Despite sustained high growth in India over the past three decades or so, barring the recent turn of events, structural transformation has been characterized by deepening agrarian crisis, high unemployment, and a lack of remunerative and good quality jobs. These are the major contributors to the problem of burgeoning inequality in India. In this article, using various macro-level data sets, secondary case study reports, and one primary survey, it is argued that the neoliberal model of development cannot solve the ongoing rural crisis in India. This, in turn, calls for looking beyond this paradigm. Considering that agrarian (or broadly speaking, rural) distress has its own class dynamics, which lead to disproportionate suffering among the class of marginal farmers/tenants, agricultural workers, and others, it is argued that cooperativism presents itself as an alternative model for remedying India’s ongoing rural crisis. In this context, strong management and external support are key factors to ensure the success of cooperatives.
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