The first of a series of eSSays dossiers on issues of public concern. Guest editor: M.H. Suryanarayana. Contents: Poverty Line: Pursuit of an Elusive Minimum by M.H. Suryanarayana Fixing Poverty vs. Fixing the Poverty Line by Anirudh Krishna Agriculture: Is it a Destination for the Poor? by R S...

Jharkhand state is carved out from Bihar state in 2000. The state is rich in mineral resources and poor in agricultural production. More than 75% of work force is engaged in agriculture, but generates only 20% of state’s GDP. About 45% area is under non-agricultural use and 32% is culturable...

Although the high rate of urbanization and the high incidence of rural poverty are two distinct features of many developing countries, we still do not know the effects of the former on the latter. We address this issue by exploring the mechanisms through which urbanization may alleviate rural...

Rural livelihoods depend extensively on water resources. Continued climate change may put the lives and livelihoods of rural poor under greater risk, due to lack of water. Yet poverty is a multifaceted and complex issue, as there are numerous factors which lead to poverty. To presume that there...