ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explains the concept of Broad-Basing and its working. It deals with different processes and how they have affected Broad-Basing – economic development, urbanisation, infrastructure development, the digital revolution and policies and practice of environmental conservation. The book focuses on the changing social, political and economic status of Dalits. The way gender is articulated is determined by the patriarchal system of social structures and practices in which men dominate. According to Vinay Kumar, industrial workers in India, though much better off than agricultural workers, have never been in a dominant position either in the economy or polity. While ascendency of public sector and nationalisation in 1960s provided them social, economic and political respectability, this declined in the post-liberalisation 1990s. The book shows that India is among the world’s leading countries in digital knowledge creation and dissemination.
