BOOK REVIEWS E M S NAMBOODIRIPAD, INDIAN PLANNING IN CRISIS, Ghintha Publishers, Trivandrum 1974,Pp 136 Rs 8. THIS book brings into sharp focus the dismal failure of the programme of planned development initiated in 1951 to reach declared goals and solve economic problems. In laying open tlie fundamental reasons for such failure, the author has attempted to clarify the dichotomy between the form and substance of Indian planning. He has analysed its pattern and performance in the historical perspective, as part of the strategy of the Indian national bourgeoisie to consolidate and improve its position right from the days of the national independence movement. In studying the background of Indian planning, evaluating its performance and indicating the direction of its movement, it will be necessary to understand the class character of India's national independence struggle. The Indian economy was an appendage of British imperialism but it was not long before a national bourgeoisie emerged in the colonial process and developed its own distinct character and interest. In course of time this class came to its own. The development of its level of consciousness was reflected in the increasingly persistent demand for national autonomy in the political sphere with a view to utilizing the state machinery to subserve economic interests. The culminating point of this struggle was the transfer of power in 1947 to the Indian bourgeoisie. This transfer of power certainly did not represent any break from world capitalism. It only meant a redefinition of the links between India and the capitalist system. Nor did the Indian national bourgeoisie at any time strive or hope for any such break; the objective of independence was the protection and development of its class interests within the framework of world capitalism. Conflicts and co-operation in between the different national bourgeoisies applied equally to India: conflict arose in as much as Indian capitalists wanted to attain their rightful place in the