Economic Studies - Mphil Thesis

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Availability, Affordability and pricing of the essential drugs: A case study of Bathinda city (Punjab).
(Central University of Punjab, 2016) Bala, Indu; Kaur, Sandeep
In recent times individual spending on health care is the common issue. This issue is manifold as linked with the availability, affordability and pricing of drugs. The present study evaluates these issues related to essential drugs in Bathinda city which is one of the blocks of Malwa region. Availability, affordability and price differences are examined across two types of drugs generic and, branded-generic at public and private drug stores, using a primary survey of patients, drug retailers and wholesalers mainly. The study also analyses the evolution of government drug pricing policies and the impact of patents on drugs. Data on drug prices is collected of commonly used essential drugs of different therapeutic classes. Affordability of the essential medicines to the ordinary people is measured by comparing the treatment cost with the wages earned by them. To compare the domestic prices with international reference prices, median price ratios (MPR) are obtained by dividing the local public and private sector median prices with international reference prices. The study discovers that availability of essential drugs in the public sector is not sufficient to meet the challenge of providing essential drugs to the entire population of the city. The Private sector is dominating for providing drugs and better treatment which has very less transparency in the pricing system and variations in the retail prices and markups are very high. Affordability level of essential drugs for different treatments to ii the ordinary people is satisfactory but not for the people living below the poverty line. Policies should be targeted to maintain a transparent pricing system and should be affordable for all as well as making them more widely available. The drug price control order should be properly implemented in fixing the MRP of branded-generic drugs
Cross Loc trade facilitation: A Case study of two TFCs
(Central University of Punjab, 2015) Dar, Zahid Ul Islam; Kaur, Sandeep
Structural transformation is a process by which the relative importance of different sectors and activities of an economy changes over time. The Kerala economy is also undergoing the transformation from traditional backward agrarian economy to a modern service sector led economy. The significance of the present study lies in the fact that the whole process of structural transformation of the Kerala economy has not so far been addressed in a detailed and comprehensive manner in the earlier studies. No specific attempt has been made to relate the pattern of agricultural development with the structural transformations in the Kerala economy. In this study, an attempt has been made to examine the structural changes and growth performance and pattern of agricultural development in Kerala economy. The study mainly covers a period of 1980-81 to 2010-11. The study has found that the share of primary sector in GSDP has declined sharply, but the corresponding decline in employment share has not taken place. Moreover, the excess labour force has moved from primary sector to secondary sector, thus causing abundance in secondary sector and there was only a meager increase in share of income from ii secondary sector in GSDP. The share of income from services sector in GSDP has increased sharply, but it failed to register a sharp increase in employment. Thus, it follows that Kerala did not experience a sequential growth process (as propounded by structural change growth theories) as the service sector led growth did not provide employment matching with its income and the process of industrialization failed to take off as share of income from secondary sector did not commensurate with the level of employment in the sector. The changes in land use pattern in Kerala were unprecedented during the past decades in terms of deforestation, increase in area as current fallow, increase in area under non-agricultural land, decrease in both net area sown and gross cropped area resulting in decline in cropping intensity. Irrigation intensity of only 20 per cent points that about 80 per cent of the cropped area is rain-fed. Kerala witnessed shift in the copping pattern in favour of non-food crops at the expense of food crops as crops such as pulses, rice, tapioca, cashewnut, ginger were replaced by commercial cash crops like rubber and coconut. The declining cultivable area, predominance of tiny and fragmented holdings, decline in work force in terms of reduction in agricultural labour and cultivator has made farming more vulnerable. Finally, the study has suggested some policy suggestions such as training to labour moved to secondary sector, keeping a check on the area under food crops, bringing more area under assured irrigation, strict law enforcing mechanism to avoid unnecessary conversion of agricultural land to non-farming activities, creation of "Labour Banks" to revive agricultural economy of the Kerala.
An economic analysis of cotton crop failure in the mansa district of punjab.
