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Pritam Singh's Federalism, Nationalism and Development is an informative study of Punjab's economic growth in the context of India's federal structure. Given the unique nature of Indian federalism and the unique status of Punjab within India, this is an ideal subject for a detailed case study.
Singh examines the ways in which the structure of India's center-state relations has shaped the economic development of Punjab, a wealthy agrarian state in northern India with a majority Sikh population. His general argument is the following: The Indian constitution has endowed the central government with significant power to exert economic control over individual states. This has had interesting implications for Punjab. First, independent India's goal of self-sufficiency in food, combined with Punjab's early advantages in agriculture, led the center to invest heavily in Punjab's agricultural research and development and infrastructure. Second, as a result of Punjab's high per capita income and the center's distaste for income inequality across states, Punjab was denied access to the funds and licensing necessary for industrial development.
The book's contribution lies in its methodology as well as its choice of subject. Singh uses what he describes as the "reconfigured centralization-decentralization" approach as a method of analysis. First, he presents a history of Punjab and of Sikhism, followed by a detailed description of India's federal structure. He then looks separately at the relationship between Punjab and the central government in the areas of...