Prelims

Half Title Page

Social Sector Development and Inclusive Growth in India

Series Page

DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES ON CREATING A FAIRER SOCIETY

A fair society is one that is just, inclusive and embracing of all without any barriers to participation based on sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, ethnicity, age, class, ability or any other social difference. One where there is access to healthcare and education, technology, justice, strong institutions, peace and security, social protection, decent work and housing. But how can research truly contribute to creating global equity and diversity without showcasing diverse voices that are underrepresented in academia or paying specific attention to the Global South?

Including books addressing key challenges and issues within the social sciences which are essential to creating a fairer society for all with specific reference to the Global South, Diverse Perspectives on Creating a Fairer Society amplifies underrepresented voices – showcasing Black, Asian and minority ethnic voices, authorship from the Global South and academics who work to amplify diverse voices.

With the primary aim of showcasing authorship and voices from beyond the Global North, the series welcomes submissions from established and junior authors on cutting-edge and high-level research on key topics that feature in global news and public debate, specifically from and about the Global South in national and international contexts. Harnessing research across a range of diversities of people and places to generate previously unheard insights, the series offers a truly global perspective on the current societal debates of the twenty-first century – bringing contemporary debate in the social sciences from diverse voices to light.

Previous Titles

• Disaster, Displacement and Resilient Livelihoods: Perspectives from South Asia

  Edited by M. Rezaul Islam

• Pandemic, Politics, and a Fairer Society in Southeast Asia: A Malaysian Perspective

  Edited by Syaza Shukri

• Empowering Female Climate Change Activists in the Global South: The Path Toward Environmental Social Justice

  Edited by Peggy Ann Spitzer

• Gendered Perspectives of Restorative Justice, Violence and Resilience: An International Framework

  Edited by Bev Orton

Forthcoming Titles

• Youth Development in South Africa: Harnessing the Demographic Dividend

  Edited by Botshabelo Maja and Busani Ngcaweni

• The Socially Constructed and Reproduced Youth Delinquency in Southeast Asia: Advancing Positive Youth Involvement in Sustainable Futures

  Edited by Jason Hung

• Debt Crisis and Popular Social Protest in Sri Lanka: Investigating Citizenship, Development and Democracy Within Global North-South Dynamics

  Edited by S. Janaka Biyanwila

• Critical Reflections on the Internationalisation of Higher Education in the Global South

  Edited by Emnet Tadesse Woldegiorgis and Cheryl Qiumei Yu

Title Page

Social Sector Development and Inclusive Growth in India

BY

ISHU CHADDA

Amritsar Group of Colleges, India

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2023

Copyright © 2023 Ishu Chadda.

Published under exclusive license by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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Contact: permissions@emeraldinsight.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83753-187-5 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83753-186-8 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83753-188-2 (Epub)

Dedication Page

Dedicated to my dear husband Mr Gaurav Khanna and my beloved son Hiren Khanna

Contents

List of Figures and Tables

Figures

Tables

About the Author

Dr Ishu Chadda is presently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Management Studies at Amritsar Group of Colleges, Amritsar. She received her Master’s & PhD from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. The title of her thesis is ‘Impact of Social Sector Development and Inclusive Growth in India since Economic Reforms: Challenges and Prospects with Special Reference to Punjab’. She teaches a range of UG and PG courses in the management area. Her research articles have appeared in reputed international and national journals published by Emerald, Springer, Sage, etc. Her areas of interest are public financial management, inclusive growth, sustainable development, social sector development, research methodology, and econometrics. She has been involved with reputed journals as a peer-reviewer and guest editor.

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge those, whose assistance and contribution have been instrumental in the realisation of this book, which otherwise would not have been possible. I feel fortunate that a large number of people have contributed to and inspired me during my research work but all cannot be mentioned, however, none is forgotten.

First and foremost, I bow my head with folded hands in reverence to the Almighty God for granting me the wisdom, health, strength, and energy to work on this research task and enabling me to reach far beyond my restricted ambit of thoughts and actions.