(Central University of Punjab, 2017) Singh, Harpreet; Bhatia, Sandeep Kaur
At the time of the green revolution, there is a huge increase in the productivity of wheat and rice. Among the various states, Punjab was the leader of the green revolution in India. But from the late 1980s, decline in the prosperity of farmers due to increasing farm costs as input prices has put heavy weight on the farmers to borrow additional from the informal lenders in the lack of access to suitable formal credit. The number of farmer suicides in Punjab is recognized as the changing agricultural relations. The major cause was the productivity of cotton crop failed to put the whole cotton belt under stress. The study was carried out in the Mansa District. However, the study area was confined to those villages where the farmers committed suicides due to cotton crop failure in 2015-16. 81 farmers from 24 villages were surveyed from 5 blocks of Mansa district. Out of 81, Where 31 families were those whose member committed suicide due to cotton crop failure. Most of the farmers in study belong to the small and marginal category of farmers those are most vulnerable from cotton crop failure due to burden of high debt. Benefit -cost analysis and sensitivity analysis were used to know loss, cost and return due to crop failure. Without crop insurance scenario, it was found that the net returns were negative and the B-C ratio remained well below unity. Therefore these results indicate that estimated amount of crop insurance is also not sufficient to Name of Student : Harpreet Singh Registration Number : 15mpheco15 Degree for which submitted : Master of Philosophy (M. Phil.) Name of Supervisor : Dr. Sandeep Kaur Bhatia Name of Centre : Centre for Economic Studies School of studies : School Of Social Sciences iv fill up the loss gap due to crop failure in case of Mansa district of Punjab. Therefore for the comprehensive implementation of the PMFBY in case of Punjab need some modifications regarding the premium rate and indemnity level and special agrarian policy for small and marginal farmers.
An economic analysis of groundwater depletion in sangrur
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Pavneet; Bhatia, Sandeep Kaur
The adoption of high yielding variety seeds, increased in use of chemical fertilizers and irrigation has helped in raising the income level of the farmers and total foodgrain production. But it cannot be denied that the adoption of this modern technology is expensive and it takes place at the cost of unsustainable use of resources. Groundwater depletion is found to be one of the major problems in Central Punjab. Among all districts, stage of groundwater development is the highest in Sangrur district, i.e. 264 per cent. All the nine blocks of Sangrur district are over- exploited and groundwater usage is highest in Sunam block. Therefore, in the present study entitled "An Economic Analysis of Groundwater Depletion in Sangrur District of Punjab ",an attempt has been made to examine the economic analysis of ground water depletion. As many as 120 small, medium and large farmers formed the sample of the study. The sample is taken from the two villages, viz. Tolawal and Rattangarh of the Sunam block (former having pre-dominantly tubewell irrigated farms and the latter having canal+ tubewell irrigation facilities). The study reveals that with an increase in area under wheat- paddy crop has also increased the area under groundwater irrigation. In Punjab, area under wheat crop has increased from 274 thousand hectare to 287 thousand hectare and for paddy crop has increased from 11 thousand hectare to 274 thousand hectare, from 1970- 71 to 2011-12. The study brought out that higher the farm size, higher is the ownership of motors and depth of motors and vice- versa. The technical efficiency on farms estimated through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), has indicated the mean technical efficiency of 90.3 per cent and 95 per cent in paddy production and 89.4 per cent and 94.9 per cent in wheat production, in tubewell irrigated and v canal+ tubewell irrigated farms, respectively. The multiple (step- up) regression analysis has revealed that land ownership, number of submersible motors and its depth had positive significant impact on farm income. The study suggests that the government should ensure minimum support prices for less water consuming crops. This will not only shift the existing cropping pattern but will also provide solution to over exploitation of groundwater. It also suggests that assured electricity may be provided to agriculture sector at subsidized rates to minimize this problem. Further, the government should take care for maintenance of canals on priority basis.
Flow of Institutional Credit in Indian Agriculture: Growth and Performance.
(Central University of Punjab, 2015) Kaur, Pushpinder; Singla, Naresh
Institutional credit plays an important role in agricultural development as it enables the farmers to undertake new investments and/or use of modern agricultural technologies for enhancing agricultural production. The emphasis on the institutional credit is being placed since the beginning of planned development era in India. As a result, several institutional agencies such as cooperatives, regional rural banks (RRBs), scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) etc. are involved in disbursement of short and long term institutional credit. Besides, acceptance of Rural Credit Survey Committee Report (1954), nationalization of major commercial banks (1969 and 1980), establishment of RRBs (1975), establishment of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) (1982), the financial sector reforms (1991 onwards) etc. led to manifold increase in the flow of institutional credit in agriculture. Similarly, during post reform period, Special Agricultural Credit Plan (1994-95), initiating of Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) (1998-99), and Doubling Agricultural Credit Plan within three years (2004) placed emphasis on increase flow of institutional credit. No doubt, these policy level changes have increased flow of institutional credit for agriculture, but many changes have also taken place among the various institutional sources in distribution of agricultural credit. It is also argued that large chunk of institutional credit has gone to those states, where green revolution took place and states have higher agricultural productivities than lower productivity states. The study is a step in this direction to examine the growth and pattern in flow of institutional credit in Indian agriculture by various agencies. The study is mainly based on various secondary data sources such as Handbook of Statistics of Indian Economy published by the Reserve Bank of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance, Economic Survey of India, etc. during 1980-81 to 2011-12. The structure of the sources of credit has witnessed a clear shift in favor of commercial banks. The share of investment credit in total credit has also declined, which may restrict the agricultural sector to realize its full potential. The study also points that institutional credit delivery to the agriculture sector still continues to be inadequate as about 30% of credit is financed by non-institutional agencies, which includes money lenders. SCBs are still hesitant to disburse agricultural credit to small and marginal farmers. There also exist large inter-state variations in distribution of agricultural credit per hectare and KCCs. Finally, the study concludes that efficiency in the credit delivery system in rural areas should be improved by revamping cooperative credit structure. Also, concerted efforts should also be made to increase the flow of indirect institutional credit for development of infrastructures such as irrigation, electricity, marketing, storage, extension services, etc which will go a long way in improving the productivity of the agricultural sector.
