THOSE WERE THE DAYS: TALES FROM THE 15TH FINANCE COMMISSION

The Finance Commission has played a critical role in India's federal/ structure since 1952. Every five years, this constitutional body produces a/ report recommending what share of the Union Government's divisible tax/ pool should be devolved to the states, and how this aggregate should be/ distributed among the different states, among other recommendations on/ fiscal governance. In between its appointment and submission of its Report, / the Finance Commission tends to spend the intervening period in the/ relative secrecy of internal discussions and state visits. Despite the excitement/ about the Commissions in the media, and among the public, leaders and/ bureaucrats in states, little is publicly known about the rich experiences/ that the members and staff of the Commission gain while visiting all the/ states of our large and diverse country, and their interpersonal interactions./ Those Were the Days captures vignettes of such experiences of the 15th/ Finance Commission. It is a book not of history or economics or even/ secret deliberations within the Commission, but one that captures the joys/ of working as a team, a sense of discovery of the unity in diversity that/ is India and the great camaraderie that it enjoyed with leaders and civil/ servants in the different states.