Book Launch: Rethinking Public Institutions in India

CASI-Related Event
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
1779 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036






Rethinking Public Institutions in India
Devesh Kapur, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, and Milan Vaishnav (Eds)

While a growing private sector and a vibrant civil society can help compensate for the shortcomings of India’s public sector, the state is—and will remain—indispensable in delivering basic governance. How will India’s public sector navigate the far-reaching transformations the country is experiencing? And what reforms must India carry out to build a reinvigorated state for the twenty-first century?

In a new volume, Rethinking Public Institutions in India (Oxford University Press, 2017), a group of distinguished political and economic thinkers critically assess a diverse array of India’s core federal institutions, from the Supreme Court and Parliament to the Election Commission and the civil services. Drawing on the insights of scholars and practitioners with deep knowledge of the Indian state, co-editors Devesh Kapur and Pratap Bhanu Mehta will discuss their findings with Georgetown’s Joel Hellman and the World Bank’s Maitreyi Bordia Das. Carnegie’s Milan Vaishnav, also a co-editor, will moderate. A light reception will follow.

CO-EDITORS:

Devesh Kapur
Director, CASI
Professor of Political Science, Madan Lal Sobti Professor for the Study of Contemporary India, University of Pennsylvania

Pratap Bhanu Mehta
President and Chief Executive, Center for Policy Research, New Delhi, and Contributing Editor, The Indian Express

Milan Vaishnav (Moderator)
Senior Fellow, South Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

DISCUSSANTS:

Maitreyi Bordia Das
Global Lead for Social Inclusion, The World Bank. Previously a Member of the Indian Administrative Service

Joel Hellman
Dean, Walsh School of Foreign Service, and Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Development, Georgetown University

The Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series is an endowed public program of the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI). Launched in the 2007-08 academic year, and made possible through the generous support of the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, the series brings renowned India specialists to the Penn community and serves as a critical forum for analyzing and understanding the complex economic, political, social, and cultural changes that the world’s largest democracy is experiencing, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.
The Saluja Global Fellows Program has been made possible by the generous gift from Vishal Saluja ENG’89 W’89. CASI was excited to launch the program during the 2022–23 academic year, coinciding with the Center’s 30th Anniversary. This new program enables CASI to invite eminent leaders and rising experts on contemporary India preferably from the fields of media, culture, law, and contemporary history to be in residence for one to two weeks at CASI.