Book Reviews
| Author | Dolly Arora |
| Published date | 01 October 2014 |
| Date | 01 October 2014 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0019556120140419 |
960 I INDIAN
JOURNAL
OF
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
VOL.
LX,
NO.
4.
OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014
hand-picked incidents ear mark the narrative with an able anecdotal fun
and alacrity. The book
in
the final saying does ample justice with the legend
that the Indian Army
is
as a national institution as it provides a rare insight
inside the dynamic
oflife
as a Cadet till the time a cadet matures as a JCO
to steal cows from the enemy front.
The book uncannily and boisterously reminds us
of
the sages that
soldiers are, as they are perennially involved
in
the line
of
duty with selfless
and larger than life intent and ambition. The gaiety, pageantry, the code
of
honour, hard work and stiff discipline which
is
the backbone
of
the army,
is
vividly brought
out
in
the narrative as both internal security scenarios and
'post'
situations are colourfully and creatively brought
to
the fore by the
author. The culture
of
the army
is
hilariously deliberated upon with the
national character being embalmed as the core narrative
of
the book.
-
MANAN
DWIVEDI
Ethics
for
Governance: Reinventing Public Services
B.
P.
MATHUR,
New
Delhi, Routledge, 2014,
p.
408, Rs.779.00 (HB)
As the title
of
the book indicates, this book
is
a quest for ethics for
governance and reflects the author's sincere concern for reinventing public
services. Consisting
of
24 chapters, organised
in
seven sections, the book
reveals the
author's
pursuit to understand and address: Why
is
India with
its great cultural and spiritual tradition, enterprising people and rich natural
resources, still trapped
in
poverty, backwardness and deprivation, six and
half
decades after Independence. With that question begins the expedition
of
the author through ideas, institutions and development processes that
characterised India over the years. The reader is comfortably carried along
in this journey through history to the contemporary developments
in
polity,
economy and administration, punctuated by discussions
of
developments
in
other parts
of
the world.
The
evolution
of
ideas and policies on governance and ethics is
passionately narrated, often with documentary evidence. Lucid presentation
of
developments
in
political, administrative and economic domains
in
the
Indian context and the problems that emerged obstructing the attainment
of
desired objectives, the rise
of
corruption, the efficiency issues, the problems
with political institutions and the failures
of
bureaucracy, introduce the reader
to a wide range
of
subjects with remarkab1e simplicity.
Interesting and informative, the book offers a range
of
ideas for
consideration
if
India is to deliver.
ln
fact, the author carries the reader
with compelling conviction towards believing that there
is
hope and possibility
of
improving the perfonnance
of
the system. One needs, however, to struggle
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