Bundelkhand Development Package,Drought and the Development Question in India

Abstract

This article discusses the case of the Bundelkhand Development Package (BDP). It shows how such short-term developmental policies for drought-affected regions in the country lack long-term policy imagination. The research reveals that there are major gaps between the government’s version of the package’s implementation and the situation at the ground level. The politics behind the package has failed to generate a more cohesive and consensus-based developmental policy framework for the region. Consequently, even after almost a decade, many parts of India continue to face farmers’ suicides and other calamities. The article largely analyses published government data on the progress of the package. It also includes some interviews and narratives as primary sources of information.