India

by Bimal Jalan

Bimal Jalan, former Reserve Bank of India governor and Rajya Sabha MP places India's post-Independence strengths and weakness under a microscope and analyses the last four decades of India's economic journey, which saw the nation's transition from a strictly regulated, slow-growth, state-led enterprise to one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Dr Jalan has had a ringside view of financial governance during his long and distinguished career. Drawing on this vast experience he compares two distinct periods-1980-2000 and 2000-15-to examine the core changes and their significance, and considers their lessons for the immediate future.

Dr Jalan suggests measures to improve governance which, if implemented, could make India one of the fastest growing emerging global powers and ensure that the benefits of economic growth reach all her people.

Genres: Economics, India

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2017

Reviews

[Anil Swarup]

Simply brilliant analyses of the state of Indian Economy by someone who had the occasion to have a close look at it in his capacity as RBI Governor. He is not "overly" critical of what happened in the past and gives credit where it is due. He is candid in saying that the "lacuna in the old strategy was the absence of a link between priorities and policies". How true. He goes on to elaborate and analyse what went wrong. According to the author, the "the most conspicuous failure for which there is no alibi ....... is the erosion in public savings and the inability of the public sector to generate resources for investment or the provision of public services." How true again. His prescriptions for future are brilliantly simple and eminently do-able. Among many suggestions on offer, the one relating to human resource management stands out. Bimal Jalan is clear that "all appointments in autonomous institutions and regulatory bodies, public enterprises , banks and financial, educational and cultural institutions in the public sector should be entrusted to specialized bodies set up on the same lines as the Union Public Services Commission". This is critical because then competence, instead of allegiance, will become the prime determinant of selection. The ex-banker certainly knows what he is talking about.

[Saurabh Pandey]

This book covers almost all the dimension related to the state economy and administrative structure. It contains data as well as arguments which makes this book more interesting and easy to read.
Points related to the political structure of our country present the real situation and loopholes which should be worked upon.
This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to know about India from the 1980s to late 2010 especially about the financial position.

[Kaustubh Kirti]

Interesting and a concise take on the political and economic changes while sitting in 2017. The book travels through the 1991 revolution and analyses the concepts that were important pre 1991 and that are important now. The book is good because a lot of the findings and interpretations are backed by data and committee reports and with his experience at RBi the writer wants to pin point the focus area like the Fiscal Consolidation, Challenges with Federation, Public Debt, Forex Management, Capability, Education etc.

The book however any hard core analysis or some in depth knowledge. The book end up being Much Ado About Nothing. It just sums everything going on with India on paper. THe author points out that going forward the stunted growth of the 1980s would not help India. India needs to follow the literacy and capability approach back by solid governance and reduced interference in free markets. Jalan also talks in length on the challenges why India democracy still functions as a fragmented one because of large scale illiteracy and the rusty steel frame than runs this nation like zamindars.

Until this privilege based system is not replaced by accountability both at the bureaucratic and the government level a positive change would not come. Author closes the book on similar lines without any method of what to do now. THe book is more like just revision of the old stories told retold open for further dust to settle but no real consequence.

[Vishal Kale]

India – Priorities For The Future is a book that can be best described as being at the cross-roads of politics and Economics, which makes it quite unique. It is a very thought provoking and deep analysis of this intersection of these two vital aspects of our nation, concerning itself with the Economy of the country, its performance through the years in numbers as well as Macro Factors; and the political aspects of this, that is – the decisions, involved decision makers, systemic weaknesses and plus points as they exist and what needs to be done.

As can be seen from the short preamble above, this is quite wide a scope, and seems daunting. The best part is that the entire scope has been dealt with remarkable aplomb and sufficient depth, while at the same time not exceeding too many pages. This is a very short, {well – relatively short anyways, considering the topic and the scope – 180-odd pages} book, and all the arguments are presented in a superbly logical and yet delightfully succinct manner.

Read More : https://reflectionsvvk.blogspot.in/20...

[Arvind Jha]

Didn't expect tA his book to be so much technical. A well written and very informative book, but will recommend getting some technicality and terminologies of economics clear before reading this book (if you don't that's fine also, you can look them up while you read the book but it will increase the reading time a little). It will help a lot in getting more out of this book. A great book for young adults of India who are wondering about its financial future. It will not be fair to this book to just categorize it as a finance book, it deals in great detail about politics, government sectors, parliament, working of government bodies, civil services, corruption, poverty, education etc. Overall it's a great book and very thought-provoking. It not only raises a lot of questions but also provides you with some possible solutions for it.

Every single person working in any form of government agencies, let it be politicians, servicemen, staff or even contractors, must read this book at least once. And will also recommend to anyone wondering about the future development of India.