Eleventh Five Year Plan laid special emphasis on inclusive growth with social justice and empowerment of weaker sections. This resulted in introduction of several flagship programmes with focus on welfare of the poor. This volume is an outcome of the national seminar organised by National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, to understand the efficacy of flagship programmes and to improve the process involved in their planning and implementation. Most of the papers in this volume relate to 15 individual flagship programmes. These are intensive studies of the individual programmes using field level primary data to evaluate their impact on the target groups. The broad message that has emerged from these papers is loud and clear-these schemes have made positive impact even if fallen short of the desired extent.

This volume will enhance our understanding of the working of flagship programmes in their various complexities and dimensions, and provide useful insights. The publication will be beneficial for both researchers and policy makers-researchers for pursuing more intensively the issues raised and policy makers for learning lessons for policy corrections.