Despite significant industrialization, even today the proportion of our people dependent on the agriculture has declined only marginally since independence. At the same time, the share of the agriculture in our national income has declined drastically from 50% at the time of independence to less than 25% now. As a result the gap in per capita income and living standards between rural India and urban India has greatly widened, giving rise to increasing social tensions as well as violence in many parts our country. We need, therefore a multi faceted strategy to address this major societal issue of our times.

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