Manas Bhattacharya is a Senior Technical Specialist at the ILO. The book under review is the output of the High-Level Tripartite Meeting on the Nexus of Growth, Investment and Decent Work for South Asian Sub-region, organized by the ILO in 2007. The seven papers in the volume have been contributed by economists from across the South Asian Region. It is worth mentioning here that the editor has included Iran as a part of South Asia but Myanmar and Maldives have not been covered. The title of the book is intriguing. The term policy coherence for development was first coined by the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD around 1991 for promoting coherent policy amongst its members. The title has also been defined by various other economists and agencies but the essence is the same. Manas Bhattacharya says at the outset that the task of achieving overall coherence is complex and difficult.
The purpose of this book, it appears, is to present a kaleidoscopic view of the seven countries in relation to growth, investment, and decent work. The papers have been written with the intention of exploring the extent to which the macroeconomic strategies pursued by these countries cohere with the objectives of the Decent Work Agenda. Decent work, as defined in the book, is equal employment opportunities of work which would be acceptable and absence of forced, bonded or child labour. It should provide fair and equal treatment for males and females in employment who should be given adequate wages corresponding to a decent good living vis a vis the work of equal value. It should provide decent hours of work in a safe working environment as also stability, social protection and security.