International Journal of Management and Development Studies

Agricultural Infrastructure and Productivity in Karnataka (2019–2025): An Index-Based Analysis

2025-09-15T14:25:10-04:00

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of agricultural infrastructure in Karnataka for the period 2019–2025. It organizes evidence across four key pillars: irrigation and micro-irrigation, post-harvest and market logistics, rural connectivity, and credit-linked infrastructure. A composite Agricultural Infrastructure Readiness Index (AIRI) is constructed using publicly available datasets. Key highlights include 1,48,637 hectares brought under micro-irrigation during 2024–25 (up to December), cold storage capacity of 8,38,940 MT across 250 units, PMGSY road completion of 23,863 km out of 24,208 km sanctioned, and cumulative RIDF sanctions of ₹22,015.30 crore with disbursements of ₹17,611.94 crore. The article concludes with policy directions to accelerate micro-irrigation adoption, improve warehouse and cold-chain utilization, and align PMGSY-III with market access and processing nodes.

Geo-Environmental Risks and Community-Based Disaster Management in Chamoli, Tehri, Pauri, and Rudraprayag Districts of Uttarakhand

2025-09-15T14:34:59-04:00

The central Himalaya is one of the most hazard-prone regions globally, with Uttarakhand frequently experiencing floods, landslides, earthquakes and glacier-related disasters. Districts such as Chamoli, Tehri, Pauri and Rudraprayag represent high-risk zones due to fragile geomorphology, dense river networks and socio-economic dependencies on hydropower, agriculture and pilgrimage-based tourism. Despite the frequency of disasters, existing research has often been generalized, with limited district-level risk mapping and resilience assessments. This study adopts a secondary data–based approach integrating multi-source datasets. Satellite imagery from Landsat, Sentinel-2, and SRTM was analyzed using GIS techniques to derive slope, elevation, land use, and hydrological features. Hazard zonation was carried out through the Landslide Susceptibility Index (LSI), Flood Hazard Index (FHI) and Seismic Hazard Zonation (SHZ), drawing on Geological Survey of India (GSI), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and NDMA/SDMA datasets. Socio-economic indicators including population density, literacy, and livelihood patterns were extracted from Census 2011 and published vulnerability studies. The integrated analysis reveals that Chamoli and Rudraprayag exhibit very high susceptibility to landslides, floods and glacial hazards, while Tehri demonstrates compound risks from seismic activity and dam-induced vulnerabilities. Pauri shows chronic landslide risks and high out-migration, reflecting both environmental and demographic pressures. A Vulnerability–Resilience Matrix was constructed by combining physical hazards with socio-economic indicators, enabling classification of the four districts into distinct risk categories. The findings highlight the urgent need for district-specific, community-sensitive disaster management strategies in the central Himalaya. By leveraging secondary geospatial and institutional datasets, this study provides a replicable framework for integrating physical hazard mapping with socio-economic vulnerability assessment, supporting evidence-based policy for resilience in Uttarakhand’s disaster-prone districts.

Understanding Housing Satisfaction among Low-Income Groups: Challenges and Complexities

2025-09-17T10:03:23-04:00

The quality of life of people depends on quality of habitation through proper housing. Low-income population come across with number of hitches in acquiring adequate housing. There are several issues due to the combination of economic, social, and policy-related aspects. This study explores the conceptual dimensions of housing satisfaction among low-income groups of the population, concentrating on both the physical aspects of the dwelling units and the social living environment of their residential backgrounds. Due to the limited financial resources, the low-income groups facing difficulty to afford adequate housing, especially in urban areas where the cost of land and construction costs are high. Their living conditions are overcrowded and poorly constructed informal settlements. These settlements and temporary shelters lack basic facilities such as hygienic water, proper sanitation, electricity, and waste management system. The housing stability of these people are affected by insecure tenure, eviction threat, and documentation irregularities. Furthermore, these low-income groups are excluded from the credit systems of the nation. The awareness regarding public housing schemes, its eligibility conditions, procedure for application etc. deter their capability to improve the living conditions. Understanding housing satisfaction is generally regarded as a tool for social change. This discourse, empowers the policy makers to design better housing policies and schemes for the betterment of the society. The selection of the methodology adopted for understanding housing satisfaction of the low-income population required to be standardized by stressing the subjective factors, multidimensional aspects, and contextual nature of this concept. Through the systematic exploration of the satisfaction towards housing, the society can deliver decent housing for better human lives.

