Ashok Lahiri is a distinguished Indian economist and a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Balurghat. He also serves as a member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission. Lahiri previously served as 12th Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India, reader at the Delhi School of Economics, executive director at the Asian Development Bank, chairman of Bandhan Bank and director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. He has also had stints with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as a consultant and senior economist, respectively.India and the Indians have made some progress in 75 years after Independence. The number of literates has gone up. The Indians have become healthier and their life expectancy at birth has gone up. The proportion of people below the poverty line has also halved. But the shine from the story fades when India is compared with that of the East Asian Tigers and China. It looks good but not good enough. India looks far away from the glory it seeks. This issue forms the core subject matter of this book. It tries to argue why India could not achieve more and what all it could have achieved. It paints a picture of its possible future and highlights the areas that need immediate attention.
