Title: ModiNomics - Inclusive Economics, Inclusive governance; Author: Sameer Kochhar; Publisher: Skoch Media; Pages: 241; Price: Rs.1,095
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi has been in the national and international limelight for over a decade - for both good and bad reasons. He has been severely criticised for the 2002 Gujarat communal violence. At the same time, Modi has been praised for his economic policies that have made the western Indian state among the most developed.
India is now abuzz about the Gujarat economic growth model championed by Modi. The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the centre has named Modi as its prime ministerial candidate in the run-up to the general election due by May. If we go by opinion polls, Modi could be running India three-four months from now. So the euphoria behind his economic policies is natural.
Entrepreneur-turned author Sameer Kochhar has tried to decipher the Gujarat development model in his latest book titled "ModiNomics - Inclusive Economics, Inclusive Governance".
"It is not an armchair book but one that has been written in the background of rich learning based on research, interviews, dialogues, field reports, scrutiny of award nominations, extensive projects, and travels into the interiors of the state as well as in the corridors of power," Kochhar, also chairman of think-tank Skoch Group, says in the introduction of the book.
According to Kochhar, Modi's model strikes a balance between economic and governance reforms.
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"India, while embarking on the journey of economic reforms since 1991, ended up focussing too much on it while ignoring the importance of governance reforms. Modi did not commit this mistake. He stood on the two legs of economic and governance reforms and traded carefully," the book says.
"This has brought Gujarat closer to third-generation of reforms while the country is still struggling with second-generation reforms," it adds.
The book highlights the economic and development strategies adopted by Modi, who has been helming Gujarat since 2001.
It has separate chapters on Gujarat's economic growth, infrastructure, agricultural revival, human reesource development, sustainable development and growth at the grassroots.
It highlights how Modi has effectively used information and communication technology to raise governance standards from the grassroots level to the top.
"ModiNomics is not about good governance and good economics alone. It is also about leadership, initiative, grit, passion, commitment and above all innovation, driven by a vision to excel," Kochhar says in the conclusion.
The book also carries excerpts from Sameer Kochhar's interview of Narendra Modi.
Released days ahead of the 2014 general elections, ModiNomics is a must read for those interested in the economic policy likely to be followed if the BJP comes to power.
(23.02.2014 - Gyanendra Kumar Keshri can be reached at gyanendra.k@ians.in)