Bureaucrats & 'conspiracies'

P C Parakh's book 'The Coal Conundrum' is about sectors that govt tried to reform in past 25 years

P C Parakh has titled his book The Coal Conundrum but it could just have easily passed muster as The Air India Conundrum — or, indeed, any of the myriad sectors in which the Indian government has tried to reform in the past 25 years. The dramatis personae are the same: The hesitant executive, the irresponsible opposition of the day, a constituency for protection (often the unions) and an overzealous judiciary.

Within that framework, you could imagine this book as a set of three lectures. They are complete in themselves; they are a scholars’ delight yet an excellent intro for