India’s Economic Development and Social Safety Nets

Food transfers, employment generation through public works programs, supplemental nutritional assistance to pregnant mother and infant children, old age pensions, and school meals are among the major social safety nets that constitute India’s social welfare architecture. In this chapter, we review these schemes along with some of the newer programs and their performance in the light of India’s developmental trajectory over the past seven decades. We argue that to facilitate a resilient development process in the future, these programs must be attuned to the changing economic and demographic transformation of the economy.