Development is a mixed bag of opportunities as well as neglect and deprivations for India:

(i)There are a few areas like the metropolitan centres and other developed enclaves that have all the modern facilities available to a small section of its population.

(ii)At the other extreme of it, there are large rural areas and the slums in the urban areas that do not have basic amenities like potable water, education and health infrastructure available to majority of this population.

(iii)The situation is more alarming if one looks at the distribution of the development opportunities among different sections of our society. It is a wellestablished fact that majority of the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, landless agricultural labourers, poor farmers and slums dwellers, etc. are the most marginalised lot.

(iv)A large segment of female population is the worst sufferers among all. It is also equally true that the relative as well as absolute conditions of the majority of these marginalised sections have worsened with the development happening over the years.

(v)Consequently, vast majority of people are compelled to live under abject poverty and subhuman conditions.