The Politics of Poverty Reduction in India: The UPA Government, 2004-2014

This small book has seven chapters, apart from introduction. The authors claim that it is the first systematic review of the politics and policy- making that lay behind the array of anti-poverty programmes undertaken by the UPA coalition. It examines how far the UPA delivered on its promise to meet the needs of the poor. It analyses official Indian thinking and policy making on poverty in the early twenty–first century. It reveals the politics behind the designand implementation of these programmes and the important roles played by senior political leaders, bureaucrats and civil society activists in influencing the UPA’s adoption of a rights-based agenda. Perhaps more important than any direct role in the policy making process was the indirect role that the left front parties played. Sonia Gandhi also used her influence to facilitate and promote social policies in several other ways.