This report is divided into five chapters for ease of accessibility. Each chapter deals with a defined theme but the content of the chapters flow into one another. The report begins by critiquing the neo liberal reforms adopted by the governments of South Asia with its attendant structural adjustment. The report brings out how this wrought havoc both in economic and political spheres in all the countries of South Asia. The SAAPE 2016 report differs from intergovernmental and national level reports in several significant ways. It records development processes of South Asia in the light of neo liberal reforms, the rationale of economic growth and structural transformation, capitalist mode of development, increasing inequality and new forms of poverty. The methodology the report uses is both empirical and causal, with linkages to socio-economic reasons as well as legal components of struggle. The use of descriptive case studies adds a qualitative element to the robustness the statistics provide. The report also focuses on macro perspectives within the region that is analytical and objective along with micro studies of cases and events that bring out the lived experience of the struggle.