Wool, Weather and Welfare: Climate Challenges and Livelihood Resilience in Sheep Farming of Uttarakhand

2025-09-17T10:10:01-04:00

Sheep farming has long been an integral livelihood activity in the Uttarakhand Himalayas, providing meat, wool, and income to smallholder and pastoral households. However, this traditional enterprise is increasingly threatened by climate variability and environmental stressors. Erratic rainfall, reduced snowfall, shrinking grazing pastures, and frequent natural disasters have disrupted transhumant practices and intensified feed scarcity. Heat stress, disease outbreaks, and increased livestock mortality further undermine household economies. These vulnerabilities translate into declining productivity, reduced wool quality, and rising migration from mountain villages. Despite these challenges, sheep-rearing communities in Uttarakhand display diverse resilience strategies. Traditional coping mechanisms such as seasonal migration, fodder preservation and breed selection remain central. Recent policy initiatives, cooperative wool societies, and genetic improvement programs also provide support. Climate-smart livestock practices, including improved housing, feed diversification and early-warning systems, have been recommended to strengthen adaptive capacity. The evidence suggests that resilience in sheep farming requires integrating indigenous knowledge with institutional interventions. Strengthening this synergy can safeguard pastoral livelihoods, enhance rural welfare, and contribute to broader Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to poverty reduction, food security, and climate action. Uttarakhand thus represents a critical case for studying the intersection of livestock systems, climate risks, and sustainable mountain development.

The growing rural-urban interdependence: Opportunities for socio- economic development in Bhojpur, Bihar

2025-09-22T14:47:59-04:00

The dichotomy between rural and urban areas often masks the deep interdependence that exists between them. Rural area relies on urban area for markets, services, technology, infrastructure, better employment, quality education, health facilities and finished good etc. Similarly urban area is depending on rural area for food, labour, natural resources, ecological services, agricultural and industrial product, cheap manual labour, cheap land, row material and many more. The classical, two sector growth model of Prof. W A Levis Lewis (1954) and many more study clearly set up the importance rural-urban interdependency. This paper explores the multifaceted nature of rural-urban interdependence, analysing the socio-economic and infrastructural linkages that fix these two spaces. This study will help to analyse the growing rural and urban interdependence in Bhojpur district of Bihar. This study also highlights how rural and urban areas specially a small urban area supports each other through flows of goods, services, labour, capital, and knowledge. It further discusses the implications of these linkages for regional development. It is well recognised fact that the interdependency of rural and urban areas creates regional development but till now, the regional development because rural-urban interdependency of the small city such as Arra town is not very clear. This paper will have an objective to analyse the impact of rural urban interdependency on regional development. This paper will also analyse Opportunities and challenges for socio- economic development in Bhojpur, Bihar.

Green Banking as a Tool for Environmental Risk Management in Financial Institutions

2025-09-24T05:04:42-04:00

Green banking describes a paradigm shift in the banking sectors as they begin to integrate the environmental factor in the analysis of banking processes, loan policies, and deployment of funds. The banking institutions began to appreciate the relationship between business activities and the environment and their importance in climate change and environmental degradation. This paper assesses green banking finances as a form of managing environmental risks. It investigates how banks are adopting environment-friendly banking practices such as financing renewable energy and conducting environment and social risk assessments and how these practices relate to the global standards including the Equator Principles and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition, it evaluates the regulations, green banking and green banking best practices, and challenges in India and the world. This research paper finishes by giving guidelines on how to improve the green banking policies, increase advocacy, and how to incorporate environmental risk factors into the green appraisal system.