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The quality of institutions indicates the level of economic development in the country. Institutions are a part of a system that is based on human interactions and that leads to the generation of incentives. These incentives can deal with uncertainties and foster economic, social, political growth, provided the human interactions are moderated well. This paper reflects on the strength of the interventionalist institutions like cooperatives in India and promotes institution building for a better future. The base of the paper focuses on the lessons learnt from dairy cooperatives in Gujarat state and discusses the current situation of the cooperatives and challenges faced by them. The cooperatives in India have been old institutions with a great history of success as also failures. Though there are various types of cooperatives in India, the dairy cooperatives have been able to gain more attention in the international market due to the Operation Floods I, II, and III. India has secured its position as one of the largest milk producers in the world. At present, India produces 20% of the total milk production in the world. This paper is a blend and analysis of theoretical perspectives and ground realities of the dairy cooperative sector in India. The paper follows theoretical perspectives from institutional theory to analyse the present scenario of dairy cooperatives in India. It addresses the gaps in the dairy cooperative development sector with an in‐depth analysis of ground realities and contributes to future policy formulation and interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) is a trade union founded in 1972 to organize women in the informal sector in the western Indian state of Gujarat for better working conditions and social security provisions. The Gujarat Mahila Housing SEWA Trust (MHT) and the SEWA Bank are independently registered SEWA sister organizations that facilitate self-employed women's access to housing and financial services, respectively. This paper seeks to document and critically analyze the experiences of MHT and SEWA Bank in partnering with the state, the private sector, funding agencies, urban local bodies and other NGOs in developing and delivering housing, water and sanitation programs for low-income urban families living in slums. Using MHT as a case study, this paper will shed light upon challenges and opportunities NGOs may face while collaborating with partners with different core philosophies, motivations, working styles, strengths and constraints. The paper also makes recommendations that would enable different actors to play an optimal role in partnerships designed to improve the living and working conditions of the poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analytical perspective of the human development scenario in Gujarat on the basis of the conventional Human Development Index. The paper analyses the change in the human development situation over time and variation in the human development situation across constituent districts. The analysis uses the decomposition methodology to analyse the relative contribution of different dimensions of human development to the prevailing human development situation. The analysis reflects both positive and negative aspects of human development in Gujarat. The human development situation in Gujarat continues to be well above the national average but the improvement in the human development situation has been tardy in recent years. Moreover, inter-district disparity in human development situation is quite pervasive in the state. Eliminating inter-district disparity can contribute significantly in hastening the pace of human progress in the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines livelihood conditions and explores policy options for mitigating poverty among tribal communities in Gujarat state, which is experiencing rapid economic growth and widening disparities where tribals are the most poor and deprived. While labour force diversification and migration are important coping mechanisms, these alone may not help lift a large number of the poor out of the poverty trap, which to a large extent is linked to degradation and lack of proper entitlement for managing and using forest resources among these communities. Forest-based livelihood options assume special significance especially in the wake of the emerging policy framework for adaptation and mitigation of climate change, where the main thrust could be on combining regeneration and conservation of forests with right kind of incentives for ensuring sustainable management and use of forest resources within the region. The mechanism of ‘compensated conservation’ proposed by India could prove very useful in this context. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an abstract of the study "Generalization in Rural Development: Eleven Villages in South Gujarat, India," by Shanti George.

Four decades ago the Indian states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu had identical scores on the human development index. Both states have since experienced similar rates of economic growth and Gujarat has received more foreign investment, but Tamil Nadu has witnessed much stronger advances in human development. What explains this divergence? Through comparative historical, statistical and public policy analysis and interviews, we conclude that the implementation of government policies as a manifestation of political ideology and the quality of public administration have played a defining role in explaining Gujarat’s more lopsided and Tamil Nadu’s more balanced human development trajectories. Our findings suggest that a more egalitarian ideology and higher quality of public administration have been crucial to Tamil Nadu’s success in simultaneously improving human and economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ABSTRACT This article explores transformations of development practice after economic reforms, through an empirical account from Gujarat, western India - the country's poster-state of neoliberal reforms. It draws upon ethnographic fieldwork on the Hariyali watershed development intervention and the delivery of state-sponsored microcredit through the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana programme in Dahod district, eastern Gujarat. This study of development practice reveals the ascendancy of market rationalities in development agencies; the rise of contracting and subcontracting by a restructured rural bureaucracy; the state's devolution of policy implementation to local political actors; and the deployment of self-governance techniques, specifically notation and inscription technologies, to create self-regulating development subjects. Springing from transformations within the state itself, these changes constitute fundamental shifts in the governance of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores knowledge and practices of family planning among the tribal population of south Gujarat, India. The authors examine the reasons for discontinuation and non-use of various modern contraceptive methods by tribals and draw contrasts with practices in the urban population. They consider the roles of women, family members, local leaders, and effective communication, along with NGOs and the private sector, and make recommendations for increasing access to and usage of various family-planning methods by the tribals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]