Future Prospects

This chapter attempts to draw on the analysis of seven decades of data and evidence from Palanpur to indicate some predictions for the future. It suggests that all-India trends of expanding non-farm, informal, employment will continue to exert an influence in Palanpur. The central role of caste and landholding in driving distributional outcomes is predicted to gradually diminish over time. However, a critical question relates to the potential role that the currently high, and rising, inequality might play in locking-in the forces that perpetuate inequality. The chapter argues that there is an intense need for improvement in the public supply of education and health services. Given the still weak state of education outcomes and also still poorly developed availability of financial services, it argues that for the foreseeable future entrepreneurship will continue to draw primarily on households’ own resources and initiative.