Journal Press India^®

This volume of Pragati has been compiled in very adverse times. As the world is making efforts to recover from the hardships resulting from Covid-19, we have been attempting to keep afloat issues of importance to Indian economy which become even more pertinent in these times.

An interesting paper by Ms. Neha Mangla and Ms. Priya Jindal makes an attempt to estimate the economic value of homemakers’ contribution to GDP. The study set in Delhi-NCR calculates the average salary per homemaker for a month using the average hourly pay of professional providers of such services. The extrapolated estimates show that a significant amount of economic activity undertaken by urban homemakers in Delhi goes unaccounted for in the GDP calculations. The authors conclude that an economic indicator highlighting contributions of these homemakers who are not officially a part of the workforce will help uplift the social status and empower the Indian females. This paper certainly deserves attention as a first.

The second paper entitled ‘Market penetration and growth of consumer durables industry in rural India” is by Prof. Debabrata Mukhopadhyay and Mr. Arun Kumar Mandal. Amongst other things the paper concludes that Indian consumer durable market is becoming competitive with significant presence of multinational companies coming with advanced technology and superior product quality. The urbanization of consumers and increasing rural electrification, are major drivers to boost the consumer durable industries.

A topical paper on the ‘Economic impact of Covid-19 on different sectors of Indian Economy’ is by Dr. Basu Garg and Mr. Vikas Chander. The findings suggest that the Government of India should put some liquidity in the system to boost demand along with supply. It would help the Indian economy to come out from this detrimental situation and make it vibrant to convert adverse situation into opportunity. But its overall success will depend upon the cooperation of different parts of the economy and how soon the world as well as India is able to overcome this situation that has arisen due to COVID-19.

Dr. Minakshi Kar has contributed a paper on sustainable Indian agri-commodities’ markets focusing on its experiences, innovative models and future agenda. The author draws on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) experiences to understand sustainable agri-commodities’ market models. This has helped in empowering farmers with information and knowledge, to take on market-impelled production, building post-harvest infrastructure, providing competitive channels for marketing to farmers and providing efficient and cost effective service. The author suggests that the need of the hour is to develop the agricultural supply chain, foster innovation, and provide business promotional services to farmers and their enterprises.

The paper by Dr. Sagar Patil and Dr. Sreenath T. V is a study on microfinance and women empowerment for the North Karnataka Region. The authors employ primary survey method to cover various dimensions such as borrowings, economic status, average earnings, decision making, and participation or role at the domestic level. The authors suggest focus on tightening the policies of lending in order to build economic independence and development.

Another paper by Ms. Vandana Kapoor on ‘Ownership of enterprises by caste: An analysis of fifth and sixth Economic Census’ concludes that there has been a decline in employment provided by proprietary enterprises from 2005 to 2013. The decline has been due to decrease in employment provided by Other Backward Class and others. The author finds that disparity still exists in ownership of enterprises by caste, both in rural and urban sector.

The ‘Upsurge of Indian e-commerce industry in the post-demonetisation era’ is a paper by Dr. M. Sarngadharan that examines enrichment of e-commerce industry in India, consequent on the decision of demonetization. The growth in e-commerce sector would boost employment, increase revenues from export, increase tax collection by exchequer, and provide better products and services to customers in the long-term. 

The last paper by Dr. Neeru Kapoor is on the role of green marketing initiatives in achieving sustainable development in Indian economy. The paper comments on the green initiatives being undertaken by various sectors in the India economy and also lists the various challenges being faced by the corporate sector while incorporating green initiatives.

                It is our earnest feeling that the Indian economy has seen some extremely adverse circumstances and people have suffered great losses in terms of employment and incomes. We earnestly, pray that the Indian economy and society come out of this great crisis. We also thank and congratulate those who have contributed good papers in such adverse times.

Prof. K. V. Bhanu Murthy

Editor