This book brings together three posthumous of Dr. Chelliah on reforms and poverty alleviation. Together they unravel the working of the Indian political economy and explain the causes behind persistent poverty in the country despite economic growth. The essays address the issues of effective means of poverty reduction by the states, reforms of federal fiscal relations, and taxes. Dr. Chelliah's central premise is that the major fault of India's economic policy has been that it was largely based on democratic socialist thought, thereby entrusting the government with the greatest responsibility, but without delineating in sufficient detail of how the government should respond to the challenge.