Book Review: I, The Citizen By Dr. R .Balasubramaniam

Book Review: I, The Citizen By Dr. R.Balasubramaniam: i, the citizen is an insightful book on development, policy-making. It tells us the importance of public involvement in the policy-making process in a democratic setup.                   

Title: i, the citizen: Unraveling the power of citizen engagement

Author: Dr. R. Bala Subramaniam

Publisher: Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement

Publication Date: 8 November 2015

Pages: 288

Genre: Non-Fiction

About The Author:  Dr. R.Balasubramaniam is a development activist, author, scholar, leadership trainer and public policy advocate who has years of experience in the development sector. He is the chairman of Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement (GRAAM).

With years of experience in the development sector, Dr. Ramaswami Balasubramaniam started writing his experiences. After having closely worked with the underdeveloped people in the tribal regions of the country (mainly Saragur of Heggadadevana Kote Taluk, Mysore, Karnataka) the author has written this book with insights on his personal experiences, development and citizen engagement in the development activities.

It is evident through this book that the author believes strongly in the people's involvement in the policy-making and implementation. The book unravels the importance of the citizen engagement in the development activities and how important it is for their voice to be heard.

It is seen that the policymakers design and decide policies which they think are essential for the development of a particular group or tribe. Often ignoring the important aspect of policymaking i.e., finding the needs of the people to whom so ever the policies may concern.

The author addresses this issue with his personal experiences, what he has learned as a development activist over the years. According to the author, "Development needs to be seen, interpreted and assessed not from the dimension of the agency, but from that of the community with whom we are working" to which I totally agree.

In a democratic setup, we need to respect the people's voices and see them as equal partners in the development process. People also should utilize their fundamental 'Right to Question' to get things done. After all, India is a democratic setup and government-citizen engagement is the key to its successful functioning.

Instead of giving opinions and coming to conclusions on the issues, the author poses valid questions to the readers. He invokes a thought-provoking process through his writing with the intention of bringing a change in the way people see the development process. This book turns out to be a perfect guide for anyone who is interested in the policymaking process.

Hope you liked this book review of i, the citizen by Dr.R.BalaSubramaniam. Let me know your views in the comments below and do share this book review with your friends.

Also Read Book review on "The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho"