The book under review is an edited collection of eight papers
presented at a seminar on “Structural Adjustment and Poverty in India:
Policy and Research Issues”, and is Volume 17 in the Indo-Dutch studies
on Development Alternatives. The book evaluates the impact of economic
reforms on poverty alleviation in India. In the “Introduction”, the
editors describe the main theme of the book and propose some policy
measures for poverty alleviation in the light of the findings of the
papers included in the book. The paper, “Structural Adjustment in
India—What about Poverty Alleviation?”, by Pieter A. van Stuijvenberg,
evaluates the impact of India’s Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) on
the poor and suggests some policy corrections to mitigate the adverse
effects of this adjustment on the poor. He observes an improvement in
the balance-of-payments position and foreign exchange reserves without a
simultaneous fall in gross domestic product under the SAP. His major
concerns are the large size and composition of fiscal deficits
(dominated by revenue deficits). The large size of fiscal deficits,
according to van Stuijvenberg, drive up real interest rates and endanger
investment-led growth. He observes that social indicators of the social
safety net, employment, and rural development programmes have not
improved much due to expenditure cuts on rural infrastructural
investments. He suggests a reduction in the size and composition of the
public sector, elimination of all explicit and implicit subsidies, and
discouraging rent-seeking behaviour for a successful implementation of
economic reforms.