Dr N. Bhaskara Rao
’Independent and transparent research is vital for good governance. It can evensafeguard against bad governments,’ writes Dr N. Bhaskara Rao, a pioneerin social research and countrywide surveys. In this book, backed by over fivedecades of experience, he then goes on to show how such research has declinedin India from the golden period of the first few decades after Independence.He tracks the turns that social and policy research has taken over the last 70years-slipping from a position of rare professional integrity and credibility to aworrying low in both role and status. The reasons, he shows-all of them interrelated-are the preoccupation of recent political regimes with polarizationand populism, the egotism of powerful leaders, majoritarian trends in societyand politics, lack of financial independence or immoderate pursuit of profitand corporate agendas. If this trend is not reversed, he argues, research couldbecome irrelevant and even dangerously misleading, thus undermining our wellbeingas a nation.Timely, insightful, full of scores of concrete examples and informed byextraordinary professionalism and commitment to democracy, this is anessential book for everyone concerned with India and its all-round, inclusivedevelopment.
