Bundelkhand has adequate water resources, good farmland and rich mineral wealth. Then why is its people so poor, why do they have to migrate so much in search of livelihood and why do they face such serious food shortages? These questions have bothered the people of Bundelkhand for a long time. In recent times this concern has turned into grave anxiety as report after report of deaths caused by hunger, or suicides caused by poverty and indebtedness have poured in. More and more people have started asking – Is Bundelkhand going to become the next Vidarbha or the Kalahandi on the poverty/economic distress map of the country?
This should not be allowed to happen and we must do our utmost to bring relief to the people of Bundelkhand as a first step on the path of sustainable development. An important part of this effort is to try to understand where exactly the development strategy has gone wrong in the past and to try to put forward an alternative plan of sustainable development which shows much more potential of meeting basic needs of people on a permanent basis while also protecting environment. It is with this aim that this document is being published and we hope that we’ll get valuable suggestions from several friends so that an even better plan can be prepared at a later date. We will like to record our thanks to PACS for supporting this effort.