Infrastructure disparities in rural India: With special reference to livestock support services and veterinary infrastructure

The prosperity of a country depends directly upon the development of agriculture and industry, and the production of agriculture and industry requires irrigation, power, machinery, credit, energy and telecommunication facilities, marketing services, transport services which includes railway, roads, shipping and communication facilities etc. All these facilities and services which help in industrial and agricultural production constitute collectively the infrastructure of an economy. States of India have large disparities. One of the critical problems facing India's economy is the sharp and growing regional variations among India's different States and territories in terms of per capita income, poverty, availability of infrastructure and socio-economic development. Although, income inequality in India is relatively small (Gini coefficient: 32.5 in year 1999 to 2000), it has been increasing of late. Wealth distribution in India is fairly uneven, with the top 10% of income groups earning 33% of the income. Despite significant economic progress, a quarter of the nation's population earns less than the government-specified poverty threshold of $0.40/day. 27.5% of the population was living below the poverty line. This review paper is an attempt to find out the availability and accessibility of veterinary infrastructure in rural areas of India.   Key words: Livestock, veterinary dispensaries, animal husbandry, infrastructural facilities.