In the opening lines of his new book, The Gated Republic (HarperCollins India), political economy analyst and author-columnist Shankkar Aiyar, says, "The truism about India is that for everything that you see, that you hear, frequently, the opposite is equally true." This, in essence, encapsulates Aiyar's investigative non-fiction that released this month, and looks at how the policies adopted by successive Indian governments since independence have failed on five basic counts—health, water, education, power and security. Aiyar's book comes at a crucial juncture for India, which is being seen as a major economic power, by advanced economies of the world. Only earlier this week, US President Donald Trump extended an invitation to PM Narendra Modi to attend the G7 summit, while hinting at expanding the forum, which currently comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US.

With three decades of journalism behind him, Pune-based Aiyar, who is most remembered for his 1991 expose on India pledging its gold reserves to the Bank of England, examines why the poor have been unable to break the shackles of poverty. "Year after year, governments launch new avatars of old promises to deliver public goods and services and taxpayer money is poured into these avatars, but at every milestone of per capita income and affordability, there are public policy failures," he writes in the book.