Infrastructure Development in Manipur: With Special Reference to Road, Power, Education and Health

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The book attempts to examine and evaluate the infrastructure development in Manipur during the Five Year Plans with focus on four core sectors viz., roads, power, education and health. Effort is also being made to make an indepth study of its developmental process, contribution to economic growth, shortcomings and prospects in the context of the changing trend of global economy. The study selected these four infrastructure sectors, two physical and two social, as they are considered being indispensable for bringing meaningful growth in the state's economy. The whole work covers the period from the 1st to the 10th Plan and is divided into nine chapters. In fact, the study could be used as a reader by young scholars pursuing study in the said area for a clear understanding of its background.

Padmabati Khundrakpam, Ph.D is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics, G.P. Women's College, Dhanamanjuri University, Imphal. An overall topper in her Masters, she qualified the UGC-NET in 1998 and was a research fellow in Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development, Guwahati. Her Ph.D was in the area of Infrastructural Development in Manipur.

Besides publishing research articles in journals and book chapters Dr Padmabati has already published a book titled: Experiences of Manipur and Indo-Myanmar Border Trade - A Relook (New Delhi: Akansha Publishing, 2016). Her main areas of interest are infrastructure development and border trade.

The present work is an attempt to examine and evaluate the infrastructure development in Manipur during the Five Year Plans with focus on four core sectors viz., roads, power, education and health. Effort is also being made to study its developmental process, contribution to economic growth, shortcomings and prospects in the context of India as an emerging world economy and the changing trend of globalisation and liberalisation. The study selected these four infrastructure sectors, two physical and two social, as they are equally considered being indispensable for bringing meaningful growth in the state's economy. Though, in its thesis form, the study emphasises the period from 5th Plan to 8th Plan, yet modifications and changes have been made wherever required. The work has also been moved forward up till the 10th Plan, starting from the 1st Plan, despite the challenges of paucity of official records and data. In fact, the study could be used as a reader by young scholars pursuing study on the said area for a clear understanding of the background.

Manipur joined the Indian Union on 15 October 1949 and got full Statehood on 21 January 1972. And it became a part of the Planning Process when the Five-Year Plans in India started in 1951. However, being a latecomer in the national mainstream, Manipur has got its own reservations and shortcomings as regards to the general economic orientations. In the beginning of the Plans Government's initiative for development of infrastructure sectors could not immediately cope with the economic shortages and needs of the state. Manipur lags far behind other states regarding infrastructural facilities and suffers from imbalanced development between the hills and the valley. Much remains to be done in this direction. Its economy faces the enormous task of providing infrastructural facilities to suit the socio-economic growth of the state.