Book review: N. Menon, Planning Democracy: How a Professor, an Institute, and an Idea Shaped India
| Published date | 01 September 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00195561231166354 |
| Author | Deepak Kumar |
| Date | 01 September 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
720 Book Reviews
Indian federalism like the relationship between federalism and democracy, intergov-
ernmentalism, a new technology which holds a range of challenges for all govern-
ments, development of e-government, and concern about the digital divide do not
seem to have received adequate attention in the monograph. The failure to address
adequately these critical challenges entails that federalism’s relevance for Indian
Republic’s studies remains uncertain.
Despite some minor weaknesses, the monograph is a very signicant addition to
the expanding literature on federalism in India in a comparative perspective. However,
the main argument advanced is broadly and accurately deduced, making the book a
valuable contribution to federalism literature in India. Given the size and the intellec-
tual worth of the study, it seems a misnomer to call it a monograph. In fact, it is fully
blown study based on intensive research carried out with the help of established meth-
odological tools. We are sure that this ‘monograph’, rich in terms of conceptual analy-
sis and content, will be useful not only to those who are researching on federalism but
also to those who run the system. For the policymakers, the comparative information
carefully captured and analysed skilfully will be an excellent guide to action and
transformation.
Prabhat Kumar Datta
Senior Visiting Professor, St. Xavier's University,
Kolkata and former Centenary Chair,
Department of Political Science,
University of Calcutta, West Bengal, India
dattaprabhat@gmail.com
Durga P. Chhetri
Department of Political Science,
Sikkim University, Gangtok, India
dpchettri@cus.ac.in
N. Menon, Planning Democracy: How a Professor, an Institute, and
an Idea Shaped India. Viking India, 2022, 360 pp., `799.00, ISBN:
9780670095926.
DOI: 10.1177/00195561231166354
The broader theme of this research is planning. It outlines the experiments of
planning which set India’s data system, nature of the planning economy which
helps India to be a liberal democracy with a socialistic economic setup. It is a
welcome contribution to the growing literature. Furthermore, the book engages
with the narration of the Planning Commission (PC) and Prime Minister (PM)
Modi, how both share their birth year 1950, coincidently. The planning of post-
Independence economy of India was a vision of many freedom fighters to plan an
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