Rural Poverty and Agricultural Development in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is basically an agricultural economy. Agriculture is the backbone of the development of the Tamil Nadu economy. The role of agriculture in shaping the economy could be reflected from the large proportion of population that depends on agriculture for their livelihood and the significant contribution of agriculture to the state income. Due to its predominance, any positive and negative aspects of developments in the state could be linked with the performance of the agricultural sector. Hence, the concept of sustainable agriculture is more of a necessary issue of concern for solving the social and economic problems of the state. With this background, the present paper attempts to examine the linkages between rural poverty and agriculture in Tamil Nadu. The paper examined present status and trends in rural poverty in Tamil Nadu. It also examined the agriculture development and certain characteristics of agriculture in the state. By establishing the linkages between agriculture and poverty, the study argued that agricultural development would ensure food security, health and nutritional security, income and employment security, and economic and social security and thereby facilitate removal of poverty in Tamil Nadu

Determinants of Work Animal Density in Tamil Nadu: An Econometric Analysis

From independence, size and composition of bovines in Tamil Nadu showed differential growth pattern. The total bovine population showed an increasing trend up to the early-Sixties and thereafter stagnant till the early Eighties. While the milch animal stock increased steadily, the work animals showed a declining trend from seventies. These trends not only indicate the growing importance of dairy animals but also the competitive linkage between work and milch animal population. The work animal stock is highly influenced by the agro-climatic, institutional and economic factors and an analysis of capturing them is attempted in this paper. Initially, the changes in the size and composition of bovines, work animal population and its density since independence are traced. Subsequently, the factors determining work animal population and its density are examined using regression models. Two regression analyses are made, one representing phase I (1956-1974) and the other for phase II (1977-1994). Phase I basically represents the period when mechanisation in agriculture had been at the early stages and phase II represents the period when mechanization (both energisation of irrigation and tractorisation) was at a relatively higher level. The study revealed that while the agro-climatic and irrigation factors had played a major role in shaping the work animal density during the period prior to mid-Seventies, the technological, economic and institutional factors played a major role in recent years.Work Animal Density; Work Animals; Mechanisation; Irrigation; tractorisation; energisation, milch animals; bovines; Density; Cropping Pattern, Cropping Intensity; Econometrics;Tamil Nadu

Agricultural Crisis in India: The Root Cause and Consequences

Agricultue in India is undergoing a structural change leading to a crisis situation. The rate of growth of agricultural output is gradually declining in the recent years. The relative contribution of agriculture to the GDP has been declining over time steadily. The performance of agriculture by crop categories also clearly indicates the slowing down process of agriculture in India. The onset of deceleration in agriculture began from early nineties and it became sharp from the late nineties. The trends in the area, input use, capital stock and technology also reflect the agricultural downfall and the farmer’s response accordingly. It is alarming that India is moving towards a point of no return, from being a self-reliant nation of food surplus to a net importer of food. All these trends indicate that the agricultural sector in India is facing a crisis today. It is argued that the root cause of the crisis was that agriculture is no more a profitable economic activity when compared to other enterprises. It means that the income derived from these activities is not sufficient enough to meet the expenditure of the cultivators. And therefore, unless agriculture is made a profitable enterprise, the present crisis cannot be solved. The related factors responsible for the crisis include: dependence on rainfall and climate, liberal import of agricultural products, reduction in agricultural subsidies, lack of easy credit to agriculture and dependence on money lenders, decline in government investment in the agricultural sector and conversion of agricultural land for alternative uses. It is argued that the consequence of agricultural crisis in India is very vast and likely to hit all the other sectors and the national economy in several ways. In specific, it has adverse effects on food supply, prices of foodgrains, cost of living, health and nutrition, poverty, employment, labour market, land loss from agriculture and foreign exchange earnings. In sum, it revealed that the agricultural crisis would be affecting a majority of the people in India and the economy as a whole in the long run. And therefore, it can be argued that the crisis in agriculture is a crisis of the country as a whole. Ihe only remedy to the crisis is to do all that is possible to make agriculture a profitable enterprise and attract the farmers to continue the crop production activities. As an effort towards this direction, the government should augment its investment and expenditure in the farm sector. Investment in agriculture and its allied sectors, including irrigation, transport, communication, rural market, rural infrastructure and farm research, should be drastically increased, and the government should aim at integrated development of the rural areas. The solution of the problem is not in a few “packages” but in drastic changes in the present economic policies related to agriculture. No other sector’s growth and development must be at the cost of agriculture. All farmers, agricultural labourers, societies, Government and People’s Organisations should work collectively to revive agriculture and “Save India from Agriculture Crisis”.Agriculture; Agriculture Crisis; Crisis; Agricultural Crisis; agriculture deceleration; slowdown; Farming Crisis; India; Causes; Consequences; impact; Foodgrains; Public Investment; Agriculural Credit; Agriculture performance; Contribution from Agriculture; Agricultural Situation;

