Working Paper: 550

Agrarian Distress: Role of Political Regimes in Kerala

Ance Teresa Varghese

 

Abstract

Agrarian distress is an unabated issue, and has raised concerns regarding the role of the political regimes that come into power through the democratic method in responding to it. This paper is an effort to understand how the state of Kerala, with its dynamic political fronts, has over the years addressed the concerns of its farming population. The paper raises certain questions over the effectiveness and real motives of the initiatives taken by the political regimes. With the help of both secondary as well as empirical data, the paper argues that the political regimes have aptly identified the distress causing factors of marginal and small farmers and initiated several agrarian policies and schemes over the years. However, there are still substantial concerns in terms of the implementation of these initiatives. The plight of the agricultural labourers has not received adequate attention.

 

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