This volume of essays draws lessons from disparate experiences within India, rather than from contrasts with the experiences of other countries. It supplements India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity, which studies what we can learn from international comparisons of policies, actions, and achievements.

1: Amartya Sen: Radical Needs and Moderate Reforms 2: Jean Dréze and Haris Gazdar: Uttar Pradesh: The Burden of Inertia 3: Sunil Sengupta and Haris Gazdar: Agrarian Politics and Rural Development in West Bengal 4: V.K. Ramachandran: On Kerala's Development Achievements 5: Mamta Murthi, Anne-Catherine Guio, and Jean Dréze: Mortality, Fertility and Gender Bias in India: A District Level Analysis

Review from previous edition This is an outstanding survey of some key differences and lessons, within India, concerning some crucial components of human development and self-esteem. The writing is clear and readily accessible to non-specialists

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO licence An original title from the UNU-WIDER Studies in Development Economics series, now republished in paperback Draws lessons from the disparate experiences within India, rather than from contrasts with the experiences of other countries Challenges exclusively economic judgements of the development process

Jean Drèze, development economist, has taught at the London School of Economics and the Delhi School of Economics and is currently Visiting Professor at Ranchi University. He has made wide-ranging contributions to development economics and public policy, with special reference to India. He is co-author (with Amartya Sen) of Hunger and Public Action (Oxford University Press, 1989), An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions (Penguin, 2013), and Sense and Solidarity (OUP: 2019). Amartya Sen teaches economics and philosophy at Harvard University, and was previously Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. He has served as President of the American Economic Association, the Indian Economic Association, the International Economic Association, and the Econometric Society. His awards include the Bharat Ratna (India), Commandeur de la légion d'honneur (France), the National Humanities Medal (USA), Honorary Companion of Honour (UK), Ordem Nacional do Mérito Científico (Brazil), and the Nobel Prize in Economics.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO licence An original title from the UNU-WIDER Studies in Development Economics series, now republished in paperback Draws lessons from the disparate experiences within India, rather than from contrasts with the experiences of other countries Challenges exclusively economic judgements of the development process