Bottom Line

“A growth rate of nine to ten per cent in the Twelfth Plan is not possible unless the infrastructure constraint is really taken care of,” said Montek Singh Ahluwalia,Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission. Building from the Bottom: Infrastructure and Poverty Alleviation (Rs 995,Academic Foundation and SKOCH Development Foundation) sets out to tackle these infrastructural constraints. Through numerous examples,the book deals with policy and infrastructure issues,governance,service delivery and poverty alleviation. Edited by Sameer Kochhar,President of Skoch Development Foundation and M Ramachandran,member of the Indian Administrative Service,it is a compilation of essays by leading entrepreneurs and academics of our time —  from economist Bibek Debroy to industrialist Nandan Nilekani. The book was launched at Hotel Shangri-La on Wednesday.

Highlighting the need for a book like this,Ahluwalia,who launched the book,said that it is often mistaken that infrastructure is for India and not for Bharat. He underscored the need to make the life of the ordinary man more liveable. BK Chaturvedi,Member,Planning Commission,emphasised on the importance of strengthening investment in urban centres and empowering the “third tier” of our country toward greater self-sufficiency.

The panel discussion following the book launch threw up many important points. The problems of the urban poor,especially that of “illegitimacy” came to the fore. The urban poor are denied basics from ration cards to cheap rental accommodation because they are seen as “encroachers” or “immigrants”. Urban poverty is not simply a matter of money but about access to basic amenities.

With urbanisation being equated with economic development,the need of the day is to plan how people will move to and live in urban India. Building from the Bottom explores some potential answers to these crucial questions.