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Public policy And Politics in India : How institution matterBy kuldeep Mathur, Oxford University Press 2013; ISBN -13: 978-0-19-9466054

Public policy is a new discourse that emerged in the early 1950s. Public policy is designed as goal oriented action to stimulate decision making. Policy mounted on law & regulations, funding management with the concern of governmental representation. It is a discipline to solve the Conflict by making policies such as education Policy, health Policy, employment policy, foreign policy, Agriculture Policy and labor policy.

Public policy developed in the context of the Indian governance scenario; is becoming more and more significant in today’s world. The importance of civil societies, non-profit organizations, and the media have a communicative role in producing policies. 

This book carved out a few questions that needed to be answered like what is the nature of this new style of governance ? How does it affect the role of the state in framing public policy? And this book also delve deep into the nature and role of these networking to determine public policy, promoting the sledgehammer research in this area of public policy.

Kuldeep Mathur, the author of this book put forward his own research essays that focus on an analysis of Indian public policies. The theme of the book also concerned the processes of policy making. Author explores the impoverished aspects of Policies in india; what was lost in the dominant theme pursued by most scholars was that policy was an arena of Contestation – of bargaining & Compromises of politics. 

Questioning the bureaucratic imperative of impersonality and neutrality inhibited an understanding of how policies were formulated and implemented.

Main Content

This book emphasizes on certain Sphere or excessive involvement of political executive, exclusiveness of politics in Policy Making. Discuss the Guidance of Governance in India, Research bases Policy Analysis and how policy research organized in the South Asian region provides the understanding for Supreme Court, Technocrats and populist Politics in india in the sphere of Policymaking, importance of policy evaluation for education Policy. 

The impact of privatization, Liberalization and public sector Enterprises in India, how governance is used as networks between state, Business, NGOs for enhancement of relationships. Development of cognitivism towards strengthening the Bureaucracy: state and  Development in India, enforces the Administrative reform in india as policy fixation and Consequences.

 Following tenets explained by author; Book explained the Policy mechanism of different Commissions, Active inputs of parliamentary Committees, Concentrate on political and Administrative Constraints. Introductory policy Analysis from planning to implementation failure.

Articulation of how formulation of policies differ in South Asia; social political environment and character of Social Science research context that shapes the characteristics of policy research organization, emergence of policy research organization in South Asia. However, South Asian Countries do not have Common model for the growth of such institutions. Below mentioned important outlining from the book.

“Initiative taken by the govt establishing research institution at the beginning of the planning period indicates recognition of the fact that research can contribute to policy making”. Policy failure were seen to be located in the bureaucratic/managerial process rather than in programme design & formulation of objectives.

“The dilemma of increased political participation within a system of limited economic benefit is the major Challenge for policymakers as india enters the second millennium”.Author underline the role of supreme Court in Policymaking; Political Contestation & govt reluctance in implementing what had already long been on the statute books and nature of environmentalist politics. 

Explored the role of various actors in shaping outcomes, the impact of education policy since independence. The significance of privatization emphasis on the virtue of the market is highlighting the weaknesses of the public sector hence the need of privatization political leadership 

promoting economic reform in india, prescribed few reforms and possible reasons for failure lead to desirability of wholesome privatization.

Consideration of the role of legislation in the making of Public Policy has been a relatively neglected area of Political environment. Articulation of Governance as networks with ngos, state & market ponderability of relationship of the state with the corporate sector is based on a transformed view of the role of the state in neo liberal economic framework.

 Also, In this book the author emphasizes strengthening of bureaucracy for ameliorate the Governance. All the following, explanatory principles in the book require the administrative Reforms; changing the intellectual climate that provides understanding of the role & scope of Public Administration propelled this discourse.

Conclusion

I highly recommend this book not only to those who are studying Public Policy but to all who desire to acquire knowledge regarding public policies mechanisms & approaches of Public Policy in India. The language of the book is moderate to understand, easy to absorb and grasp.

