India must reduce inequality if it is to become rich

India has set a target to become a developed nation by 2047, or around 25 years from now. The nation must acknowledge what lies ahead if it is to be treated as a well thought-out agenda rather than just an election-related talking point that is then forgotten after polling.

First off, reaching a high level of national revenue that corresponds with a high per capita income is insufficient. The benefits of this revenue must be shared broadly in order to promote progress on all fronts and show very high scores on the human development indices maintained by the United Nations progress Programme (UNDP). Inequality is rampant in India right now, with a number of billionaires and a desire for expensive automobiles on the one hand, and persistent poverty and a significant need for guaranteed low-wage rural labor to keep body and soul together on the other.

If India’s ultimate objective is to enter the league of industrialized countries, then it has to start doing better than its peers. How does India compare to its neighbors in the area that have been ruled by the same colonial power and who have much of the same geography and history? The response is quite disheartening.

The “very high human development” category, which is led by Switzerland and Norway, is at the top of the UNDP categorization table. China and Sri Lanka are in the “high human development” group. Although it does not join this club, India is included in the “medium human development” category, where it is rated higher than Bangladesh and Bhutan but lower than Nepal. Pakistan’s lone advancement to the next category, “low human development,” is a saving grace.

The Human Development Report (2023–24) uses a country’s score on the index to determine its ranking. A closer look at the different components that comprise the index provides us with a more complex picture. Bangladesh and Nepal outlive India in terms of life expectancy for both sexes, not to mention Sri Lanka, which leads the regional list. The narrative is the same in terms of per capita income, but there are some noteworthy distinctions between men and women. Notably, women in Bangladesh make more money than women in India, while males in the neighboring nation make less money than men in India. Furthermore, males in Bangladesh make less than three times as much as women do, whereas men in India earn more than three times as much.

This would suggest that Bangladesh’s societal structure encourages women and gives them opportunities to earn more money. Bangladeshi women earn more than Indian women, partly due to their higher level of competence and longer average education (6.8 years compared to 5.5 years in India). The gender development index measures the general state of women, and Sri Lanka tops the list (0.947), followed by Bangladesh (0.914) and Nepal (0.885). Next are Nepal (0.885), India (0.852), and Pakistan (0.834), in that order.

The development exercise’s human tale is not conveyed by bare data. Swati Narayan’s latest book, Unequal: Why India Lags Behind Its Neighbors, is filled with a tonne of anecdotal evidence. She describes a family of lower caste (Dom) residents of north Bihar who had come together to grieve the loss of a member who had liver cirrhosis due to alcohol use (the state is legally dry).

She was instantly struck by the contrast between the look and behavior of the Bihari family members and the young couple who had just crossed the border from Nepal to participate in the rites. The young couple was well-off and had high aspirations. The mother had attended a free government education up till Class VIII. When her infant became unwell, she brought her to a government clinic in the area for quick and affordable care. According to the author’s study, since democracy was restored in Nepal in 2006, caste and gender relations have significantly improved.

Conversely, the Indian population—whose ancestors had immigrated from Nepal two decades prior—complained about the caste prejudice their kids encountered at school. The idea of a family member being sick terrified them as there were no health facilities in this remote part of Bihar where free medications were offered. When the border was blocked during the Covid-19 epidemic, prohibiting residents of the region bordering Nepal from traveling over for better and more affordable medical care, their sufferings came to a head.

Narayan spent five years researching why India’s healthcare, education, and life prospects differed so much from those of its less developed neighbors, such as Bangladesh and Nepal. The severe class, caste, and gender disparities that still exist in India hold the key to the solution. She concludes that it will be “impossible for the nation as a whole to prosper, let alone be a world leader,” until these disparities are addressed.

Up until now, the government has concentrated on giving the underprivileged free food, jobs via a large-scale rural employment guarantee program, assistance in building toilets to stop open defecation, and universal access to electricity. All of this is OK, but it is important to emphasize how societal views are evolving. Although there are more and more women on corporate boards and senior management roles, a significant percentage of rural women—80%, according to a 2019 study—work unpaid household jobs.

societal leaders have the responsibility of altering societal views. Economists are pointing out that stepping up efforts to advance agricultural technology would be a smart place to start. Farm earnings will grow in tandem with the significant increase in agricultural output. There will be a decrease in the number of villagers moving to cities in pursuit of employment as more leave farms to work in the provision of rural services, such as the repair and sale of TVs, motorcycles, and smartphones. India’s first Green Revolution was brought forth by scientists. Embracing the millet trend, it’s about time they released the second one.