There are so many government welfare programmes for the Girl Child. Yet, in most rural areas the struggle for livelihoods means that families are dependent on the age-old traditional means (as in the photo below from a village in Mahabubnagar Village of Andhra Pradesh).
One wonders if there are fundamental problems in the manner in which the welfare programmes are structured. Or, is simply a case of problems that arise when there is an attempt to push schemes with a 'one-size-fits-all' top-down approach? Everybody other than the beneficiaries seems to know what exactly should be given to them. In other words, does it simply indicate that we have lost our way due to excessive dictation from above.
Over the past 10 years, continuously rising Agricultural Commodity Prices and high internal migration and, with it rising agricultural wages has largely ironed the cracks in rural society. Imagine, the consequences once agricultural commodity prices start to decline. A falling agricultural commodity prices will invariably lead to a decline in rural wages. High levels of indebtedness means that it almost certain to create a disaster.
One wonder what may trigger such changes? Or, is it better that there is no collapse in agricultural commodity prices?
