The Indian economy has experienced exponential growth in the last decade, but the rural poor still remain an issue of national concern. Additionally, it is a widely shared view that fast-paced economic growth could easily exacerbate existing iniquities in a stratified society like India's if the growth is not inclusive. Apart from income inequality, persistent differences in access to public infrastructure and social services like education and health are also significant concerns for India. Without accountable institutions that deliver public goods and services to the whole community it may be difficult to create conditions for the rural poor to escape the clutches of poverty by taking advantage of the economic opportunities opened up by globalised markets. Committed to the cause of inclusive growth, the 73rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution sought to decentralise rural governance, and subsequently service delivery, in order to enhance effectiveness.

The broad objectives of this study refer to analysing the impact of introducing comprehensive goods and services tax (GST) on economic growth and international trade; changes in rewards to the factors of production; and output, prices, capital, employment, efficiency and international trade at the sectoral level. The results and conclusions of this study are comparative static in nature and may not be interpreted as forecasts of the variables under analysis.

NCAER and Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), London, jointly organised a conference on "India in the G20: Macro policy coordination, financial sector regulation and global reforms" in New Delhi on June 1, 2009. The event was supported by a grant from the British High Commission in India.

The conference brought together economists from Europe and India to discuss the global initiatives taken till date to stymie further economic slowdown and suggest conditions for the revival of growth. The current global economic crisis has led to a range of responses by the individual countries as well as some collective international responses. The G20, at its April summit in London, had proposed a number of measures aimed at securing the reforms of the global financial system, strengthening institutions and, most importantly, preventing protectionism as a knee-jerk course of action. A fuller understanding of these proposals and alternatives is necessary not only to ensure revival of economic activity now but also to minimize the risks of recurrence of the present crisis in the future.

Freely downloadable public use data files are now available for the India Human Development Survey 2005 (IHDS), a nationally representative, multi-topic survey of 41,554 households in 1503 villages and 971 urban neighborhoods across India. Two one-hour interviews in each household covered health, education, employment, economic status, marriage, fertility, gender relations, and social capital. Children aged 8-11 completed short reading, writing and arithmetic tests. Additional village, school, and medical facility data will be available later.

Data files and documentation can be downloaded for free from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR): www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/22626.xml. While registration is required, the data are available at no cost. 

For further information see the IHDS web pages: www.ihds.umd.edu and www.ncaer.org. 

IHDS was jointly organized by researchers from the University of Maryland and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi. It was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.