The establishment of the Republic of India was a promise to uplift a people devastated by centuries of colonial rule. That promise, Ashoka Mody argues, lies broken today.
At the dawn of independence, India was faced with three major challenges. One, transform its agricultural economy. Two, generate jobs. Three, compete in the international marketplace. Seventy five years later, those challenges remain just as pressing. If anything the problems have only deepened.
What went wrong?
In his new book, India Is Broken: A People Betrayed, Independence to Today, Princeton University economic historian Mody looks back at a long history of bad decisions.
In this conversation with Naresh Fernandes for Scroll Books, the former World Bank and International Monetary Fund economist explains why the sinking Himalayan town of Joshimath is symbolic of the Indian Republic.
He also discusses Narendra Modi government’s handling of the economy, the Gujarat Model of development, why JRD Tata celebrated the Emergency and whether India can replace China as a manufacturing hub.
