In dealing with the ferocious global financial and economic crisis of 2008, which dramatically changed the institutional and policy making landscape within India, this distinguished text seeks to provide an answer to a haunting question: Where can India go from here? Moving beyond growth models to the realm of economic philosophy of development, it impresses that India must develop from conventional growth economics, promoting broad-based, decentralized growth—which alone could facilitate access by the poor to employment, food, nutrition and health, and quality education—as well as appropriate safety nets to reduce the vulnerability of the poor and, above all, create a value-based, compassionate society.
N. A. Mujumdar is the editor of the Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, an honorary professor at the Society for Development Studies, and a former principal advisor at the Reserve Bank of India. He is the author of several books, including Economic Reforms Sans Development, Inclusive Growth: Development Perspectives in Indian Economy,and Indian Agriculture in the New Millennium.