Synopsis The Present work 'An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Contemporary India' is the sixth title under the ongoing series 'An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Indian History and Culture'. The volume aims to be a handy reference manual for understanding the different aspects of Indian history and cultures since the dawn of independence in 1947. It is a saga of the triumphs and tragedies of independent India during the last 55 years of its existence, covering the period from 1947 to 2002. Independence brought India face to face with a number of serious problems. Some of these problems which demanded immediate attention were ensuring political stability, communal peace, resettlement of millions of refugees, integrating Indian states, framing of the Constitution, maintaining peace with Pakistan and bringing about an all-round economic development and social transformation. India had also to carve out a place for itself in the international field. All these objectives were to be realized with the overwhelming consideration of preserving unity and integrity of the country. The Indian leaders from Jawaharlal Nehru onwards have tried to solve these problems. In spite of their efforts the country is facing a number of problems in almost all phases of public life. In political field along frequent elections for legislative bodies bring opportunistic coalitions. Terrorism, criminalisation, corruption, regionalism, casteism, decline of Parliament, politicization of bureaucracy and need for electoral reforms are some of the issues which merit serious attention. The present work, like earlier titles, is divided into four sections. Section one deals with the historical perspectives and concentrates on political developments, the constitutional scheme and social and economic change. Section two the Dictionary-contains about 300 entries drawn from various trends and currents in social, political, economic, educational, art and literature of Indian Public life. While, Section three describes major dates and events of the last half century, Section four furnishes an exhaustive bibliography on different aspects of independent India.