Food inflation in india: Trends and determinations
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Ahmed, Mumtaz; Singla, Naresh
Food Inflation has been persistently high in India during the past few years. Controlling food prices is one of the major tasks for the macroeconomic policy makers. The recent oil price hike and some natural calamities have increased food prices around the world. This study focuses on the identification of main determinants of food price inflation in India. Using the monthly data from January 2006 to December 2013, Johansen's cointegration technique has been applied to find out the long run relationships among food price inflation and its determinants like money supply, interest rate, exchange rate, crude oil, world food prices and rainfall. Empirical findings prove the long run relationships among food price inflation and its determinants. In the long run model, all determinants affect food inflation except the world food prices. Error correction model has also been used in order to comprehend the short run causality of food inflation determinants. The error correction term of error correction model turns out to be significant which further confirm the long run causality as well as the speed of convergence toward long run equilibrium, which has occurred due the short disturbance. In the short run only world food prices and crude oil coefficients and statistically significant at five percent level. Finally, the study suggests some policy implications such as reduced dependency of monsoon by improving the irrigation system, investment in agricultural inputs and shift of policy towards biofuel etc.
Growing urbanization and economic development in india: The role of middle class
(Central University of Punjab, 2013) Jindal, Neha; Singla, Naresh
In the present study entitled "Growing Urbanization and Economic Development in India: The Role of Middle Class", examined that the growing urbanization leads to economic development by creating new rising middle class. The assessment is based mainly on secondary data which is analyzed using correlation, multiple regression analysis by testing of improvement of fit, path analysis and simple averages. The determinants of the size and growth of the middle class and role of middle class in economic development are also examined in this study. Size of middle class is associated with growing urbanization, higher school enrollment, higher share of service and industrial sector in GDP than agriculture sector and lower fertility. Using the definition of middle class given by NCAER and data on various determinants of middle class spanning the period 1990-2010, the multiple regression analysis by testing the improvement of fit, has been carried out to know the significant variables. And find that a larger middle class influenced through the growing urbanization and tertiary school enrollment. It was also found out that middle plays a positive role in economic development by regressing the size of middle class on HDI, GDP per capita and gross capital formation (parameters of ii economic development). The estimates show the positive and significant relation between them. Further through path analysis technique the significance of direct and indirect paths between various variables is analyzed. A casual model is proposed showing that the growing urbanization and tertiary school enrollment leads to rising new middle class and further the higher size of middle class leads to effect positively the HDI, GDP per capita, gross capital formation. The model coming out to be over identified and the estimates revealed that variables in the model are significant and the R2 in every path is high. Showing that each variable in the model has its own significant importance important. But the overall model is coming out to be bad fit. This is the limitation of the study and may be due to less number of observation and paths taken in the model.
Growth and Equity in Fertilizer Subsidy in India
(Central University of Punjab, 2017) Singh,Karamjeet; Singla, Naresh
The present study examines the growth and performance and distribution of fertilizer subsidy among major states, crops and different farm size holdings in India. The CAGR used to measure the annual growth rate for multiple time periods of various variables in the study. The fertilizer subsidy has increased significantly in order to make sure the availability of fertilizers at an affordable price to farmers to encourage the consumption of fertilizers and to ensure the adequate returns on investment for entrepreneurs. The study shows that fertilizer subsidy has increased in actual terms but fertilizer subsidy as a percentage share of GDP showed both increasing and decreasing trends till 2008-09 but after that the fertilizer subsidy as a percentage share of GDP has been decreasing continuously. The study also calculated the distribution of fertilizers subsidy to examine the equity which showed the disparities in the distribution of fertilizers fertilizer among major states, crops and different farm size holdings. The coefficient of variation also showed the inconsistency in the distribution of fertilizer across major states. The study concluded that there is inequality in the distribution of fertilizer subsidy because the major share of subsidy cornered by only few states, few crops and few categories of farmers.
India UK Bilateral Trade: Trends, Patterns and Prospects.
