in collaboration with Dipartimento di Economia, Roma Tre University
INDIA TODAY
The Challenges to the Indian Economy
Aditya Mukherjee (Professor of Contemporary History, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)
- Brief outline of changes in the Indian economy in the early post-colonial period. The unstructuring of the colonial pattern and setting the Indian economy on a developmental path.
- Economic impact of the reform since the 1990s.
- Indian economy in the new millennium-the breakthroughs and the challenges.
The Social and Political Challenge
Mridula Mukherjee (Professor of Modern Indian History, Centre for Historical Studies, and Dean, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)
- Achievements: Successful working of parliamentary democracy for 65 years; 15 general elections considered more or less free and fair with little violence; army remained under civilian control, no coup attempts ever.
- Democratic space exists for oppositional movements, but decline of Left parties and weakening of trade union movements.
- Areas where the political system has been remiss have been taken up by grassroots level movements of civil society which has sought to deepen democracy, e.g., the movements for the Right to Information, right to employment, right to education, right to food, etc. Also movements for protecting the environment, against gender violence and against corruption have emerged from such civil society initiatives.
Author: Aditya Mukherjee
Author: Aditya Mukherjee