"It was a wonderful experience interacting with you and appreciate the way you have planned and executed the whole publication process within the agreed timelines.”
Subrat SaurabhAuthor of Kuch Woh Pal
Selected among the ‘Top 50 Books of the Year’ by Editors’ Choice, Delhi Wire
The author tears into the false narrative of India’s progress since independence and the mirage of a glorious future, created by the political class and the bureaucracy. With facts, data, and a touching narration he reveals the plight of the poor and the unemployed through the decades. One of the most agonizing facts that he highlights is that since independence, India has fallen 100 places behind other countries in GDP per capita; and with Bangladesh overtaking India on this parameter, India is destined to remain the poorest large country in the world.
The book illustrates how Indians have become hostage to a crippled system that is unable to deliver. Power brokers in the garb of politicians, entrenched bureaucracy driven by self-interest, ineffective judiciary, and elements of the fourth estate along with self-seeking pseudo-intellectuals have formed a powerful coalition to thwart any change in the system and policies which is essential for the transformation of India, initiated from time to time by some progressive governments.
Based on his diagnosis of why India continues to fall by the wayside as also his insights into strategies, governance systems, and best practices of countries like South Korea, China, and others, the author evolves a framework for the strategic transformation of India to ‘Catch Up and Leapfrog’ these countries.
Vikram Sinha
Vikram Sinha, 75 Wasted Years, Let us Catch Up and Leapfrog
Vikram Sinha is a retired executive who has headed key functions like Strategic Planning, Customer Support, Operations, New Product Development, etc. in the largest automobile company in India. As a professional, his main motivation has been - driving change and transformation. He he found that deep diagnosis, problem-solving, and global benchmarking were essential to develop breakthrough strategies; and an inspirational leadership is a prerequisite for implementing them. These skills became his forte as he worked closely with some of the leading consultants from Japan and the West. His interaction with companies across the globe gave him insights into their competitiveness.
Since his childhood, he watched with anguish as successive governments failed to deliver the basic needs of the people. Fired by this deep anguish, he decided to write this book to find a way out of this morass and to help set off India on its growth trajectory.
His skills which seek to solve the insurmountable problems that bedevil the country are reflected in his committed writing. He strongly feels that the critical success factors of his profession like competitive strategy, customer focus, productivity, quality, throughput, on-time delivery, accountability, and digitized systems free of bias need to be adopted in governance. Other hygiene factors in the industry like – the absence of corruption, patrimonialism, and power brokers are equally applicable to governance. His mission is to trigger the turnaround and transformation of the country.