Also, This book clear the idea of policy making, social science, economic decision making, necessity of pivotal agencies gravitate our attention towards policy 

processes rather than focus on consequences. Dominant Strategy of development and the state determined development outcomes. Propounded economic reform was a response to the economic crisis and became an instrument of crisis management by the government.

Critical significant stream in the general area of policy studies which here attracted considerable attention of policy evaluation. Critical evaluations of various policies and programmes have sought to identify the factors responsible for policy failures and to suggest what the Government should have done to improve their chances of successful Policy structure. 

Policies could not achieve their objectives without bureaucratic and administrative adequate sophistication. Discussion on little attention was paid to the policies themselves and their appropriateness by Government, Policies began to be assessed in relation to plan models, sectoral relationships and the global economic context. Importance of public policies have primarily focused on the dimensions of efficiency and effectiveness. 

Policies are shaped and designed. Social scientists need to fill the gap in our comprehension of how state institutions function particularly when policy is a political statement and not a techno-rational output of State action. This book provide all kind of reasoning and perception to improve the Public Policy structure.

THE HANDMAID’S TALE

The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England, in a strongly patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state, known as Republic of Gilead, that has overthrown the United States government.The central character and narrator is a woman named Offred, one of the group known as “handmaids”, who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the “commanders” – the ruling class of men.The novel explores themes of subjugated women in a patriarchal society and the various means by which they resist and attempt to gain individuality and independence. The novel’s title echoes the component parts of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, which is a series of connected stories (such as “The Merchant’s Tale” and “The Parson’s Tale”)

Plot

After a staged attack that killed the President of the United States and most of Congress, a radical political group called the “Sons of Jacob” uses theonomic ideology to launch a revolution.[7] The United States Constitution is suspended, newspapers are censored, and what was formerly the United States of America is changed into a military dictatorship known as the Republic of Gilead. The new regime moves quickly to consolidate its power, overtaking all other religious groups, including traditional Christian denominations. In addition, the regime reorganizes society using a peculiar interpretation of some Old Testament ideas, and a new militarized, hierarchical model of social and religious fanaticism among its newly created social classes. Above all, the biggest change is the severe limitation of people’s rights, especially those of women, who are not allowed to read, write, own property, or handle money. Most significantly, women are deprived of control over their own reproductive functions.

The story is told in first-person narration by a woman named Offred. In this era of environmental pollution and radiation, she is one of the few remaining fertile women. Therefore, she is forcibly assigned to produce children for the “Commanders,” the ruling class of men, and is known as a “Handmaid” based on the biblical story of Rachel and her handmaid Bilhah. Apart from Handmaids, other women are also classed socially and follow a strict dress code, ranked highest to lowest: the Commanders’ Wives in blue; the Handmaids in red with white veils around their faces; the Aunts (who train and indoctrinate the Handmaids) in brown; the Marthas (cooks and maids) in green; Econowives (the wives of lower-ranking men who handle everything in the domestic sphere) in blue, red and green stripes; young, unmarried girls in white; and widows in black.

Offred details her life starting with her third assignment as a Handmaid to a Commander. Interspersed with her narratives of her present-day experiences are flashbacks of her life before and during the beginning of the revolution, including her failed attempt to escape to Canada with her husband and child, her indoctrination into life as a Handmaid by the Aunts, and the escape of her friend Moira from the indoctrination facility. At her new home, she is treated poorly by the Commander’s wife, a former Christian media personality named Serena Joy who supported women’s domesticity and subordinate role well before Gilead was established. To Offred’s surprise, the Commander requests to see her outside of the “Ceremony,” a reproductive ritual obligatory for handmaids and intended to result in conception in the presence of his wife. The two begin an illegal relationship where they play Scrabble and Offred is allowed to ask favours of him, whether in terms of information or material items. Finally, he gives her lingerie and takes her to a covert, government-run brothel called Jezebel’s. Offred unexpectedly encounters Moira there, with her will broken, and she learns that those who are found breaking the law are sent to the Colonies to clean up toxic waste or are allowed to work at Jezebel’s as punishment.