(Central University of Punjab, 2017) Bhardwaj, Mandeep; Kaur, Sandeep
International trade acts as an important mean which contributes significantly to economic growth by opening domestic economy to the global level (Sun & Heshmati, 2010). Recently, the trend of South-South and North-North trade agreement has shown a changing landscape towards a North-South agreement. India has shown keen interest to have large global access by setting up its policy covering east as India- ASEAN FTA, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and India-EU FTA is under negotiation process since 2007. Now, BREXIT i.e. U.K exit from EU on 23rd of June 2016, has put before India one of the biggest opportunity to form FTA between India -U.K so as to enhance the trade and make their relation strong. The use of various indices in the study has shown that the trade competitiveness between India and U.K, supports Free Trade Agreement. As of Trade Complementarity and Trade Similarity Index has shown that both the nations have high complementarity in their trade pattern while dissimilarity in their export in the third country which will enhance the trade if FTA is signed between both the countries. For, the SMART Model analysis, it has been found that India would stand benefit when trade alone with United Kingdom than with European Union (excluding U.K) and India gains more with the United Kingdom under full liberalization than restricted trade.
Location determinants of indian outward foreign direct investment: A study of second generation of globalization
(Central University of Punjab, 2015) Singh, Satinder; Kaur, Sandeep
Institutional credit plays an important role in agricultural development as it enables the farmers to undertake new investments and/or use of modern agricultural technologies for enhancing agricultural production. The emphasis on the institutional credit is being placed since the beginning of planned development era in India. As a result, several institutional agencies such as cooperatives, regional rural banks (RRBs), scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) etc. are involved in disbursement of short and long term institutional credit. Besides, acceptance of Rural Credit Survey Committee Report (1954), nationalization of major commercial banks (1969 and 1980), establishment of RRBs (1975), establishment of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) (1982), the financial sector reforms (1991 onwards) etc. led to manifold increase in the flow of institutional credit in agriculture. Similarly, during post reform period, Special Agricultural Credit Plan (1994-95), initiating of Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) (1998- 99), and Doubling Agricultural Credit Plan within three years (2004) placed emphasis on increase flow of institutional credit. No doubt, these policy level changes have increased flow of institutional credit for agriculture, but many ii changes have also taken place among the various institutional sources in distribution of agricultural credit. It is also argued that large chunk of institutional credit has gone to those states, where green revolution took place and states have higher agricultural productivities than lower productivity states. The study is a step in this direction to examine the growth and pattern in flow of institutional credit in Indian agriculture by various agencies. The study is mainly based on various secondary data sources such as Handbook of Statistics of Indian Economy published by the Reserve Bank of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance, Economic Survey of India, etc. during 1980-81 to 2011-12. The structure of the sources of credit has witnessed a clear shift in favor of commercial banks. The share of investment credit in total credit has also declined, which may restrict the agricultural sector to realize its full potential. The study also points that institutional credit delivery to the agriculture sector still continues to be inadequate as about 30% of credit is financed by non-institutional agencies, which includes money lenders. SCBs are still hesitant to disburse agricultural credit to small and marginal farmers. There also exist large inter-state variations in distribution of agricultural credit per hectare and KCCs. Finally, the study concludes that efficiency in the credit delivery system in rural areas should be improved by revamping cooperative credit structure. Also, concerted efforts should also be made to increase the flow of indirect institutional credit for development of infrastructures such as irrigation, electricity, marketing, storage, extension services, etc which will go a long way in improving the productivity of the agricultural sector.
Monetary response to global financial crisis in india econometrics analysis
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Bhuyan, Biswabhushan; Singh, Kulwinder
This study has examined India's monetary policy response to global financial crisis by applying Taylor's rule with the aid of Autoregressive Distributed Lag model. It also investigates monetary policy response during pre global financial crisis period. The study has used quarterly data for pre-crisis (2001Q1 to 2008Q1) and post-crisis periods (2008Q2 to 2012Q4). All in all, it was revealed that Taylor's rule is more responsive to industrial output, exchange rate and inflation in short run as compared to long-run. However, monetary policy is responsive to inflation in industrial commodities in long-run. During post crisis period, it is responsive to output, inflation and exchange rate in short run whereas it has turned out to be non-responsive in the long-run. In addition to this, trends and perspectives of monetary policy in India were also analysed during the period 1970-71 to 2012-13.
Monitoring of mahatma gandhi national rural employment gurantee scheme in bathinda district of punjab
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Kaur, Rajpreet; Kahlon, A. S.
The Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of Government of India was introduced primarily to enhance the livelihood of households by providing 100 days employment to the adult members. It provides alternative source of livelihood which has impact on increasing income and alleviating poverty. However, the success of this Scheme depends upon its effective implementation. An attempt has been made in this study to highlight the violations of stipulated guidelines of the Act as also to assess the awareness level regarding rules and regulations among various stakeholders. The study also seeks to understand the overall impact of the Scheme on the rural workers and whether the MGNREGS scheme has led to gender empowerment. Both primary and secondary data was utilized for the analysis. Primary data was collected by administering schedules and conducting interviews while the secondary data was collected from various published official sources. Multistage sampling was utilized. Bathinda district was purposely selected for the study due to time and money constraint. Further, two blocks Talwandi Sabo and Nathana were selected on the basis of maximum number of employment days generated by the scheme v during the reference year 2012-13. Again, two villages namely Bangi-Ruldoo and Sema were randomly selected from Talwandi Sabo and Nathana blocks respectively. One worksite from each village was also visited to collect the necessary information. Non-MGNREGS workers as a control sample attributed relatively lower wages for MGNREGS works, irregularity of its work, delay in wage payments and non availability of advance payment as the reasons for not joining MGNREGS. This led to relatively smaller participation of workers in the study area. This study revealed that this scheme had an effective mechanism of registration, job card issuance, wage payment through banks, work provision was within the periphery of 5 km from village, equal wage payment to both men and women as also labour displacing machinery and contractors were not involved in the works. However, some violations of MGNREGA guidelines were observed in the study area i.e. only 8 per cent of the respondents were provided the stipulated 100 days of employment, lack of proper worksite facilities, non affixation of photos on job cards, non-issuance of receipt against work application and delay in wage payments. Moreover, it was found that there was a lack of awareness among MGNREGS workers about the facilities\guidelines and other provisions of MGNREGA whereas level of awareness among officials was satisfactory. However, the implementation of this scheme has resulted in women empowerment, generation of more employment opportunities and improvement in the income of workers. It is suggested that intensive monitoring/evaluation of MGNREGS should be done at the State/district level to ensure the proper implementation of the scheme.
Socio economic conditions and employment status of agricultural laboures in bathinda district of punjab
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Sharma, Honeymeet; Singla, Naresh
The structural transformation process in Punjab has reduced income generation in rural economy. The worst sufferers are marginal and small farmers and agricultural labourers. The principal mode of production is shifting from cultivation of operational holdings to wage labour employment. This type of structural change in rural labour employment has wider social, economic and political implications that draw serious attention. It is in this context that an attempt has been made to study the socio- economic conditions of agricultural labourers and their employment pattern in Punjab. The study has been carried out in Bathinda district of Punjab as it is a major cotton growing area and cotton is more labour intensive as compared to other crops such as paddy and wheat. A sample of 100 agricultural labourers was taken with 50 respondents from two blocks each. An analysis of socio - economic conditions of agricultural labourers shows that most of the agricultural labourers are illiterate, landless and unskilled and belonged to scheduled caste. Although they used electricity, but they have to either share it with their neighbours or stole it from main electricity wire. Similarly, they did not have any water supply connection, but they used water facilities from neighbours and common places such as dharmsala and gurudwaras etc. Only 27 ii per cent of agricultural labourers had cooking facilities. Level of indebtedness was higher among female agricultural labourers (46 per cent) as compared to that among male agricultural labourers (22 per cent). In order to come out of indebtedness, they had to sell their labour by working more on the landlord's farms. Male agricultural labourers carried out all the activities on farm, while female agricultural labourers did only some of the activities such as wheat harvesting, paddy transplanting, cotton picking, plucking of cotton bolls etc. All these works were mainly casual in nature. The average employment days in male agricultural labourers and female agricultural labourers were 234 and 110 in farm sector, and only 46 and 97 in non-farm sector respectively. There also existed wage disparities across Male agricultural labourers and female agricultural labourers. Thus, the study suggested that improving education and imparting skills will improve their bargaining power in labour market in both farm and non-farm sector. Since both male agricultural labourers and female agricultural labourers generally carried same work on farm, same wage should be provided to Male agricultural labourers and female agricultural labourers. Finally, the study concludes with some policy suggestions.
Socio-economic impact of Bt cotton in Bathinda district of Punjab
(Central University of Punjab, 2011) Kaur, Amandeep; Kahlon, A. S.
An attempt has been made in this study to assess the socio-economic impact of Bt cotton in Bathinda district of Punjab. The assessment is based mainly on primary data which is processed by applying regression analysis, Probit model and simple averages. On an average, 77.67 percent of total cropped area of the district is under Bt cotton cultivation as compared to 0.39 percent of Desi cotton cultivation. The decision of a farmer to adopt Bt cotton is significantly influenced by age and education of the farmer i.e. younger and better educated farmers prefer Bt cotton to Desi cotton. The study reveals that Bt cotton farmers are earning relatively higher net returns than that of Desi cotton farmers by Rs 19336 per acre due to relatively higher yield of 809 kg per acre as compared to Desi cotton yield of 420 kg per acre. The category wise analysis of Bt cotton farmers and Desi cotton farmers shows that farmers belonging to Others? category are earning more net returns than the Marginal and Small farmers. It was largely due to increased area under irrigation by Others? category of farmers. The social impact on the basis of perceptions of the sample farmers also revealed that Bt cotton is not adversely impacting health and reduced number of sprays has improved the quality of environment. Not a single farmer attributed the suicide cases to Bt cotton. Although Bt cotton cultivation is economically viable, yet higher seed cost hinders the pace of adoption by the Marginal and Small farmers. It is suggested that there is an urgent need for government to regulate the price of seeds of Bt cotton
Socio-economic impact of national rural health mission in jammu kashmir
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Lone, Rizwan Ahmed; Kahlon, A. S.
