Rural Development in Deccan Maharashtra, India: Village Panel Study, 1942-1977

This data collection examines the economic and occupational changes experienced over a 25-year period by families living in Sugao, a village in the state of Maharashtra, India. The residents of this village were surveyed in 1942 and 1958 to uncover aspects of their daily lives and again in 1977 to explore more fully the effects of the economic attraction of Bombay, an industrialized metropolis 150 miles away, on village life. Data were collected at both the individual and family levels. Respondents were queried on such topics as caste, gender, age, marital status, education, residence, primary, secondary, and tertiary occupations, location of occupation, years employed at occupation, income, work habits, and job classification. Families reported on their size and composition, members living outside the village, economic relationships with others, acquisition, size, and construction of housing unit, and home improvements. Information was also gathered on family income sources and, in particular, on the amount of money and goods remitted to the village by family members living and working in Bombay. Agricultural issues explored include family labor provided for farming, amount of irrigated and non-irrigated land, productivity of the land, and the type, number, and location of livestock.