Articles by Romesh Diwan

Romesh Diwan THERE is a scene in the film 'Gandhi', It is a meeting at Jinnah's bungalow of major Congress Party leaders: Mahatma, Nehru, Patel, Azad, Kirplani. The subject is; how should Congress commemorate Jallianwaila Bagh massacre and the independence day banned by the British colonial government? Various options are discussed; strike, direct action, etc. Mahatma suggests that it be a day of prayer. They all look at him in disbelief; how parochial? Gandhi adds, there wilt be no activity; no trains will run, no post will be delivered. Camera shows a twinkle in Patel's eyes, first to recognise its implications. He blurts that such a shut out will put fear into the British. The scene moves to viceroy' s now presidential gardens depicting total strike. This, day of prayer and the resulting total strike, changed the political circumstance fundamentally. It was the beginning of India's independence from colonial subjugation because it integrated all people in the movement and Brits did not know how to react. Only a rishi like the Mahatma, fully versed in Hindu culture, understood that a day of prayer is more effective than a westernised strike.

Assumptions and an Alternative LIKE many governments in the world, the Indian government also is following policies for the uplift of the economy. The government and its principal actors are quite genuine about the goal of such policies and are persuaded that these policies will get the country to the desired goal of growth and economic welfare of most people. These policies are contained in a package known as 'economic reforms'. There is a consensus among some sections on the elementsjn this package for a variety of reasons: (i) a genuine belief that these will be effective, (ii) they suit the interests of the ruling group whom for purposes of analysis I have classified under the heading Resident Non-Indians (RNI), (iii) they seem to be consistent with the prevailing conventional wisdom based on economic orthodoxy, and (iv) they are supported, and promoted, by the international lenders. Even though these policies have been formulated, and pushed, by the government for the past five years these have not gained the support of the populace at large as is evidenced by the defeat of the Congress Party in most stale elections; this in spite of the government's and its supporters' economic muscle and political power. It is clear that the economic logic being argued by the central government is at variance with the experiences of the majority public. Why is it so?

Is There Hope for the Indian Economy?
Romesh Diwan I READ with interest the commentary, between Friends; A Conversation'.' Both Ashok Mitra and K S Krishnaswamy have been involved with economic policy and ideas for many decades. Ashok Mitra was my teacher, from whom I learnt some of the intricacies of econometrics. I have read his 'Calcutta Diary' regularly and found it, always, incisive. It requires guts to publish thoughts written forprivate use, particularly when Krishnaswamy writes about his un- happiness "because of the involvement of persons who I have been friends with for along time" and "because I think they have been knowingly dishonest";2 a courageous act indeed specially when these friends are stillin high office. Itis a fascinating reading. Our hats to these two stalwarts and thanks to the editors for publishing it.

February 12, 1983 encourage the appearance of others of the same genre" (p 6). There is a grave danger for the development of sociology and social anthropology in geuneral and for the method of participant observation in particular, if books of this kind are to pass off as serious research monographs under the stamp of one of the greatest social anthropologists of the world. In fact, students of research should emulate Evans-Pritchard who is known for his systematic fieldwork, rich ethnography and theorising.

Development, Education and the Poor: Context of South Asia Romesh Diwan The development efforts of the countries of the Third World, in spite of their enormity and even when successful, have followed a path that has led to the intensification of the problems of poverty, unemployment and inequality.