Exploring India – Part 2 In the past three weeks our team travelled through eight out of ten administrative divisions of Madhya Pradesh (MP), covering thirty six out of fifty two districts in the state. I may share some key points from the socio-economic and political assessment made by the team. Socio-economic assessment From socio-economic perspective, MP comprises of easily distinguishable three states – 1. Tribal areas that are extremely poor; lack basic amenities (especially health and education); not properly connected; agrarian; highly contended; and mostly integrated with nature. Though the non-tribal elements and cultures have started to make inroads in these areas from the fringes, the impact so far is limited. Mobile phones, packaged snacks, pan masala (chewing tobacco sachets), motorcycles (scooty), small solar panels, shirt-pants, denim, plastic crockery, are main signs of what is commonly known as “modern civilization” in the tribal areas o...