An Uncertain Glory: India and its contradictions
Authors- Jean Dréze and Amartya Sen
Genre- Non Fiction
Stars- 4/5
I have been waiting to read this since it was published in 2013 amidst the backdrop of "Gujarat model" vs "Kerala model" debate between two world class intellectuals, Amartya Sen and Jagdish Bhagwati. It was a time when India was witnessing rampant corruption and policy paralysis and debates regarding what path should India follow towards development were the game in town.
Through this book the authors have placed their arguments as to why it is the state that must take the commanding heights of the social sector like health and education while allowing private players in the economic sector. They have given the example of Western nations and of China particularly that has shown a dazzling double digits growth for nearly a decade. This , the authors argue has been possible due to China investing highly in making their people capable of contributing to the economy. For the same reason it is said that India has missed the "bus of globalization" due to its people lacking skills. If we go by the authors' arguments the recent decision of India to back out of the RCEP trade agreement is a manifestation of poor investments in making our export competitive. And that would have only been possible when its population had been competitive.
The authors have brought out the flaws in healthcare insurance by private companies (now know as Ayushmann Bharat), the hits and misses in core government schemes like MGNREGA, RTE 2009 , ICDS programme and debates on food security. The best part about the book is its comprehensive coverage of topics from health,education,to democracy,public institutions,to caste,women empowerment to the biased role of media, etc.
The data in the book is not much relevant now but the issues it address are still very much relevant. The book sometimes bombards the reader with data/facts. And the book is prescriptive in nature in the sense that the solutions provided by the authors are the only way out and whatever has been followed up to now is flawed. This would irk at many points to the economic rightists. Issues like the so called human rights violation in Kashmir under AFSPA have been viewed in bad light by giving only one sided picture.
It ends with the importance of being impatient for reforming the country as a whole.The book is though a sincere attempt to raise important public arguments and is a worth read .
Genre- Non Fiction
Stars- 4/5
I have been waiting to read this since it was published in 2013 amidst the backdrop of "Gujarat model" vs "Kerala model" debate between two world class intellectuals, Amartya Sen and Jagdish Bhagwati. It was a time when India was witnessing rampant corruption and policy paralysis and debates regarding what path should India follow towards development were the game in town.
Through this book the authors have placed their arguments as to why it is the state that must take the commanding heights of the social sector like health and education while allowing private players in the economic sector. They have given the example of Western nations and of China particularly that has shown a dazzling double digits growth for nearly a decade. This , the authors argue has been possible due to China investing highly in making their people capable of contributing to the economy. For the same reason it is said that India has missed the "bus of globalization" due to its people lacking skills. If we go by the authors' arguments the recent decision of India to back out of the RCEP trade agreement is a manifestation of poor investments in making our export competitive. And that would have only been possible when its population had been competitive.
The authors have brought out the flaws in healthcare insurance by private companies (now know as Ayushmann Bharat), the hits and misses in core government schemes like MGNREGA, RTE 2009 , ICDS programme and debates on food security. The best part about the book is its comprehensive coverage of topics from health,education,to democracy,public institutions,to caste,women empowerment to the biased role of media, etc.
The data in the book is not much relevant now but the issues it address are still very much relevant. The book sometimes bombards the reader with data/facts. And the book is prescriptive in nature in the sense that the solutions provided by the authors are the only way out and whatever has been followed up to now is flawed. This would irk at many points to the economic rightists. Issues like the so called human rights violation in Kashmir under AFSPA have been viewed in bad light by giving only one sided picture.
It ends with the importance of being impatient for reforming the country as a whole.The book is though a sincere attempt to raise important public arguments and is a worth read .
Utkarsh bhai I read it a couple of months before. Its good book. They have taken help of so many statistics to justify their views. Debate is still relevant. I believe that diagnosis of the problems is right but prescriptions are merely utopian. Reason behind saying so is that India's study has been comparative for long time. Secondly, there are multiple factors acting simultaneously. It would be hard to digest prescriptions coming out from the diagnosis of few dimensions
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. There cannot be no one solution on how to run such a complex country.
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