Governance for the Humans: Designing Public Policy in India

Contents: 1. Introduction: designing 'human-centred' regulations. 2. Donation of organs: framework of a human policy. 3. Female foeticide: even inhuman acts need human rules. 4. Road safety: regulatory 'nudges' for human drivers. 5. Rules for human smokers and drinkers. 6. Income tax law: changing the default settings. 7. Crime control: guarding the guardians. 8. Bureaucracy: playing the game of homesty. 9. Dedicated bureaucracy: the carrot or the stick? 10. Performance pay for the bureaucracy. 11. Indian bureaucracy: thinking outside the box. 12. Labour laws: the devil's in the detail. 13. Public services: moral hazard of self certification. 14. Ease of doing business: licence-permit raj. 15. Governance: by experts or algorithms? 16. Redesigning rules of the game: from noise to cooperation.

The book points the finger at an unlikely 'whodunnit' for governance failure - the design of rules of the game. Based on the author's extensive experience and domain knowledge, the book demonstrates the relevance of a human centred policy in major areas of public policy such as donation of organs, road safety, smoking, female foeticide, licensing regulations and crime. It explains why:

A zero tolerance policy may end up in zero compliance;
Banning the sale of loose cigarettes is not a good idea if we want to discourage smoking;
Mandating speed governors can be more effective that putting rash drivers in jail;
Performance pay and similar incentives are unlikely to work for the bureaucracy.