The Wasted Decades: 1947 to 1991
Why did India squander such tremendous potential? Aarnab Mitra's unflinching look at the 1947-1991 period reveals a sobering paradox: a nation that once boasted cutting-edge infrastructure—steel mills, aircraft production, industrial capacity—somehow tumbled whilst neighbours forged ahead. Japan. South Korea. Taiwan. They seized the moment. India didn't. Mitra traces the culprits with precision. Inept governance. Strategic miscalculation. Ideological rigidity masquerading as principle. The suffocating grip of patronage networks, where connections trumped competence. Pervasive graft at every level. And the peculiar stranglehold of family dynasty, particularly the Nehru legacy's 38-year dominion over policy and direction. The questions sting. Why did literacy lag so catastrophically that India harboured the world's poorest-educated population by century's end? How did joblessness fester whilst growth sputtered? What choices led a functioning state to the precipice of financial collapse? This isn't mere historical scorecard-keeping. It's an excavation of India's institutional failures during its most formative decades, unpacking the decisions and doctrines that derailed development. Readers seeking to grasp how modern India inherited its economic complications, alongside its surprising strengths, will find this examination indispensable. It's history that actually illuminates the present.
- Author: Aarnab Mitra
- Publisher: Garuda Prakashan Pvt. Ltd.
- Genre: Social Sciences
- ISBN: 978-8199438644
- Pages: 284 pages