West Bengal Human Development Report 2004

Abstract

The report will have a particular focus on the nature and Impact of the two major public initiatives which have characterised the state in the past 26 years: land reform and decentralisation. The central questions to be addressed are: how have these initiatives and the processes they have unleased affected human development and the conditions of life of the people of the state? What specific effects have they had? Why have the positive effects not been even more pronounced? What explains the differences across regions and districts within the state in this regard? What are the factors constraining human development in the state at present and how can they be overcome?