Transforming India's Agrarian Society in a Post-COVID World: Prospects and Challenges

ABSTRACT

The need for change in India's agrarian sector came into sharp focus with the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper traces the imperatives that have shaped the trajectory of the development of the rural economy in post-independence India including the social, cultural and political matrix within which the processes and activities of the rural economy are carried out. It also explores the possibilities of social, cultural and political change based on a perspective that seeks to reconcile the imperatives of unity and social justice with a practical reading of the ground reality in India's villages. The paper suggests reform in social, cultural and political structures and practices at the village level along with economic prescriptions such as increasing the marketability of agricultural produce and creating jobs in the manufacturing sector to absorb workers displaced from the agricultural sector. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.