A recent book by seasoned journalist Ashok Kumar Bhattacharya (AK Bhattacharya) titled “India’s Finance Ministers: From Independence to Emergency (1947–1977)” emphasises the importance of India’s finance ministers. Independent India’s finance ministers have helped shape its economic destiny, while themselves being buffeted by politics, is a story which is as important as it is long. AK Bhattacharya has embarked on the major exercise of telling this story and the first of the three volumes, covering the period between Independence and Emergency, is with us.
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Introduction
The new book “India’s Finance Ministers: From Independence to Emergency (1947–1977)” by seasoned journalist Ashok Kumar Bhattacharya (AK Bhattacharya) highlights the contribution of India’s finance ministers who shaped India’s economy in the first 30 years (from 1947 to 1977) after Independence. Penguin Business, a Penguin Random House division, is the publisher of the book.
The essence of the book
Nehru and his finance ministers, those under Shastri and Indira Gandhi, and Indira Gandhi as her own finance minister are the three main sections of the book. The editorial director of Business Standard and author of the enduring piece Raisina Hill is economic journalist AK Bhattacharya. He has also worked as the Pioneer and Business Standard’s editor. Although Nehru had a commanding presence, the book shows that finance ministers like John Matthai, CD Deshmukh, TT Krishnamachari, and Morarji Desai weren’t pygmies.
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