I wish to acknowledge, with a great sense of gratitude, the guidance, inspiration, and encouragement, which I received from my mentor and supervisor Dr Vikram Chadha, Professor, Punjab School of Economics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, in accomplishing this work. Despite his additional academic commitments and other responsibilities, he spared his valuable time to solve my difficulties. This work is the reward of his blessings.

I would always be indebted to my parents, Mr Parveen Chadda and Mrs Anu Chadda, for their endless and unconditional sacrifices for the better lives of their children. Words cannot express the gratitude that I owe to them. They have always been a guiding light and an ideal for me and my life would have been on a different plane, had they not cared to provide me with the best educational facilities right from my childhood.

My profound thanks go to my mother-in-law Mrs Prabha Khanna for her constant support. I am thankful to my father-in-law Late Mr Vinod Khanna for showering his blessings from heaven.

I am grateful to my friends Dr Deepika Kumari, Dr Niharika Mahajan, Ms Dilpreet Kaur, and Ms Simranpreet Kaur as they were always there to motivate me whenever I went through emotional ups and downs during my research work.

I want to express my thanks to Sage and Springer Publishing House for publishing my work in their respective journals namely The Indian Economic Journal and Journal of Social and Economic Development.

I am thankful to Emerald Publishing House for providing me with this opportunity and guiding me at every stage of this publication.

Dr Ishu Chadda

Introduction

Brief summary: The basic research question lurking in the study is whether the growth strategies based on the human development approach, that is, social sector development would render growth inclusive. The present work is very comprehensive considering all components of the social sector in aggregate and also covering both financial and physical aspects of the social sector.

Full book description: Two broad approaches to economic development had been experimented within India, viz. trickle-down approach and human development approach. After independence, India, till the Fourth Five Year Plan, experimented with the first approach which was advocated by Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru, P. C. Mahalanobis, and Jagdish Bhagwati. Even when India based its development policy on the Nehruvian approach involving high investment, heavy industrialisation, import substitution, and indigenisation of goods and services, even then employment generation and income growth and redistribution were not kept at the bay. India intended to involve people in its strategic approach to development. Elimination of monopolies, prevention of concentration of economic power, socio-economic justice, and participative growth has all veered around the poorest of the poor. The failures of the trickle-down approach further strengthened India’s resolution to reinforce the inclusiveness of growth.

Dr Amartya Sen, Jean Dreze, and Brahmachanda, on the other hand, continued to profess the human development approach to economic development by reinforcing the social sector development; which India started emphasising since Fifth Five Year Plan. The stress had been laid on strengthening and expanding the social sectors with the premise that it would boost the inclusive growth agenda by directly increasing the income and productivity of the people even at the lowest rung, manifesting in equal access to employment and economic opportunities, and equal participation in decision-making and reduction in poverty and inequality. The earlier studies focussed on the development of the social sector and its components in India. Only partial-level studies on the social sector have been done and these have been limited to one or two components majorly.

Both social sector development and inclusive growth are synergetic. Social sector development stimulates the achievement of inclusive growth, while the realisation of inclusive growth manifests in social sector development. Government programmes and policies are framed for bringing the weaker sections into the mainstream. Social sector development in concomitance with inclusive growth came into the limelight because of the concern of policymakers towards abject poverty and deprivation of masses and to promote democratic-based economic growth.

India emphasised high economic growth, spontaneously eventuating in inclusiveness. Earlier it was realised that literacy, education, health, and maternal and infant mortality rates had shown improvement, but at a marginal pace. The sustained development of India was considered imperative so that growth could be equitable and inclusive.

Subject/topic description: This study considers the various World Bank reports and various views of scholars on this subject to quantify the inclusiveness in India. The study further intends to highlight the major dimensions of inclusive development like poverty alleviation, employment generation, and access to equal participation.

The majority of earlier studies consider the relationship between economic growth and government spending in India. But none of the studies look at the relationship between social sector development and inclusive growth in India at a macro-level. This type of study has been conducted to scrutinise the long- and short-run association between the social sector and inclusive growth in India using the autoregressive distributed lag approach.