BOOK REVIEW 75 The above state of affairs may be partly due to the lack of technical expertise at the state level. But it is basically due to the fact that no effort has been made to give planning at this level a distinct meaning and form. Yet the need for it cannot be doubted. If at the state level, the planning process freezes into a mere discussion among bureaucrats, then we lose the opportunity of bringing the process nearer to those whom it should beni-fit. The author is perhaps correct in his observation that there has been an absence of a politics-planning nexus in the states, which implies that there is no pressure on the planner to innovate. Planning requires not only the formulation of a broad policy framework but also detailed decision which can be made only on the basis of adequate data and information. If it is accepted that planning for development involves something more than sectoral allocations, it follows that a measure of decentralization is inevitable. Spatial planning involves basically the integration of the national space economy. This work can proceed only if the planners get down to such questions as spatial linkages, transport network, service centres, market towns and local and regional resources. It is obvious that such an exercise demands intimate knowledge of local conditions. The study has rightly observed that spatial planning is of particular significance in the rural sector. Linkup^ Data Bank and Inventory While it is true that no planning process can hope to succeed purely on bureaucratic lines, some of the more romantic arguments in support of grass-root planning do not carry much technical weight. Neither spatial planning by itself nor the conventional type of national-sectoral planning can answer all the requirements of a developing economy. What is really needed is a linking up of the national space economy with the national sectoral plan. Ipso facto this implies carrying the planning process down to lower levels. The point involved is that technical considerations have to be tempered with the need to achieve a more equitable distribution of activities among different regions of the country. Few states have attempted anything innovative even within the area of operation exclusively assigned to them. It should be possible for them, given the necessary technical expertise, to perform such functions as undertaking a systematic inventory of resources, diagnosing special problems, formulating a spatial framework, integrating financial and physical targets, helping district authorities draw up plans, and coming out with steps to mobilize resources and introduce innovations which are relevant to their context and problems. These exercises would involve collection of data at the district level. It is indeed a sad commentary that presently very little data are available at the district level despite talk about district planning which is fashionable at the moment. This is because we do not have a machinery capable of building up a Data Bank or a meaningful information s\ stem at the district level. For any planning process to succeed, it is not only necessary