'The Gated Republic' Private solutions to public nightmare!

    New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) A new book "The Gated Republic" presents an interrogative view of the history and future of private India at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for effective public policies to ensure the provision of basic, essential services to all citizens.
    Political economy analyst Shankkar Aiyar says his book "The Gated Republic: India's Public Policy Failures and Private Solutions" is an enquiry into the history and politics of public policy and the anatomy of failure.
    He says the "maxim about the multiple truths that are India is unfortunately proven by the sordid state of affairs in the delivery of public goods and services".
    According to Aiyar, the country's ability in dealing with complexities and scale has not "resulted in creation of capacity for transformative change".
    "Truth be told, our many governments - central, state and local - have flailed and failed in delivering basic governance," he writes.
    The Kindle edition of the book is slated to be released on June 1 followed by the hardback release on June 20, publishers HarperCollins India said.
    Aiyar says 72 years since it became a republic, India has come a long way.
    "However, it is still failing on key counts: water, health, education, power, and law and order."
    Piped drinking water for all continues to be a pipe dream; homes and businesses are haunted by power outages; lack of proper primary health care renders the poorest more vulnerable; and millions of children coming out of schools lack rudimentary skills, he says.
    India, Aiyar says, is morphing into a nation of gated republics.
    "Slowly, these gated republics are spreading across the landscape and their tell-tale signs are evident in anecdotal snapshots. The empirical picture is changing at a glacial pace and the scale is momentous," he writes.
    Aiyar says this "investigative book is written for the people, so that they can prod their elected representatives and demand to know how they and their country can progress when the state fails to deliver on the most basic of obligations". PTI ZMN RDS
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)