Democracy, Civil Society and Health in India

India's health failures remain visible and pronounced despite high rates of economic growth since the 1980s and more than six decades of democratic rule. The authors address the key issues that emerge from the country's health situation, speculating on what it will take for low-income groups to begin claiming for better social services  

'In this plain-spoken book Gupta and Pushkar argue that India's 'citizen elites' must do more to enable the poor in making sustained demands for health-related services. Their insightful and rigorous argument draws on a remarkable range of evidence, from field research in low-income communities in New Delhi to reflections on citizen activism in Brazil.' - James McGuire, author of Wealth, Health, and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America 'Democracy, Civil Society and Health in India is a compelling and well-researched book in which the authors highlight a crucial linkage between civil society capacity and provision of basic health services and provide a convincing demonstration of how sustained claims-making can impact on human development outcomes in the most direct way possible.' - Antonia Maioni, McGill University, Canada 'Gupta and Pushkar expand our understanding of the reasons and processes that hinder a robust demand for greater and deeper public policy intervention in health by examining a broad range of relevant factors that impede the emergence of a more engaged civil society in this sector.' - Amit Prakash, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India 'India's resilient democracy has resulted in many positive outcomes. However, millions in the country lack access to social services, including healthcare. In this wonderful book, Gupta and Pushkar explain why large numbers of Indians fail to effectively claim their rights and what needs be done so that they do so.' - Dan Banik, Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo, Norway

Madhvi Gupta is Visiting Assistant Professor at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Goa, India. She has previously taught at McGill University and Concordia University (Canada), and published on civil society and democracy in Brazil and India.Pushkar is Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Goa, India. He was previously Lecturer in International Development Studies at McGill University, and in Political Science at Concordia University, Canada. He has published on Chilean politics and health reforms and on democracy, public goods provision, and health in India.