Development of Women Education in India

Women constitute almost half of the population of the world. Education for women is the best way to improve the health, nutrition and economic status of a household that constitute a micro unit of a nation economy. In this context, it can be argued that lack of woman education can be an impediment to the country’s economic development. In India, women achieve far less education that of men. As per the Census report 2001, the literacy rate of women is 54.16 per cent and that of men is 65.38 per cent. There has been a sincere effort to improve the education attainment of women by both government and voluntary organizations. The changes in the policies and infrastructural supports on primary, secondary and higher education reflect the initiatives of the Government of India towards women education. This paper examined the trends in women education, the investments on education and infrastructural supports in India. The study revealed that there had been significant progress in the performance of women education revealed from female literacy levels and its change over time. It was also observed that the gaps between rural and urban female literacy rates are narrowing down. It was observed that rural poverty acts as a push factors for women’s education rather than as an obstacle to women’s education. The significant influence of urbanization on women’s education implied that urbanization had been playing a beneficial role in the attainment of women’s education in India. At the same time, the drop-out rate had a negative effect on women’s education. It revealed that that reduction of girl’s drop-out rates is necessary for achieving women’s education. The initiatives of the government through investment and infrastructure in developing education in India were examined. With regard to facilities in schools, it had improved significantly, but a lot more need to be done. In sum, the study revealed that there have been concerted efforts to encourage girls to attend schools, which would lead to higher literacy in future. The study also revealed that there are several infrastructural barriers to women education in India. The study calls for focused approach towards increasing women centred educational infrastructure so as to reduce the women drop-out rates and to improve female literacy levels in India.Women Development, women education, women literacy, education infrastructure, Female literacy rate, women in India, Indian women, primary education, secondary education, higher education, India

Trends in Health Status and Infrastructural Support in Tamil Nadu

This paper aimed at examining the health status in Tamil Nadu and to highlight the major issues on it. The health scenario of Tamil Nadu was examined, based on certain selected health indicators and the extent of health infrastructure available in the state and its utilisation were also discussed The study observed that there is a reduction in the vital statistics such as birth rate, death rate and infant mortality rate and an increase in the life expectancy at birth in Tamil Nadu during the last three decades. These trends indicated the developments in the health status of the people and the steady progress in the health indicators. The study argued that though the demographic indicators and vital statistics indicate very high of Tamil Nadu in terms of health performance, there are several areas in which improvements are possible. To conclude, Tamil Nadu seems to have performed better compared to All India average in demographic and several health indicators. However, Tamil Nadu is capable of much higher levels of achievements with its knowledge base, administrative and institutional strength and its growth potentials.Health Status; Health Infrastructure; Health Issues; Health Scenario; Birth Rate; Death Rate; Infant Mortality; Life Expectancy; Infant Mortality; Mortality Rate;Tamil Nadu

