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Study in rural credit done in four districts of Rajasthan

B. R. Ambedkar was a prominent humanistic philosopher in India in the twentieth century. He was a humanistic economist, anthropologist, lawyer, social reformer and political leader who played a pivotal role in making modern India. As a humanistic economist who pioneered analysing economic development challenges, he focused on human dignity, liberty and justice to achieve inclusive development in India. He found that economic inequality, poverty and exploitation resulted from social inequality and employed plural and normative economic analysis methods to establish justice in practice in the Indian economy and even society. He believed that through social, economic and political institutional reforms, an equitable society could be achieved. He was against capitalism and the centralization of economic power; he promoted the egalitarian state and alternative economies. He believed that without democratic institutions, distributive justice could not be achieved, which is the source of human well-being and the flourishment of human lives.

Ambedkar was a multifaceted personality who made deep impression on the social-political-economic life of India of his times. Ambedkar provided valuable guidance on the socio-political-economic platform in colonial India and independent India as well; yet economists have generally ignored his contributions to India. In this context, this article examines his significant role in federal finance, which is an important branch of economics and makes an effort to understand and evaluate the process of its development and his contribution to it. He had played a major role in a newborn country like India. He had been one of the contributors to the Constitution of India and had contributed towards the development of the federal finance system in independent India. His main insistence on the federal finance system was for economic welfare of the people with the establishment of such an economic system from the local to centre levels, which could progressively raise their economic level without jeopardizing their interests.

With globalization and spread of Internet the world is becoming a big mart with consumers shopping for best value of money across political boundaries. This is opening a global customer base for the product and service providers. Developing countries too are using this opportunity to create their own competitive advantages. Information Technology sector is already witnessing the power of competitive and differential advantage of developing nations and healthcare is emerging as another potential area. The health services at reasonable prices - at least in comparison to the developed countries, are attracting large number of people from across the globe to a few select destinations. Globally this market is estimated to be to the tune of US$ 40 billion growing at the rate of 15 per cent per annum. India is the new entrant in the field that has seen an upward trend in attracting the foreign tourists for medical purposes in the recent years and is counted among potential frontrunners. While on the one hand its medical tourism is lauded for its revenue generation and service excellence capabilities, on the other hand doubts are also being raised about a number of related issues pertaining to real advantages to patients as well as service providers. This paper makes an assessment of the existing trends, infrastructure required for medical tourism and evaluation of the advantages that India possesses besides taking stock of the trends in medical tourism at the global level.

In India, despite being engaged in farming and farm-related activities, women are not recognized as 'farmers' and have limited access to technology, credit, inputs, market and agricultural extension services. Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP), an initiative of the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), was implemented as a message of hope for women farmers. The initiative recognizes women as farmers and mobilizes them into collectives at the village level. The MKSP builds the capacity of women farmers to make decisions concerning their lives and livelihoods; provides training on different key issues such as organizational management, sustainable agricultural practices and food and nutrition security. The small initiative started by MSSRF has achieved national recognition with the Government of India launching a programme under the same name in 2010. In the context of high rates of farmer suicides in India resulting in many single women farmers, this case study and accompanying video analyze the experience of MKSP, highlighting the results achieved, major challenges and learnings.