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Synopsis A major responsibility for the success of policies for achieving "Structural Adjustment with a Human Face" rests with India’s state Governments. In the division of constitutional powers between the centre and states, sectors that ensure the provision of basic needs to citizens are the primary responsibility of state Governments, though the centre may be supportive and provide leadership and cooperation in these areas. However, the initial economic endowments and legacies of the pre- 1947 era, the rates of growth experienced in the post-independence period, particularly in the agrarian and industrial sectors, developmental strategies as well as political regime commitment to the social sectors differ widely across states and thus create diverse situations within the same country. The Structural Adjustment Policies that are currently in operation against such a backdrop, is bound to have a differential impact on the Indian states. This book is concerned with the impact of the New Economic Policies initiated since 1991 by the Indian Government at the Centre on poverty alleviation and social sector expenditures.