Understanding Underdevelopment in Vidarbha
Sanjiv Phansalkar
Comprising of eleven districts in eastern Maharashtra, Vidarbha is significantly underdeveloped compared to the rest of Maharashtra and India. Popular sentiment attributes this underdevelopment to the step-motherly
treatment by the state. However, there are significant variations in levels of development within the region itself which cannot be explained by state action alone.Analysis shows that differential development in Vidarbha is also a function of natural endowments and social ecology. High income areas are the 'mainland areas' with lower tribal population which make more intensive use of their natural endowments.
Dependability of source of irrigation is very critical to income generation; in the absence of that, mere inclusion in a command area means nothing.
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