Co-operatives were first introduced in India under the Co-operative Credit Societies Act, 1904. As in many other countries, co-operatives started as a means of ensuring for the poorly-equipped citizens advantages which better placed persons were able to command by their own individual resources. After Independence in 1947, co-operatives, as instruments of economic development of the disadvantaged, particularly in the rural areas, received considerable emphasis during the successive Five Year Plans. The founders of planning in the country saw a village panchayat, a village co-operative and a village school, as the trinity of institutions on which a self-reliant and a just economic and social order was to be built. The non-exploitative character of co-operatives, voluntary nature of their membership, principle of one-man, one-vote, decentralised decision-making and self-imposed curbs on profits eminently qualified them as instruments of development combining the advantages of private ownership with public good. Over the years, co-operative societies, apart from expansion in numbers and size, have assumed growing diversity of functions. Besides agricultural societies of all types (viz. credit, processing, marketing, farming, irrigation, consolidation), there are industrial co-operatives, labour societies, consumers' co-operatives in rural as well as in urban areas, housing societies, processing factories and urban banks. This book provides a comprehensive account of the historical evolution of co-operatives in India, their problems, policy measures to strengthen them and their role in the changed scenario in the context of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation.

Food security is one of the major components of social security. It consists of ensuring that food is available at all times, that all persons have means of and access to it, that it is nutritionally adequate in terms of quantity, quality and variety, and that it is acceptable within the given culture. There are three elements in this definition, availability, access and suitability. In recent years, nutrition has been considered as part of food security. The National Development Council (NDC) in its 53rd meeting held on May 29, 2007 adopted a resolution to launch a Food Security Mission -- comprising rice, wheat and pulses -- to increase the production of rice by 10 million tons, wheat by 8 million tons and pulses by 2 million tons by the end of the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12). Accordingly, a Centrally-sponsored scheme, viz. National Food Security Mission (NFSM) was launched from 2007-08 to operationalise the above mentioned resolution. National Food Security Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 22 December 2011. As per the provisions of the Bill, it is proposed to provide 7 kilograms of foodgrains per person per month belonging to priority households at prices not exceeding 3 per kilogram of rice, 2 per kilogram of wheat, and 1 per kilogram of coarse grains and to general households not less than 3 kilogram of foodgrains per person per month at prices not exceeding 50 percent of the minimum support price (MSP) for wheat and coarse grains and derived MSP for rice. The present volume consists of 15 research papers on the subject of food security, contributed by scholars in the field. The issues raised in different papers add constructively to the current debate on this sensitive subject of national importance.

In the global market economy, the ability of nations to create, absorb and commercialise innovations determines their competitiveness. Innovation is closely linked to the creation of wealth in a modern knowledge economy. Value addition to raw materials in India through applications of technology has remained low compared to other nations such as Israel, Finland, Japan, and South Korea. Increasing labour productivity through technology change and innovation is the main route for the creation of additional wealth to enterprises and better wages to employees. Since Independence, India has endeavoured to bring economic and social change through science and technology. The visionaries who led the growth of innovation and technology in India were convinced that such an approach could play an important role in transforming India in to a modern, industrialised society. Experience and results show that this confidence was well placed. There is a vast untapped potential in India for wealth creation by increasing the levels of innovation content in the entire economic development activities of the country. It is a tall call but an essential one, if the current levels of growth are to be maintained. This book contains 15 research papers, contributed by experts on the subject, which provide deep insights into the interface between poverty reduction, development and innovations.