Self-Reliance Denied, Hopes Belied

I found this book fascinating. Having   been an ‘insider’ in the government, endeavouring to run the ‘system’, I was fascinated at the way L C Jain has succeeded in stripping the emperor of his clothes. Not only is that part of the book fascinating – and extremely important for the future if we seriously intend to implement the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution – even more fascinating is the story of the heroic efforts made by the late Sudhir Ghosh and the Indian Co-operative Union to create a new paradigm of development at Faridabad.

The significane of L C Jain’s book is twofold. First, it is a story of one of the most wonderful, exciting experiments in post-independence India. Second, nothing, really nothing, appears to have changed in all these years in the mental approach of the elitist ruling class in India to the problem of development. The mental approach of the elite bureaucrats is the same in the year 2000 as it was in 1950.