India Ahead: 2025 and Beyond

by Bimal Jalan

India’s fundamentals are, no doubt, stronger now than ever before, but the country also faces several old and new challenges in the areas of politics, economics, and governance. These can only be met if we are able to generate sufficient political will to pursue the right policies and shake-off the dead weight of the past.

India Ahead: 2025 and Beyond highlights the immediate priorities that need to be tackled. The primary focus of this book is to promote the country’s national interest in the long run, irrespective of any party-specific political agenda—be it the right, the left, or the in-between. The strength of this book lies in the fact that its suggestions are relevant for any party, or coalition of parties, that come into power.

Bimal Jalan brings his remarkable expertise in policy and economic affairs to bear on a range of topics of critical importance to India’s future. Written in an incisive yet lucid style, Jalan concludes that India’s opportunities are huge, but so are the challenges which need to be resolved to realize India’s full potential. Of paramount importance, however, is the need for sufficient will and cooperation among the legislature, judiciary, and executive. This would make it easier to find solutions and move further on the path of progress.

Dr. Bimal Jalan is former Governor, Reserve Bank of India. He has held several positions in the government, including those of Finance Secretary and Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. He was Member of Parliament (2003–09), Chairman of the Expenditure Management Commission (2014–16), and has represented India on the boards of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Genres: Nonfiction

149 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 18, 2018

Reviews

[Saipriya N · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like the title says, "2025 and beyond", this book is all about that, how the mistakes that we have committed in our past and how not only proper initiatives taken is important but also how the way they are implemented.

It outlines about
1. how to make the present system more accountable and transparent.
2.how to strengthen the democratic process by improving the functioning of different agencies of the State.
3. preserving unity in diversity in the parliament
4. how to reduce criminals in politics and corruption.
5: measures to be taken in order to enhance the quality of life.
6: issues related to substantial growth and widening of the financial sector.
7: the role of govt in the economy and introducing. some important administrative reforms
8: just like how the appointments are made by the govt in certain institutions like UPSC, EC, CIC, in the same way similar autonomous institutions must be created for the allocation of all valuable resources like oil and gas.
and many more.

I'm quite disappointed as i had high expectations on this book, it didn't go like how i expected it to be. He discusses many topics but i felt they were dry, incomplete and not pragmatic enough.

[Saswati · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bimal Jalan is one of the foremost public intellectuals in the country and has many feathers in his hat: Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), a nominated member of Rajya Sabha, and an author.

India Ahead: 2025 and Beyond starts with a good premise: to talk about where the country is going wrong and what it can do to set it right. The author has touched upon all the aspects concerning governance, economy and a little bit of culture, in an attempt to provide solutions for the malaise that plagues the country.

The author stresses on the reformation of the political system, which can form the backbone of the virtuous cycle, translating into higher human development. He emphasises on greater devolution of economic power to the states, which is a good idea. The chapter on corruption, albeit universally applicable, is an engaging read. The explanation of how projects are awarded on the basis of the substandard bidding process in order to syphon off the money is an especially good read. He explains how small businesses find it difficult to grow owing to the taxation system and monopoly by big business houses which see their profits grow by leaps and bounds due to the nexus between businesses and politicians. Despite double-digit jumps in the Ease of Doing Business, the government needs to pay attention to several aspects of the regulatory environment.

The book, however, suffers from several failings. Few of them are as follows:
1. The solutions to the issues highlighted are flimsy, to the extent that they can be cosmetic and unrealistic. The underlying assumption is that somehow the political class of the nation can become honest miraculously.

However, this objective can be achieved by adopting a constitutional amendment to the effect that a majority government can, if it so wishes, appoint, say, up to 25 per cent of the members of the Cabinet from outside the Parliament.

This will be in direct conflict with universal adult suffragette as well as breed nepotism.

2. The methodology he has proposed for the distribution of funds for state funding of elections is unrealistic. It places too much power on the hands of the government in power. The government may choose to throttle the source of funding to weaken the opposition.

3. He has emphasised on the outsourcing of several developmental works, especially in healthcare and education to the NGOs. True, NGOs can perform better than government entities in many cases, but they are, more often than not, out of the purview of laws like Right to Information Act. This issue is remediable.

4. The aspect touching restriction of foreign entertainment sources and cultural degradation is clearly archaic. Culture is a dynamic element. Any attempt to regulate it or censor it would mean stifling of freedom of speech and expression. Let me ask you, what exactly is "Indian culture"? A country which boasts of 22 Scheduled Languages, 450+ regional languages, all major religious systems and vibrant history of migration, can hardly claim anything to be truly "indigenous".

The tone of the book is sermonising and somewhat paternalistic. Many of the proposed solutions are doable and are already in discussion in several public fora.

If you're new to the study of Indian politics and economy, this book is a good primer. I will suggest these readers supplement this book with other books related to Indian history, politics and economy.

If you're someone who regularly follows news and reads editorials of major newspapers, you can give this book a pass. This book has little surprise.

[Rene Schlegel · Rating 2 out of 5]

To point out: Mr. Jalan's chapter about (the cause and effect of) corruption is excellent and universally applicable, not only to India. The solutions he suggests, however, are at least questionable and for sure superficial.
Otherwise an analytical and informative, yet rather dry, book.

[Vansh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m often reminded of Keynesian logic when looking at bureaucracy in action. One key thing that Keynes talked about (pun intended) was that when the times are good (trade is booming, gdp increasing, etc), you’re supposed to increase your interest rates to prepare for bad times later or get funding for development; akin to eating your vegetables to eat the dessert later. Pity it doesn’t work: no politician will be the one to say publicly that he’ll be the one increasing the rates cause it’s detrimental to his career, life, and the political party.
At the end of the day, it’s about incentives: I want to believe Marx but the kind of naïveté proposed by him is crescendo-like, not long lasting, and only works in minecraft with well-fed white boys. Jalal’s advice is much the same where yeah, it’s the obvious solution- pretty great even but why the hell would a politician remove the syrup when he’s the one drinking it? China has much the same problem where people send in fake figures to Beijing to avoid getting in trouble, or skim some off the top.
Hope doesn’t work with humans. People don’t hurt someone else because they either think that cooperation is more beneficial or there will be repercussions to be dealt with. If neither is present- there’s no incentive, no will to morality.

[animesh jain · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book by former RBI Governor beautifully explains the reform agenda of India for the next few years. Though many recommended reforms in judicial, administrative, and political spheres have already been debated for many years, the author initiates discussion on many new ideas: Unicameral parliament, appointing non-elected experts as ministers, lessons for Indian from Asian Crisis of 1997, Extending anti-defection law to small political parties, etc. the major lacunae of the book is lack of coherence, many points are repeated throughout the book. Overall a good book for policy enthusiasts.

[Santhanam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book

[Varad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very superficial book. Obvious bias towards BJP. Has some good ideas but mostly a waste

[Sandeep mehta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Indian politics, economy and our challenges explained very nicely in simple layman language.