The waning spirit of independent inquiry

In his latest book, N Bhaskara Rao provides a prescription to rejuvenate the social research landscape and stem the decline in its standards - something India can ignore only at its own peril

The Emperor’s Mirror: The State of Research in India

Author: N Bhaskara Rao

Publisher: Speaking Tiger

Pages: 240

Price: Rs 499

Almost 70 years ago, Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, chosen by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to build the foundations of a statistical and research system in a newly independent country, had decided that research bodies should be set up outside the government. N Bhaskara Rao, a pioneer of social research in India, recalls this incident in his latest book to make a telling point about what ails the state of research in this country.

Mahalanobis was worried that numbers and data should go through rigorous