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This important and closely argued book contends that research is a unique 'Third Eye of Governance' - it brings otherwise invisible facts and ground realities to light, thus enabling effective and humane public policies. However, there has been a steady decline in social research with the rise of populism in Indian politics, and disregard for transparency and accountability. The author shows how data, statistics, analysis and research have become politically sensitive and contentious. He argues that if the impressive recent mantras about development and progress are also backed by applied social research, India can reach new heights in democracy, development and governance.||About the Author||N. Bhaskara Rao is a pioneer of social research in India. He is Founder Chairman of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS) and of Marketing and Development Research Associates (MDRA). Earlier, he built up the equally prestigious Operations Research Group (ORG) as its CEO. He was a member, with M. S. Swaminathan, of the high-level government committee that drafted the National Population Policy, and an expert-member of the committee that reorganized the media units of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. His published books include India 2021 (1985), Social Impact of Mass Media (1996), A Handbook of Poll Surveys in Media (2009), Sustainable Good Governance, Development and Democracy (2018), Citizen Activism in India (2018) and The TRP Trick. How Television in India Was Hijacked (2019).