An Examination of Indian State in the Post-planning Period

We seek to analyze the changing rationale and character of Indian state in the backdrop of the post-planning Indian economic transition. It is held that the Indian economy has transited into the triad of neoliberalism, global capitalism and inclusive development. It is argued that the India state was both a creator of this triad and also the site of the combined effects of these nodes that pull and push it into contradictory directions. In enacting these multiple roles, the Indian state is characterized by both benevolent and violent side of its existence in one turn. Its violent side is captured in terms of primitive accumulation and state of exception while the benevolent character through the social programs for the needy and in facilitating the process of nation building by way of creating human capital for capitalist-induced growth. The changing character and roles of Indian state in turn suggest a foundational displacement in the rationale of its existence, a shift that is to be identified not merely in terms of what it says but in what it actually practices. In this context, that the Indian state governs for the good of society and not for itself is identified as one of the major changes in its rationale.