The majority of population of India lives in villages and the poverty is relatively more in rural areas as compared to urban. Health has a cumulative effect on individual's life through human capital formation but unfortunately this vulnerable population is deprived from their basic right of health care that makes India to loss its human assets in the form of high maternal mortality rate, high infant mortality rate and low life expectancy. These rural and poverty ridden population can access their basic right of health care from public sector. This requires sound public health care sector especially in rural areas. With a view to reduce the rural- urban gap in health care, Government of India launched National Rural Health Mission in 2005 which aimed at decentralization of public health care sector, removing horizontal and vertical imbalance in public health care sector. The main aim of this study was to assess the financial performance, human power augmentation and community participation for promoting health care sector in Kashmir division of Jammu and Kashmir State. One non- high focus Srinagar district and one high focus Kupwara district were randomly selected for comparative analysis of public health care sector. Both primary as well as secondary data were collected. Primary data were collected by administering different schedules for Community Health Centre, Primary Health Centre, Sub - Centre, Accredited Social Health Activist, Janani Suraksha Yojana beneficiaries, health manpower, households and Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committee. iv The allocation and utilisation of NRHM funds at State level have shown a mixed trend during the years 2005-06 to 2012-13. At the District level, there was relatively higher allocation to high focus district Kupwara as compared to non-high focus Srinagar district while in terms of utilisation there was marginal difference in utilisation between the two selected Districts. The percentage of JSY beneficiaries to total institutional deliveries was relatively higher in high focus District Kupwara (73.59%) while it was only 17.74% in non- high focus Srinagar district during 2008- 2012. The shortfall of health manpower was 8.55% in non- high focus District Srinagar while in high focus District Kupwara, the short fall of health manpower was 21.67%. At Block level, the shortfall of specialists as per Indian Public Health Standard at Community Health Centre Kralpora of high focus District Kupwara was 100% in Physician, Gynaecologist, Pediatrician and Dental surgeon while in Srinagar district all the health specialists were posted except the pediatrician. Further all the four sub centres had inadequate availability of medicine, water supply and electricity except Sub centre Nandpora. The stipulated guidelines were also violated as per NRHM norm of one ASHA per thousand population, marital status of ASHAs (married) and in terms of timely incentives (10th of every month). Also as per NRHM norm, none of the selected Accredited Social Health Activist got their medicine kits restocked during 2012-13. Under NRHM norm, every village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committee should be allocated Rs10000 per annum. However, it was found that all the four selected Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition committee (VHSNC) from both the Districts received only Rs 5000 per annum. Therefore, the functioning of VHSNC in promoting rural health was not satisfactory in terms of generating awareness about NRHM and also regarding sanitation at the village level. It was also observed that there was a lack of coordination among the officials of NRHM. All in all, this study has highlighted some violations of NRHM guidelines in terms of financial and manpower stipulations. However the launching of NRHM in the State has brought about significant improvement in public health care sector yet it is not up to the Indian Public Health Standard.
Socio-Economic Implications of Agrarian land acquisition: A case study of Talwandi Sabo power limited, Mansa ( district).
(Central University of Punjab, 2016) Kaur, Jashanpreet; Kaur, Sandeep
India has been facing many problems for the acquisition of the land for the establishment of developmental projects. The agrarian land acquisition has become a serious issue for this. Most of the studies have tried to find out the immediate impact of the land acquisition. After the land acquisition, what type of problems being faced by the land dispossessors have been ignored by many studies. Therefore, the present study has tried to analyze the major requirements and problems faced by the people after the development of the thermal plant. The study also examines the pre and post struggle faced by the land dispossessors. The study concerns with the impact of the large-scale agrarian land acquisition in the context of economic conditions, environment, and health of the local livelihoods. It was in September 2008, the Government of Punjab inaugurated a thermal power plant of 1980 megawatt with three units 660 MW of each in the Banawala village in Mansa district. The 2100 acres agrarian land area was acquired by the State Government of Punjab for setting up thermal power plant from four villages named Banawala, Peron, Raipur and Talwandi Aklia in Mansa district. More than 80 percent landholding villagers were not in favour of the construction of thermal power plant on their land. In Banawala village, the total land is 2900 acre out of which 1450.375 acres was acquired under v TSPL, people have lost their half proportion of land in the process of land acquisition. Total 130 respondents were surveyed out of which 70 land dispossessors, 30 labourers through snowball sampling from purposively selected four villages and 30 employees were selected conveniently from the thermal plant. The majority of the people engaged in agricultural activities before and after land acquisition but the real income of farmers has decreased after land acquisition due to a reduction in the size of their agricultural land and also their engagement in the other allied activities. As a result size of land holdings, return from the crops, 'leased in' and ,leased out, activities, the number of diary animals, agricultural particulars also adversely affected. The average size of land holdings has declined after the land acquisition i.e. from 4.05 hectare to 2.46 hectare. Total owned land has decreased from 283.53 hectares to 120.39 hectares. The compensation amount given to the farmers ranged between from Rs. 9.40 lakhs per acre to Rs. 15.40 lakhs per acre, including displacement allowances, which was less than the announced amount. The study concludes that the problems of land acquisition are due to follow reasons: paying less compensation to the land owners, land acquired for the private projects in the name of public purpose, not providing the alternative source of income to the affected people and ignoring the agricultural labourers. The study suggests that the compensation amount being decided by the government should be based on the actual market price. It also suggests that the government should re-evaluate the existing land acquisition norms in India. The agricultural land acquired for the purpose of development projects will make the agricultural population unemployed due to the multiples externalities of the projects, which are unskilled to fetch other jobs apart from aggravating the problem of food security in future.
Socio-economic implications of pesticide use in bathinda district of the punjab state
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Kaur, Harvinder; Bhatia, Sandeep Kaur
The excessive use of the pesticides in agriculture has not only increased production cost but also led to negative externalities. The present study is an attempt to analyse the socio-economic implications of pesticide use in Bathinda district known as cotton belt as it has maximum area under cotton cultivation. Among eight blocks, two blocks namely Talwandi Sabo having maximum area under cotton cultivation and Phul block having maximum area under paddy cultivation had been selected for the study. Therefore, in the present study entitled "Socio-Economic Implications of Pesticide use in Bathinda District of the Punjab State", an attempt has been are made to access efficiency of two farms growing cotton and paddy and also to find out the impact of pesticides on gross returns of the crops and also on health of farmers and agricultural labourers. The farmers and agricultural labourers engaged in growing cotton and paddy were randomly selected across two villages i.e. Laleana and Rayia respectively. The primary data was collected from 120 farmers and 80 agricultural labourers through structure schedules . The data was analysed using Data Envelopment Analysis programme, Simple regression analysis, Multiple (Step-up) regression analysis and Probit model. The rate of return from pesticides for cotton crop for large farmers (Rs. 13.40) was less than medium farmers (Rs. 14.31) and small farmers (Rs. 15.44). It was the highest for small farmers (Rs. 15.44) showing that it decreases with the increase in the expenditure on pesticides. Likewise for paddy, rate of return was less for large farmers (Rs. 18.56) as they incurred more on pesticides while the highest for small farmers (Rs. 22.67). Regarding the impact of different inputs iv used for returns of cotton, pesticides were significant and positive input while for paddy; labour was significant and positive variable. The result of technical efficiency reveals that cotton farms were less efficient than paddy farms. Usage of pesticides had harmful effect upon the health of farmers and agricultural labourers indicating that those were using manual backup sprayer face many problems. The farmers should be educated to identify the threshold level of pest infestation and take measures only after that instead of blindly following the neighbouring farmers while applying pesticides.
Structural Changes and Pattern of Agricultural Development in Kerala
(Central University of Punjab, 2015) V.P. Sanitha; Singa, Naresh
Structural transformation is a process by which the relative importance of different sectors and activities of an economy changes over time. The Kerala economy is also undergoing the transformation from traditional backward agrarian economy to a modern service sector led economy. The significance of the present study lies in the fact that the whole process of structural transformation of the Kerala economy has not so far been addressed in a detailed and comprehensive manner in the earlier studies. No specific attempt has been made to relate the pattern of agricultural development with the structural transformations in the Kerala economy. In this study, an attempt has been made to examine the structural changes and growth performance and pattern of agricultural development in Kerala economy. The study mainly covers a period of 1980-81 to 2010-11. The study has found that the share of primary sector in GSDP has declined sharply, but the corresponding decline in employment share has not taken place. Moreover, the excess labour force has moved from primary sector to secondary sector, thus causing abundance in secondary sector and there was only a meager increase in share of income from secondary sector in GSDP. The share of income from services sector in GSDP has increased sharply, but it failed to register a sharp increase in employment. Thus, it follows that Kerala did not experience a sequential growth process (as propounded by structural change growth theories) as the service sector led growth did not provide employment matching with its income and the process of industrialization failed to take off as share of income from secondary sector did not commensurate with the level of employment in the sector. The changes in land use pattern in Kerala were unprecedented during the past decades in terms of deforestation, increase in area as current fallow, increase in area under non-agricultural land, decrease in both net area sown and gross cropped area resulting in decline in cropping intensity. Irrigation intensity of only 20 per cent points that about 80 per cent of the cropped area is rain-fed. Kerala witnessed shift in the copping pattern in favour of non-food crops at the expense of food crops as crops such as pulses, rice, tapioca, cashewnut, ginger were replaced by commercial cash crops like rubber and coconut. The declining cultivable area, predominance of tiny and fragmented holdings, decline in work force in terms of reduction in agricultural labour and cultivator has made farming more vulnerable. Finally, the study has suggested some policy suggestions such as training to labour moved to secondary sector, keeping a check on the area under food crops, bringing more area under assured irrigation, strict law enforcing mechanism to avoid unnecessary conversion of agricultural land to non-farming activities, creation of ‘Labour Banks’ to revive agricultural economy of the Kerala.
