A comprehensive study of the development of the expenditure management system in India from the colonial times to the present that is substantially different from any of the previously published works. It provides a detailed discussion of the administrative, economic and political factors that play a major role in the determination of public expenditures, at the programme and aggregate levels, and in the delivery of public services.

Major changes in the management of public expenditures, all aimed at achieving "progress", including the public-private partnerships, and their benefits and limitations, are fully delineated, as are the relationships in this sphere between the central and state governments. It illumines the efforts, far from successful in evolving just means appropriate for a just society. The book offers an inquiry into the policy objectives of governments and the adequacy of their toolkits in serving them. Particular attention is paid to the numerous weaknesses of the operational systems and how they fail to address the concerns of the community.

Public expenditure management has suffered benign neglect over the years. Its institutions and operational system need to be restructured and revitalised, if it is to serve the society effectively. The book offers a template in that direction.