Impact of Globalisation and Economic Reforms on Employment in India

In this paper, the basics of globalization, the economic reforms initiated in India and the trends in employment and the impact of globalisation are discussed. It is argued that the unorganised workers would expand further due to globalisation. Under the present deprived conditions of unorganised sector, this would lead to imbalance in the labour market leading to more supply of labours, low wages and low level of income. This situation would affect the social and economic conditions of the unorganised working population. The unorganised workers will be in the highly disadvantageous position as there would be a shift in the technology from labour to capital intensive and use of unskilled to skilled workers.Globalisation; Economic Reforms; Employment; labour; India; Unorganised workers; Organised workers; Unemployment; unskilled workers; enterprises;

Occupational Balance among Parents of Typically Developing Children and Parents of Children with Disabilities Living in Qatar

Parents of children with disabilities are often not the focus of intervention in occupational therapy practice although they are known to spend more time meeting the needs of their children and report poor occupational balance. The aim of the dissertation study was to compare the occupational balance among parents of children with disabilities and parents of typically developing children and to find, if any, significant predictors of occupational balance. The secondary objective was to investigate if there was any association between occupational balance and family quality of life. To fully understand the multiple perspectives of occupational balance and the factors associated with it, existing literature was reviewed at the commencement of the dissertation study. A cross-sectional observational comparison design was used. There were 178 participants and 89 parents of children with disabilities attending occupational therapy clinics in two major hospitals in Qatar and another 89 parents of typically developing children from the staff and relatives of the same hospital were recruited through convenience sampling. Sample size was estimated from a pilot study with 30 participants. The participants filled the occupational balance questionnaire, Family Quality of Life Survey–2006 and an investigator-developed demographic survey. Both Arabic and the English-speaking parents were recruited, collection forms were made available in English and Arabic. Before the commencement of the dissertation study, the occupational balance questionnaire was translated from English to Arabic.Independent t tests, Pearson correlations, and multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data. The results showed that the occupational balance scores of parents of children with disabilities were statistically significantly lower than parents of typically developing children. A statistically significant, weak to moderate relationship was found between occupational balancescores and family quality of life scores, Finally, regression analyses showed that role satisfaction,spousal support, number of children under 5 years of age, difficulty finding help, and satisfaction with health care were significant personal predictors of occupational balance in addition to presence of a child with disability in the family. Parents of children with disabilities are a risk group for experiencing low occupationalbalance, and occupational therapists working with such parents must routinely address these issues in their practice to facilitate better family quality of life

Predictors of safety compliance among the manufacturing employees in Penfabric Mill 4

More than 2.3 million people in this world die every year because of fatal occupational accidents or work-related diseases. In Malaysia, there are about 50 thousand accidents reported every year and more than 12,000 people suffer from permanent disability and 1,200 people are killed in these accidents every year. Managing risks in an integrated way with the organization’s operations has become increasingly important in recent years in order to prevent accidents and the firm’s productivity, economic and financial results. Although the employer is responsible for the safety of his workers, the participation of workers is indispensable. One type of behavior that can have an effect on safety performance is safety compliance and adherence to organizational rules, regulations and procedures. This study attempts to determine the predictors of safety compliance in a multinational textile manufacturing organization located in Penang, Malaysia. This survey used questionnaire concerning the predictors of safety compliance in Penfabric Mill 4. A random sample of 243 was selected from the total workforce of 517 from 9 sections of the production. Data analyzed from this study revealed that Management Commitment, Workers’ Participation, Safety Training, Safety Communication and Feedback, Safety Rules and Procedures and Safety Promotional Policies are factors that have significant correlation with Safety Compliance. Management Commitment, Safety Rules and Procedures and Safety Promotional Policies have significant influence towards the Safety Compliance. Safety Training, Safety Communication and Feedback and Workers’ Participation do not have significant influence on Safety Compliance in this organization even though they have a significant correlation