India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium is a book written by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Mr. Y.S. Rajan first published in 1998 in Viking by Penguin Books India. The present rejacketed edition (ISBN 978-0-143-42368-3) published in 2014 has 324 pages and is priced at Rs.399. The book is written by one of India’s most distinguished scientists Dr. Kalam and Mr. Rajan who is a well-known authority on technology development, business management and societal linkages. The book aims to provide a broad vision for attaining a developed country status for India by the year 2020. The authors have made efforts to disclose strategies for varied fields ranging from agriculture to defence, and manufacturing to health. Coupled with a healthy dose of optimism, …show more content…
The book is arranged into 12 chapters. At the outset, the book examines the very question that India can become a developed country or not. The book is quite optimistic towards this end. The second chapter examines the case of other countries and lessons for India. Subsequent chapters explain about the importance of technology and institutional reform if India has to progress by focusing on specific sectors and fields one by one. It emphasises the importance of developing agro processing industry. The book lays emphasis on using our rich natural wealth for nation building. India’s people are kept at the centre of the book depicting the importance of skill and good health for a strong nation. While the 300 odd pages are packed with knowledge of new and emerging technologies, there is emphasis given on the revival and use of our traditional knowledge base and skills. Dr. Kalam says in the book “Strength respects strength” and a chapter is devoted to strategic industries. Dr. Kalam has written fifteen books including Wings of fire and Ignited Minds. The style of writing is persuasive with opinions of the authors on various …show more content…
Varied ideas have been presented in an objective way along with a road map to achieve them. Throughout the book, the common people of India have been given paramount importance and the effect of actions in any field be it defence or science is traced back to them. This helps the reader understand the inter-relationships between varied fields and create a mental image of how a developed India should look like . The optimism and sense of pride the book tries to instil in every Indian is worth applauding. It busts a few myths in the process that the western nations have been propagating about Indian capabilities. Talking about the weaknesses, the book uses a lot of technical terms (eg. SQUID,HTSC etc.) simply assuming that the reader would be knowing about them. The book in many parts seems more like a document with facts and figures thrown around for the user to digest. The language used fails to interact with the reader. While the book covers the technological aspects of a developed India, it misses significant social issues like communalism, terrorism and casteism which will have to be suitably taken care of if India has to