To the Hands of the Poor: Water and trees

“To the Hands of the Poor” confronts the paradox of mass poverty coexisting with vast resource potentials in much of rural India. The authors present evidence that the potentials from groundwater and trees are larger than earlier estimated. To identify how the poor can gain more from their exploitation, they start with the livelihoods and priorities of the poor themselves. Empirical research and the principles of practical political economy are combined to identify new and hopeful policies. The agenda of the book places stress on changing regulations and abolishing restrictions as a means of benifiting the poor quickly and on a large scale. Reduced hassle, secure rights, and effective communication of those rights are argued to be keys to freeing the poor from rent-seeking hassle and exploitation, and enabling them to claim and gain more from lift irrigation and trees.