India's first seventeen years of independence were dominated by the goals and dynamic leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru. In this authoritative biography, a renowned expert on the history of India examines the life of the country's foremost politician.

Policy discourse in India tends to be dominated by assertions unsupported by facts, with the media indulging one and all without proper scrutiny. Often, the result is the creation and perpetuation of myths of all kinds. Thus, many believe today that poverty, illiteracy and ill-health afflict India because its leadership ignored them in favour of growth for its own sake; that the economic reforms that focused on growth have failed to help the poor, especially the socially disadvantaged; that any gains claimed in poverty alleviation derive from the use of progressively lower poverty lines; and that even if gains have been made, with one in two children suffering from malnutrition, reforms have done precious little to improve health outcomes. In this definitive book on economic reforms in India since Independence, Bhagwati and Panagariya decisively demolish these and other myths, which critics use as weapons to wound and maim the reforms. Using systematic data and analysis, they forcefully show that once the debris of critiques of India's reforms is cleared, it becomes evident that intensification of reforms - that allows sustained rapid growth - is the only way to lift millions out of poverty, illiteracy and ill-health. They argue that only growth can provide sufficient revenues for the provision of education and good health for the masses.

Almost Sixty Years Ago, Nehru Spoke Of India S Tryst With Destiny At The Dawn Of Independence. In The Constitution Of The New Republic That Was Framed A Few Years Later, The Goals And Values Of That Vision Were Unfolded. How Far Have We Progressed Since Then And What Is It That Destiny Now Holds For Tomorrow S India? The Present Volume Of Essays Surveys The Scene Past-Forward And Paints A Picture Of What Has Been Accomplished And What Remains To Be Done. There Is Pride And Satisfaction In Particular Over India S Vibrant Democracy And Progress In Many Directions. This Is Nonetheless Tinged With Concern, For There Are Nagging Problems Of Governance And Shortfalls In Human And Infrastructure Development, As Well As Social Deficits In The Matter Of Rights, Corruption And Sectoral And Regional Imbalances. All These Must Be Squarely Faced And Speedily Overcome If The Nation Is To Grow In Keeping With Its Increasingly Recognized Potential As A Rising Great Power. It Has Been Widely Forecast That Within Thirty Years India, Together With The United States And China, Will Constitute The Three Largest Economies In The World. The Wellsprings Of Growth Are There. However, As More Than One Author Points Out, Mere Economic And Technological Growth Is Not Enough. In This Globalizing World The Market Is Not All. The Citizen Must March Hand In Hand With The Consumer In A Sharing And Caring Society. The Twenty-Four Essayists Who Write Of Tomorrow S India Do So In Celebration Of The 125Th Anniversary Of Their Alma Mater, Delhi S St Stephen S College. Their Themes Relate To Diplomacy And Security; The Economy And Technology; Governance; Society S Watchdogs; Ideology And Values; Social Change; And Culture And Heritage. The Authors Represent A Galaxy Of Public Figures, Academics, Professionals And Social Workers. What They Have To Say Makes Compelling Reading, With Penetrating Insights And Critiques. Contributors Include George Abraham, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Rukmini Banerji, Ranjit Bhatia, Ravi Dayal, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Sagarika Ghose, Navina Haidar Haykel, Prem Shankar Jha, Manoj Joshi, Mukul Kesavan, Arun Kumar, Sarwar Lateef, Arun Maira, Harsh Mander, Deepak Nayyar, Bunker Roy, Vikramjit Sen, Kapil Sibal, Dilip Simeon, K. Natwar Singh, N.K. Singh, B.G. Verghese And Sitaram Yechury

The narrative of this book is built around the historical experiences of the Paraiyars of Tamil Nadu. The author traces the transformation of the Paraiyars from an ‘untouchable’ and socially despised community to one that came to acquire prominence in the political scene of Tamil Nadu, especially in early 20th century. Through this framework, the book studies a number of issues: subaltern history, colonial ethnography, agrarian systems, agrarian bondage, land legislations, and the interventions by missionaries and social and political organizations.

In its history since Independence, India has seen widely different economic experiments: from Jawharlal Nehru's pragmatism to the rigid state socialism of Indira Gandhi to the brisk liberalization of the 1990s. So which strategy best addresses India's, and by extension the world's, greatest moral challenge: lifting a great number of extremely poor people out of poverty? Bhagwati and Panagariya argue forcefully that only one strategy will help the poor to any significant effect: economic growth, led by markets overseen and encouraged by liberal state policies. Their radical message has huge consequences for economists, development NGOs and anti-poverty campaigners worldwide. There are vital lessons here not only for Southeast Asia, but for Africa, Eastern Europe, and anyone who cares that the effort to eradicate poverty is more than just good intentions. If you want it to work, you need growth. With all that implies.

Openness has affected neither poverty nor inequality adversely. When surveyed, people in disproportionately large volumes from all groups say that their fortunes are improving. The essays in this volume show that trade oppenness has helped reduce poverty among most social groups.