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Past Imperfect Episode 3: A Man and a (Five-Year) Plan with Nikhil Menon

“In ‘Planning Democracy’ Nikhil Menon takes us to the summit of Nehruvian planning in the 1950s and 1960s—and what we find there might surprise us. The story of India’s first Five-Year Plans involved a genius professor, Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis; deft Cold War diplomacy; and the introduction of India’s first computers. But it was also about so much more: an attempt to make planning ‘democratic,’ a project which involved rural volunteers, Bollywood talent, and even sadhus.”