Indian Economy

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FROM DREAMERS TO COPIERS

The literature on economic planning authored by Indians in the pre-independence days was not very substantial in volume, but it was rich and varied in ideas. The authors included some of the most illustrious names in modern Indian history. Fired by intense patriotism and a deep feeling for the poor, they were thrilled by the vision of an independent India marching stridently ahead, freed from want and hunger, poverty and exploitation, discrimination and corruption. To them, a two-fold or three-fold rise in national and per capita income or in agricultural and industrial production in a short span of 10 to 15 years was no big deal.

If that sounded rather naive at times, that was because they had great faith in their ...