ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the basic features of a neoliberal state within the broad theoretical framework of neoliberalism. It explains how the Indian state has functioned in reality in relation to the global economic order in general and institutions like World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in particular both before and after the neoliberal reforms began in India in 1991. The chapter attempts to reveal how the Indian state's emphasis on promoting contract farming is actually legitimising debt bondage and increased use of bonded labour; this is done using the findings of a study on Punjab. It also explains why agricultural marketing, its policy and institutional practices in the neoliberal state are controlled by the state bureaucracy and the way it functions to serve the interests of the corporate companies at the cost of farmers. Finally, the chapter discusses the basic features of agrarian crisis in India resulting from the declining credibility of the neoliberal state.
