India in The Year A.D. 2000

This book presents the overview of the literature that will be available on India in the year 2000. This review has been conducted with a view to discuss growth points and trends in the studies on the year 2000; to review methodologies employed in the investigationof the future; to have a vision of the future of the country; and locate gaps in knowledge and provide subject matter fit for future research. To trace the development and growth points, the content analysis of 675 references has been attempted. The scenario in the year 2000 covers population, economy, transport, housing, energy, water, food, environment, management and public administration, communication, education, health, politics, society and culture. This is the first book which provides comprehensive account on each of these aspects. The chapter on development strategies reflects on the capability aspects in general. Reference is made here to the visions of Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru on the subject. An overview of seven five year plans has also been offered. An attempt has been made to identify in the end the major contours of developmental strategy for the future in which, among others, it has been suggestedthat “to improve the administration, decentralization of decision-making power is essential”.

Prof. Iqbal Narain (b. 1930) was formerly Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. He has written and edited a number of books, some of them in collaboration with others. Among them are: From Dyarchy to Self Government (1950); Pattern of Urban-Rural Relationship (1967); State Politics in India (1967); Panchayati Raj Planning and Democracy (1969); Fourth General Elections in India, Vols. 1 & 2 (1968-1970); Liteerature, Social Consciousness and Polity (1958); and Development, Politics & Social Theory (1989). A UGC National Lecturer in 1971-72, he regularly contributes to learned journals in India and abroad. A widely travelled person, he is at present Member-Secretary, Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi. Of late, he has been writing on India’s educational System in the light of his experience as a Vice-Chancellor of Rajasthan and Benaras Hindu University. Dr. Surendra K. Gupta (b. 1940) teaches Sociology at the Punjabi University, Patiala. Currently he is a Senior Fellow of the ICSSr and is working on a research project Indians in Thailand. Dr. Gupta has taught at the University of Saugar and visited United States of America as a visiting Professor from 1975 to 1977. He has contributed many articles in professional journals. His book Citizen in the Making was a pioneering work in the field of Political Socialization in India. He has also worked on a UNESCO sponsored cross-cultural comparative study on Communication and Dynamics of National Building, for which he did the Indian Study which has been published the UNESCO monograph.