The report on "India: Vision 2020" reproduced in Part One of this volume, has been the outcome of many detailed deliberations among all the Committee members comprising selected top scholars and experts in their respective fields under my chairmanship. The Committee had been constituted by the Planning Commission, Government of India in the year 2000 as a part of the exercise on Tenth Plan to develop a long-term twenty year vision for helping to work out a medium-term programme for India’s development strategy. The Committee took more than two years to have an integrated and consistent view of how the countrymen would like to see India in the year 2020. The Committee's deliberations were further enriched by nearly 20 written contributions received from among the Committee members. The contributors represent a wide spectrum of the society and from different parts of India.
In the final report, we have not necessarily adopted and accepted all the views and assessments of each individual author. But an integrated view is taken from a broad consensus emerging from the views of the different Members. These papers provided broad guidelines and pointers to formulate our understanding of Vision for India in 2020 and providing often detailed rationales for taking these views. Indeed in preparing the final report we have benefitted enormously from the inputs received from the background papers. The Report, however, is unable to do full justice to the rich and detailed analysis contained in the various papers. The final report also draws valuable inputs from experts within and outside the Planning Commission. The Committee gained from the vision of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's book "India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium".
Given the complexity and vast scope of research and issues covered by individual papers, it is now felt that the papers will be a sources of great 'knowledge' value on their own, over and above their contribution to the final report on India Vision 2020. This prompted us to put together a volume with select background papers (with necessary editing) submitted to the Planning Commission for the India Vision 2020. Needless to mention, the view presented in these papers are that of the authors and not necessarily that of the Planning Commission.
