Books

Bureaucracy as a social and administrative institution has been at the centre of attention in capitalist, socialist as well as the developing countries. The consequences of bureaucratization in the three worlds are, however, significantly different. The dilemma of the developing countries is especially severe. In the absence of alternative instruments of implementation of the programmes of social and economic change, the state has increasingly depended upon the bureaucracy as its principal machinery.

Theoretically as well as policywise, the important question is: to what extent is the bureaucracy a viable instrument for implementation of development administration. Basically, are the values of bureaucracy and development administration congruent or is there any incompatibility between the two. And if there is, what are the options.

The present study examines these issues through empirical investigation and arrives at a set of new propositions. These deserve the attention of scholars and practitioners of public administration with a view to developing policy alternatives and options. All the more so as India is embarking upon new and more ambitious and complex plans and programmes of development with special emphasis on rural areas.