Book review:A. Ravindra, Governing an Indian State: Karnataka in Focus
| Author | Anil Kumar Vaddiraju |
| Published date | 01 September 2021 |
| Date | 01 September 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00195561211035946 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
504 Book Reviews
health insurance coverage with an insurance cover of `30,000 family of ve
members with cashless delivery. Some of the State Health Insurance Schemes
include the Aarogyasri and Yashashvini. The National Health Agency established
as an attached ofce of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has been mandated
to implement the PMJAY scheme. The NHA has collaborated with MeITY to
build technology platforms. The chapter also covers the success story of Kerala in
handling the Covid-19 pandemic.
The chapter ‘Emotive Policy in a Political Democracy’ by Pratip Chattopadhyay
presents a case study of Kanyashree in West Bengal. The programme launched by
the Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare of
Government of West Bengal has received appreciation from the United Nations
and is aimed at reducing under-age marriage and adolescent school dropout
among girls. This was achieved by providing scholarship named ‘Swami
Vivekananda Merit cum Means Scholarship Scheme’. State-wide networks were
formed using NGOs to improve scheme implementation.
The chapter ‘Efcacy of MGNREGS in Achieving SDG’s’ by Moitri Dey
explores the efcacy of the policy to achieve SDG targets using MGNREGS. The
MGNREGS is the rst ever law internationally to guarantee wage employment on
an unprecedented scale. The MGNREGS has been identied as a core of the
policy adopting technology/direct benet transfer and geo-tagging, verication of
job cards to ensure completed assets since the inception of the programme are
placed in public domain. The MGNREGS represents an important instrument to
end poverty.
The chapter ‘The Indian State, Democracy and the Citizen’ by Rumki Basu
says that the pandemic has shaped public discourse on key issues of public policy,
and India has seen and understood the centrality of State power in this time of
the pandemic. Livelihoods, public health, jobs, social security benets, income
support to ordinary citizens in times of distress are key public policy challenges
addressed by the State which need short- and long-term policy interventions.
The book is timely and is a thoroughly enjoyable read.
V. Srinivas
Additional Secretary to Government of India,
Director General National Centre for Good Governance,
New Delhi
vsrinivas@nic.in
A. Ravindra, Governing an Indian State: Karnataka in Focus. New Delhi:
Siya Publishing House, 2018, xiv + 177 pp., `795.00.
DOI: 10.1177/00195561211035946
The ‘Incredible India!’ campaign by the UPA government of India some time ago
held Karnataka as ‘One state, many worlds’. That is indeed true: Karnataka has been
a land of contrasts. This book is about governance, politics and development in
Karnataka, which has myriad aspects that make it special among the 29 states of
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