Structural changes and pattern of agricultural development in punjab economy
(Central University of Punjab, 2014) Rani, Poonam; Singla, Naresh
This study analyses the structural changes and pattern of agricultural development witnessed by Punjab economy over 1981-2010 period. Typically, it presents a quantitative analysis of sectoral trends in Punjab economy and its relative economic performance with major Indian states. The study finds that Punjab is no more an agrarian state. In sectoral distribution of GSDP, share of primary sector in GSDP has declined from 40 per cent in 1980-81 to 25 per cent in 2009-10, while that of secondary and tertiary sectors has increased from 17 per cent to 30.8 per cent and 42.9 per cent to 44 per cent respectively during the same period. The GSDP growth rate during 1980-81 to 2009-10 was only 3 per cent in primary sector as against 6.6 per cent in secondary and 4.76 per cent in tertiary sector. The work force engaged in agriculture (cultivators and labourers) declined from 58 per cent in 1981 to 35 per cent in 2011. The decline in capital and development expenditure and rise in non-development expenditure has a capacity to crowd out private and public investment. The relative economic performance vis-a-vis other major Indian states shows that Punjab has slipped from a leading state to a laggard state in terms of per capita income. The down turn in economic growth ii was more severe during post reform period. The pattern of agricultural development in shows that Punjab economy has developed into highly mechanized agriculture with input usage of the highest order. There is stagnation in production of major food gain crops in Punjab. Thus, there is need to rejuvenate the Punjab economy by diversifying agricultural sector to more commercial agri- business sector which will also take care of industrialization, particularly in rural areas.
A study of youth unemployment and Labour force participation in Odisha
(Central University of Punjab, 2017) Pattayat, Shiba Shankar; Parida, Jajati Keshari
This study attempts to explore the recent trends and patterns of youth unemployment, sectoral employment patterns and the factors influencing youth labour force participation in Odisha. This study also attempts to project the size and composition of labour force and sectoral employments by 2019-2020 to know the size of demand-supply gap and hence to suggest appropriate policy measures. This study is based on both secondary and primary data. The major sources of secondary data are NSS (various rounds) and Census of India. NSS data is used to calculate various development statistics, whereas census population data is used to adjust the NSS estimates and obtain absolute figures. Moreover, a primary survey is conducted in Balasore district of Odisha to explore the employability pattern of ITI pass-outs. The major findings of the study suggest that youth unemployment is increasing over the last three decades in Odisha. It is high among the students who passed the secondary and above level of education. The unemployment rate among ITI pass-outs is also quite high. The unemployment rate among ITI pass-outs is higher than that of general education pass outs. The falling trend of agriculture employment due to mechanisation on one hand and non-availability of jobs in industry and service sectors on the other hand are responsible for high unemployment in Odisha. Within non-farm sector, the sub sectors like construction, labour intensive manufacturing (basic and fabricated metal, plastic products food and beverages, wood and paper products, and textile and apparel) and within service sector, subsectors like arts and entertainment, retail trade, transportation and storage, and education are deriving employment growth in recent years. vi Furthermore, this study finds that poverty and household income distress are playing an important role in the process of youth labour force participation in Odisha From the demand and supply projection of labour force, it can be concluded that the demand for labour would increase by (at most in the best possible scenario) by 4.5 lakhs per annum, whereas the supply of labour would likely to increase by 6.5 lakhs per annum. Hence, a gap of 2 lakhs per annum would be generated within labour market in Odisha. Therefore, in this context, it is suggested that the policy measure that focuses on growth of manufacturing sector along with development of social sector including education and health sectors would have greater potential for generating employment opportunities. And thereby it would help sustain the growth of jobs and the structural transformation process which started during 2004-05 in Odisha.