.