Rapid rise of urban poverty in India in the recent past has made it imperative to make concerted efforts to poverty reduction in urban areas. The multidimensional nature of urban poverty calls for a paradigm shift in the approach to its reduction e.g., from needs-based approach to rights-based approach, which calls for a different strategy. Urban Poverty Reduction Strategy (UPRS) is an attempt to formulate such strategies for urban poverty alleviation that can be appropriately targeted, that involve community participation, and that are innovative in their design and approach. UPRS came to...

The importance of micro-credit and micro-entrepreneurship cannot be disowned in labour-surplus country like India vis-a-vis in state of Odisha where poverty and employment crisis have taken a volcanic shape, and created multiple problems both in socio-economic and socio-political lives. The informal sector, in the form of micro-enterprises, so long having deep attachment with rural economy has now become integral part of the economy of the state and the country due to overall change in economic scenario of the country. Odisha is no exception to it. So also the impact is widely diverged. The...