http://imaginingindia.com/explore-and-discuss-the-book/explore-the-chapters/ideas-that-have-arrived/
Finally I completed reading this book on Feb 3rd 2009 . 515 pages in 15 days . Avg speed of 34 pages/day . Well looks like a slow reader , but personally I feel I have improved a lot in terms of patiently reading a complete book .
Now some key highlights
- Nandan explains that we need to have shift in the way we tackle the issues in our country from the current vertical ones ( Religion , Caste , Region ) to horizontal ones that cuts across all ( Education , Infrastructure , Heath , Employment )
- The book is divided into 4 parts
The first part is about Ideas that got India the current GDP growth rate (8 %+) . Following were the shifts we could see post independence to now
1) Population considered as drag to economy to human capital
2) Rejection of entrepreneur to acceptance of entrepreneur in policy making .
3) Rejection of English ( being imperialist ) to acceptance of English for livelihood .
4) Perception of IT changed
5) Acceptance of Globalization
6) Transition from Top-Down politics to Bottom- up Politics ( rise of regional players )
The second part of the book is about Ideas that are widely accepted but yet to see results ( critical if not completed timely we will have GDP drop below 6 %)
1) Full Litereacy has gained acceptance . But we are yet to implement universal education.
2) Acceptance of Cities as economic health .
3) Acceptance to overhaul the woeful infrastructure
4) Removal of regulations restricting interstate trade to build common domestic market.
The third part of the book is about Ideas were we dont have consensus ( if we get this right we can have GDP around 10 % + )
1) Continuation of Reforms ( role of govt vs markets , reforms in agriculture ,policies for better education , more jobs and better infrastructure )
2)Ease of labor regulations
3) Regulation of colleges and Role of state and universities .
The fourth part of the book deals with ideas that are still missing in our policies and these emerging challenges in horizon may impact the future growth for us
1) Computerization of Govt Process by reinventing the process first .
( single citizen ID , New distribution channel for Direct benefits , Access to market information to rural India , Reforms in Land Titling and Property rights , Transperency in Governance )
2) Heath reforms ( Epidimic tackling to preventive heath )
3) Pension reforms ( social security )
4) Environment challenges ( Accept Green as part of business model )
5) Power reforms
