This title was forst published in 2000: An analysis of India’s development and public policy from the perspectives of five major fields of public policy. 1. Economic policy, including public policy toward industrial development. 2. Social policy, including religion, education and women’s rights. 3. Environmental policy, including possible conflict with economic development. 4. Science-technology policy, including agricultural development, information technology and administering the electronics industry. 5. Political reform, including local government and general elections.

This book discusses economic development in general and selected public policy issues with a focus on philosophy, Gandhian thoughts and sectoral issues in the Indian context. It presents scholarly contributions on growth and development in India, with particular emphasis on human development in connection with the economy of India and selected developing countries. It brings to the forefront a body of knowledge on philosophy and ethical issues within the domain of public policies relating to development in today’s world. The book includes contributions from leading economists and covering a range of issues such as the Indian government’s current ‘Make in India’ drive, the role of the World Bank, managing educational finances, development and higher education policy, inflation, decentralization, inequality, regional development, and linkages between health, nutrition and education. Accordingly, the book not only offers a useful resource for academics, economists and development practitioners, but also has important implications for public policymaking.

Despite substantial economic growth, India has one of the highest undernutrition rates in the world; it is home to almost 40 per cent of the world’s stunted children. This volume assesses the status and causes of undernutrition in the country, and examines the effectiveness of policies designed to address undernutrition. The essays tackle wide-ranging themes and challenging issues including nutrition; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); maternal, neonatal and child health; Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS); Public Distribution System (PDS); crop procurement; and National Food Security Act 2013. With contributions from leading academic researchers, policymakers, as well as civil society representatives, this volume will be indispensable to scholars, teachers and students of public policy, development economics, development sociology, and Indian economy. It will also be useful to government institutions, think tanks and NGOs.

This book emphasizes the need for experimenting with more deliberate and rigorous policy processes to attain balanced regional development, which can promote both equity and efficiency in India’s development discourse. The institutional mechanisms for dealing with regional imbalance in India have not been very successful so far. With rising discrepancies in development, demand for autonomy continues along with a new dimension of regionalism arising from submerged identity along with political and economic aspirations, which demanded new channels for solution. So far, attempts to create space for autonomy have possibly not optimally accommodated the conceptual mechanisms like equity and democratic process. Thus democratizing policy process using six pillars of voice: knowledge, objective, fundamental values, implementation framework and public awareness can ensure a better policy outcome for dealing with the persistent challenges of regional disparity in India. This book further focuses on the need for democratizing the policy process for regional development through discussion and inclusion. Such a transition needs innovation in policy regime, which can be attained through following six pillars (i) Democratic voice of stakeholders in policy development and implementation; (ii) Clear policy objectives that advance the common good, based on voice; (iii) Unbiased, sound and comprehensive knowledge and data bases. (iv) Consistency with constitutional values; (v) A sound implementation framework ensuring user-friendliness, transparency and rationality of decision-making processes, effective grievance redress, clear accountability and independent evaluation; (vi) Public awareness and support of policies with relevant and public participation in implementation.

Papers presented in a Seminar on "Role of Public Policy in Development Process", held at the Sardar Patel Institute of Economic and Social Research (SPIESR), Ahmedabad, during January 4-5, 2016.

This is the first book on public policy and policy analysis in the Third World. It shows the need to develop an interdisciplinary approach to policy-making, one that combines policy and management analysis with political and ethical appraisal. The book examines the 'rational choice' approach to policy analysis, then looks at case studies, and finally reviews the international experience in public policy-making.

This book presents perspectives by eminent economists, social scientists and policy makers, exploring in depth the post-reform developments in India, including issues pertaining to growth and equity, issues which have been at the core of life-time work of Prof. R. Radhakrishna. The book brings out how some public policy instruments created to promote growth have turned out to be regressive, promoting inequalities and creating a highly asymmetric federalism in India. It examines the efficacy of fiscal and monetary reforms and also emphasises the need for strengthening the institutions of governance, particularly judiciary and police, in order to boost investors’ confidence. It presents exercises in econometric modelling for explaining factors in growth and vetting policies, and explores the issue of governance and institutions. The book provides insights into the working of an emerging economy and a large democracy which has to strive for public acceptability of the tensions of its negotiations between equity and growth. With its depth of academic excellence and breadth of topics covered, it is a ‘must read’ for researchers, policy makers, industry watchers, think tanks, and NGOs.

Sustainable development has emerged as an overarching concern globally. Given the challenges of climate change, national economies, especially in the developing world, face unsustainable levels and patterns of growth and development. This volume looks at how India’s sustainable development has progressed through institutional changes and public policy discourse. It studies the three pillars of sustainability – technology, governance, and finance. The authors examine whether institutions have been able to work towards becoming inclusive and participatory and whether public policy can remain relevant and agile in a fast-changing world to ensure sustainable development. Written in honour of Professor Vinod Vyasulu, an erudite economist with wide-ranging interests, this volume will be of interest to academics and practitioners engaged with issues of development, policy, institutions, and technology in the fields of Economics, Sociology, Development Studies, Public Policy, and South Asian Studies.

The twenty-first century will witness a rapid urban expansion in the developing world. India, it is believed, will be at the forefront of such a phenomenon. This book acknowledges the role of agglomeration externalities as the cornerstone of urban public policy in India. Arguing that hypotheses of over-urbanization and urban bias theory--which articulated a negative view of urbanization--are based on fragile theoretical as well as empirical foundations, this book calls for proactive public policy to harness planned urbanization as resource. India requires agglomeration-augmenting, congestion-mitigating, and resource-generating cities as engines of economic growth, including rural development. The book provides a large number of practical examples from India and abroad to enable policy-makers undertake reforms in urban and regional planning, financing, and governance to meet the challenges of urbanization in India. It combines theory and practice to draw lessons for an urban agenda for India and recognizes the central role of cities in catalysing growth and generating public finance for economic development.

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the pre-Covid-19 and post-Covid-19 situation and public policy measures needed to revive the economy in the light of the recent initiatives by the state government, including a committee to suggest post-Covid-19 revival strategy. This collection of essays by specialized author/s in her/his/their area of research examines the impact of Covid-19 in the larger context of economic and developmental context of Punjab, ranging from basic developmental transformation analysis to the specific policy issues in each sector and policy domain, including the larger developmental crisis in the context of the regional economy and society of Punjab. The sectors analysed include: agriculture including dairy sector and agricultural markets, industry, services, education, health, besides fiscal, banking, diaspora, gender, governance, and sustainability challenges the state economy faces. It dwells on sector specific issues as well as ways forward for betterment of livelihoods of those engaged, especially farmers and industrial and service sector informal workers.