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On the 60th independence day of India, the newspapers were filled with the success stories of India. There were talks of how it’s image has changed in the eyes of Western World, how globalization has brought happiness on the million of faces, how our economic reforms have changed our life style totally…and many things like that.

 

‘The Guardian’, a leading newspaper of England, published a special theme on India and gave this headline about India :

“This is the best place in the world to be born right now. “

After reading all these things, I had to think whether we have really developed so much to deserve such attention for the world over. I did some reality check and found that though, to a great extent India has changed, there are many areas where we are far behind than others. The economic reforms which started in the 1990s have brought some very positive developments like a boom in service sector especially in IT industry, a resurgent share market, the buying spree of Indian companies the world over, a very high growth rate and a very healthy foreign exchange reserves. However, still there are many areas which need our urgent attention. Here is a reality check for the `superpower of future:

 

Health

Health care Budget of India is just 0.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Average amount a person spends on health care in India - $82

45% of Indian Children under five are malnourished.

Yet it has become a Hub for Medical Tourism : An angioplasty that takes $50,000 in US costs just $11,000 in India. Heart Surgey costs $6000 (as against 30,000 in US) & Bone marrow transplant costs $26,000 (as against $2,50,000 in US).

 

Politics :

25% Members of Parliament (MPs) have criminal records.

99% MPs were elected despite getting less than 50% vote !

We have one of the lowest voter turn out at 58%.

There are 173 registered political parties in India.

 

Economy

40 richest Indians are worth $170 Billion

26% of population still lives below official poverty line.

To nearly 70% of country, financial service means nothing more than a saving account !

Before nationalization (which happened in 1969), there were a total of 8,262 Bank branches in India. Now upto March, 06 there were 71,177 Branches

Per Capita Income is Rs. 29,382, it was just Rs. 255 at the time of independence:

A nation comprising many nation :

In village area of Orissa (an Indian State). Poverty rate is 43%.

In village area of Bihar (an Indian State). Poverty rate is 41%.

These rates are below Malavi and Ghana : one of the poorest countries in the world.

Whereas in

Village area of Haryana (an Indian State). Poverty rate is 5.7 %.

Village area of Punjab (an Indian State). Poverty rate is 2.4 %.

These rates are better than Costarica one of the most developed countries of South America.

Some more hard facts about economy

100 millions Indians are unemployed.

We have 50-million child labour.

Our manufacturing sector 1/5th of China and contributes only 17% to GDP.

60% of country is still employed in Agriculture which contribute only 22% to GDP.

 

Education :

33% of all illiterates of world live in India. In china this figure is just 11%.

There are 200 millions children in India and 50 millions don’t go to School.

80,000 Schools are without Blackboard.

1,44,000 Schools have just one teacher.

Literacy rate is 67% which was just 14% in 1947 (at the time of independence)

 

Housing :

100 million people live in slums.

30 millions house are required for lower and middle class.

In Human Development Report of 177 nations, India is at 127th place. (China is at 85th and Sri Lanka at 93rd)

 

Law & order

We have 13 judges per million of population.

There are 3 Crore (30 million) pending cases in our courts – 25.5 millions in District & Sub-district court , 3.36 lakhs in High Court & 39,000 in Supreme Court.

 

 

We have one of the lowest conviction rate just 42.4% (in 2005). Japan & Russia have 99% conviction rate.

Pollution

CO2 emission per tonne per capita :

India - 0.9, US- 19.5, China - 2.7 and Russia - 10.7

This is a positive fact. Our contribution to air pollution & global warming is minuscule compare to our population of more than 1 billion.

Yet India generated 29,129 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage out of which only 6190 MLD could be treated. The rest 22,939 MLD was being dumped into rivers etc each day. (Data up to 2005)

Over 50% of Urban India has no access to sanitation.

Telecom:

Over 6 million people are getting connected every months.

Total usage have topped 100 million more than entire population of Germany, thus making India 5th largest cellular market behind China, US, Japan & Russia.

At the time of independence, there are 1.1. Million telephones. Now this number has reached 218 millions.

 

Power :

A whooping 33% of electricity that is generated is lost or stolen during transmission and distribution. This theft rate is among highest in the world.

The total power production is 12% short of demand.

Only 44% rural household has access to power. The national average is 56%.

Rural household did not have power for 13-17 hours a day.

 

*******

Indeed India is a land of contradiction. A reality check is sometimes necessary to keep us firmly on the ground. There are many challenges ahead us which we need to face. Let these immortal lines inspire us all :

“Wood are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep.

Miles to go before I sleep…Miles to go before I sleep…” - Robert Frost

 

 

 

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