A Political History of Technology in India: Midnight's machines https://youtu.be/fak4OnGoFPQ?t=163 Feb 28, 2020 In post-independent India, technology has emerged as a crucial sector for the country’s development. Arun Mohan Sukumar will trace the history of India’s technological evolution from Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi and unpack the various success and failures that have played a pivotal role in transforming India into a leading power.
Rajeev Gowda, Jahnavi Phalkey and Susmita Mohanty along with the author, Arun Mohan Sukumar in a discussion moderated by Anu Singh.
Book Review: This ‘Political History of Technology in India’ Couldn’t Resist Stereotypes https://swarajyamag.com/magazine/book-review-this-political-history-of-technology-in-india-couldnt-resist-stereotypes by Aravindan Neelakandan - Monday, April 6, 2020..The author almost obsessively repeats the phrase 'the temples' of Nehru, which were the words Nehru had supposedly whispered to himself when he visited the Bhakra Nangal in 1956. ..
Indira Gandhi, the daughter of Nehru, when she was India’s Prime Minister, tried to make political capital out of the 'appropriate technology' movement that was becoming quite a fad in the Western counter-culture movement. By 1973, Schumacher had published his cult classic Small is Beautiful. ... Arun Sukumar states that 'Schumacher’s foolish romanticism produced exactly the narrative Indira’s government needed to cover up its failure to industrialise, and to keep the economy on a tight leash.'
Over all, one can see this book as a kind of new front opened to attack BJP’s pro- technology narrative with quite good selective scholarship. And like all anti-BJP academic work it packages its anti-BJP thrust with a good assessment of Nehru-Indira-Rajiv and P.V.N eras.