This volume attempts to argue that rural development in India, an issue widely debated in the developmental discourse, needs to be articulated not merely in terms of an income-centric paradigm but from the perspective of the human dignity of the rural population. This book highlights how the question of human dignity has been shaped by various governmental welfare policy measures and the still prevalent challenges. Chapters presented in this volume engage with the issues of rural human dignity at the conceptual, theoretical, and empirical levels. This book argues that a more nuanced developmental paradigm is required for achieving a more inclusive, holistic and sustainable rural development. A mere focus on income enhancement or physical infrastructure building may not be adequate for this purpose. Any developmental paradigm needs to address concerns of various marginalized socio-economic segments while facilitating structural reforms and minimizing inequalities. Dignity as a conceptual tool can be more effective in this sense as has been done by the Constitution of India and the Supreme Court of India through its various judgments. The same is required in the political discourse on rural development.