In the days between her visits to the Commander, Offred also learns from her shopping partner, a woman called Ofglen, of the Mayday resistance, an underground network working to overthrow the Republic of Gilead. Not knowing of Offred’s criminal acts with her husband, Serena begins to suspect that the Commander is infertile, and arranges for Offred to begin a covert sexual relationship with Nick, the Commander’s personal servant. After their initial sexual encounter, Offred and Nick begin to meet on their own initiative as well, with Offred discovering that she enjoys these intimate moments despite memories of her husband, and shares potentially dangerous information about her past with him. However, shortly after, Ofglen disappears (reported as a suicide), and Serena finds evidence of the relationship between Offred and the Commander, which causes Offred to contemplate suicide.

Offred tells Nick that she thinks she is pregnant. Shortly afterward, men arrive at the house wearing the uniform of the secret police, the Eyes of God, known informally as “the Eyes”, to take her away. As she is led to a waiting van, Nick tells her to trust him and go with the men. It is unclear whether the men are actually Eyes or members of the Mayday resistance. Offred is still unsure if Nick is a member of Mayday or an Eye posing as one, and does not know if leaving will result in her escape or her capture. Ultimately, she enters the van with her future uncertain.

The novel concludes with a metafictional epilogue, described as a partial transcript of an international historical association conference taking place in the year 2195. The keynote speaker explains that Offred’s account of the events of the novel was recorded onto cassette tapes later found and transcribed by historians studying what is then called “the Gilead Period”.

Importance and Benefits of Reading Books.

Growing up we all have learned basic skills and out of all the skills, our ability to read is the most significant. Whatever you read, it ends up enlightening you. And when it comes to books, each book that you read is an opportunity to learn something new. By reading you can broaden your vocabulary, improve your writing skills, train your mind, enhance your wellness, lower stress, and most important thing you can discover something new about yourself. 

Why is reading important?

It has been said that a person who can read can educate themselves in any field of life they’d like to. In this modern era, everything is flooding with fresh information. And reading is the best way to clarify and relate to further information. 

Although you can find it easier to watch a Youtube video or listen to a podcast, reading still tastes the cake when it comes to comprehension and enhancing your education. 

What are the benefits of reading books? 

If you are a bookworm, you already know many of the benefits of reading books. And if you are not then you are reading the right article. Mentioned below are some of the benefits of reading books:-

I) Improves Concentration

Reading requires concentration, time, and patience. In simple words, reading forces you to use your brain. According to One World Literacy Foundation, “when you read, you need to reason things out that are unfamiliar to you.”

II)  Broaden Vocabulary 

If you read, you uncover new words, that allow understanding on a greater level. If you read an hour per day, you’ll end up exposing yourself to approx 4 million words in a year. Isn’t it amazing?

III) Reduces Stress

According to a study by Sussex University, reading can reduce stress by 68%. When you read you involve your mind in reading, which takes away your focus from all the worries.  

David Lewis​ (a cognitive neuropsychologist) said, “It doesn’t matter what book you read. By losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book you can escape from the worries and stresses of the everyday world and spend a while exploring the domain of the author’s imagination.”

IV) Makes You A Better Communicator

When you learn new vocabulary, you become a far better communicator. With all the new vocabulary, you’ll know which word is right for which context. For example, when you feel bad, it can be anything like you are feeling hungry, you have a fever, you have a headache, etc. But if you say that I am feeling bad then you are not specifying the feelings, which results in another person not understanding what are you going through. In that case, your vocabulary can help, that you learn by reading.

V) It Helps Your Writing

With all the creativity, vocabulary, and communication skills gained from reading, imagine what you can do with your writing skills. By reading other’s work you can experience their way of explaining a feeling or certain situation. Hence, you learn how to use other writers’ experiences to improve yours.

VI) Reading Improves Empathy

Empathy is being able to put yourself in someone’s else shoes. Reading fiction or non-fiction can bring you as close as you’ll ever be in someone”s shoes. Studies have shown that readers have a better sense of empathy. 

There is a saying, “Books are man’s best friend.” I believe every one of us should follow this and start reading.