The Irrelevant Indian is a fascinating expose of how networks have skewed the focus of governance from public welfare to power as an end in itself; where privilege and patronage are virtues, deprivation is vice, development an oxymoron. Eleven critical themes are dextrously woven in a continuum, via forty-four essays, based upon extensive references and data, by a perceptive and unbiased former senior Indian civil servant. Fronted by politicians and civil servants, including some that head critical constitutional agencies, these networks have consciously fostered India's historic feudal reticence to legitimately question authority, perpetuated colonialism in a new avatar, stymied the emergence of a national character and deliberatively sustained The Irrelevant Indian. Readers are introduced to the nether world of public policy and political opportunism and cartelisation, their mechanics and frighteningly deleterious fallout; a grim reminder that the putrefaction of the body politic is ominous for India's democracy as it steadily declines into mockocary Irrelevant Indian is a pioneering effort to educate and restore relevance of the common Indian.

Shantanu Basu attended Delhi's prestigious St. Columba's School, St. Stephen's College, the University of Queensland (Australia) and the North Carolina State University, USA. He served the Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS) since 1984 and lastly as Principal Accountant General (A&E), Assam. Before joining the IA&AS, he briefly served as a trainee journalist with the Times of India group. In his over three decade-long professional career, the author worked with several key Ministries/Departments of the Govt, of India and States. He has authored several articles for major national newspapers. His first book, The Worm Within: Corruption & Erosion of India's Accountability Institutions received enthusiastic worldwide response.