Oxford University Press discusses revamp of Indian public institutions

New Delhi 

A panel discussion was conducted by the Oxford University Press on the upcoming book 'Rethinking Public Institutions in India', edited by Devesh Kapur, Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Milan Vaishnav.

The agenda of this discussion was to focus on the work and analyse the challenges of governance faced by contemporary India.

The discussion emphasised that while the expansion and growth of India's private sector and a vibrant civil society can fill in for some of the shortcomings of the public sector in the foreseeable future, there is a wide range of core functions from regulation to security, where the State will be indispensable.

The integrity and responsiveness of the Indian state to the multiple challenges facing the country, both internal and external, will fundamentally determine India's future.

The co-panelists for this discussion included Indian economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Shailaja Chandra- Former Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Delhi's only woman Chief Secretary; Ramachandra Guha, Indian historian and writer and Indian politician Yogendra Yadav, Indian politician, psephologist and academic.

"This volume is a unique and illuminating study of India's public institutions. It is essential reading for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers-not to mention ordinary citizens," said Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

In Rethinking Public Institutions in India, distinguished political and economic thinkers critically assess a diverse array of India's core federal institutions, from the Supreme Court and Parliament to the Election Commission and the civil services.

Relying on interdisciplinary approaches and decades of practitioner experience, this volume interrogates the capacity of India's public sector to navigate the far-reaching transformations the country is experiencing. An insightful introduction to the functioning of Indian democracy, it offers a roadmap for carrying out fundamental reforms that will be necessary for India to build a reinvigorated state for the twenty-first century. (ANI)