When the Hon’ble PM announced that India will become a Developed Nation by 2047, I was travelling through Ghaziabad. The surroundings did not give me any confidence, that in next 20 years Ghaziabad which is barely 30 kms from Nation’s capital would become like Tokyo or Munich or Geneva or even Rome. I could not understand as to how the Hon’ble PM arrived at this declaration and what was the criteria that he worked on to decide the Year 2047.
Now when Hon’ble PM has said this in a public meeting , it is natural he must have done his home work well. However, in last few years I have become slightly cynical about his promises and assurances and hence do not take them on face value.
So, I decided to do some Home work myself, which perhaps the PM being a Master Politician might have avoided that. Yes, as regards RAJNEETI , he does his home work.
To begin with, I looked for the definition of a Developed Country. As per one definition ; A Developed country is one that has a high quality life , has a developed economy and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations.
This definition appears to be subjective and confusing, it does not convey, particularly those unfortunate ones, who have not travelled abroad to Japan, US, UK or Germany inorder to experience - as to How a Developed Nation looks like.
Usually, the criteria for evaluating the degree of economic development are ; GDP, GNP and the per capita income, level of industrialization, amount of widespread infrastructure and general standard of living.
But for a common man, who has not been abroad to any of these countries and seen or experienced How a Developed country is like , these GDP , etc also appear to be vague.
I thought there is a need to bring some clarity on this aspect and make it as objective as possible for the better understanding of a common man who might have already started dreaming of living in a developed nation, like they dreamt of a country with no Black money, of Smart and clean cities, Efficient Health Care system and so on.
Hence, the principle I used is based on a simple logic;
If a student is told after the exam that he has been ranked 10th in a class of 40 students and also informed about the marks he has scored in each subject, it would then become easy for him to work towards improving his marks in each subject and improving his rank also, in coming years. But, if he is not told about the marks in each subject and also the Rank he has attained , he might think he is one of the Best and as a result – He would never make any efforts to improve.
Therefore, I decided to go through the various Developmental Indices that UNO and its agencies release from time to time. These Indices would indicate Not only the Rank but also the Parameters(Subjects) that are considered to calculate the Rank.
The marks obtained on each Parameter and the Ranks so obtained on these Indices will surely help us to examine ;
Why some nations are termed as Developed Nations, what different these DEVELOPED NATIONS do , which we in India do not do and need to do inorder to achieve those Rankings so as to become a DEVELOPED Nation.
After all, we would become a Developed Nation only when we know what it takes to be there, otherwise, there is no dearth of people in our country who have been shouting their lungs out for years ; MERA BHARAT MAHAN but despite all the shouting, half of their family members are studying and working abroad and do not wish to return.
This will also help to evaluate ourselves objectively and see where do we stand vis a vis the current developed nations
Once we comprehend those parameters, I am sure, it would become very clear to all ; When would we have the fortune of Living in a DEVELOPED State.
All the parameters/Indices that I have chosen are related to Governance instead of heights of buildings and statues.
First is the HDI. This in my opinion is the main Index that would indicate to us where we as a Nation are and How far we have to travel, because it is the human beings who build the Nation. The Human Development Index (HDI), is released by World bank every year, in which India is languishing year after year around 130s out of 180 Nations but this year sadly it has slided down one rank. It is a summary measure for assessing long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development -- a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living.
The parameters that are used to allot points to each country and calculate the Index are - health care, per capita income, mortality rates, percentage of skilled population, knowledge, availability of health care facilities, education facilities, how many leave schools at the primary level and so on.
The countries that occupy the Top positions in this Index are ; Norway, Ireland, Switzerland, Hongkong, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Denmark, USA, UK, Japan, Netherlands , where as India which for many years now languishing at 130s finds itself at this position surrounded by countries like - Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan and few African countries,
Linked to the HDI is another report ; The Human development report on skills. This is also an important indicator that conveys to us the condition of our work force because the earning capabilities are often associated with the Skills they possess. The Ranking on this report will surely tell us as to how long is the Journey. The report says –
Barely one in five Indians (part of the labour force) is “skilled”, this implies; hardly 29 % people from our work force are skilled. Whereas, whopping 99.99 % people in Japan, that occupies 19th rank on HDI are skilled. Whereas, USA, Switzerland, UK, Germany, all occupying Top positions on the HDI, have almost 80-90 % workforce as skilled .
Thereafter, is the Poverty Index. This index is used by planners to assess which countries need the aid and in which sector they need to focus on. Once again we find that the Nations who were at the top of HDI Index are having low poverty index and are richer nations, whereas those at the bottom of HDI are at the higher end of this poverty Index as well. So, its not surprising to find India being ranked 62 amongst the 107 countries and once again it has the same friends at the bottom of the list. The parameters that are used to calculate the points are ;
One, Health Care ; Child mortality rates, Nutrition.
Two. Standard of living ; Availability of cooking fuel , Sanitation, Housing assets and so on.
Its not difficult to ascertain as to why we are ranked 62 out of 107 Nations - In India approx 32 kids out of 1000 die when they are not even 5 years old, whereas, in France mere 4.4 children out of 1000 die and in China its 7.3 and this happens because our mothers and children do not get sufficient nutrition and do not have access to better medical facilities. So, it should surprise none, despite the Indian Govt as usual blaming the agencies for maligning India – It is ranked 104 on the Global Hunger Index afterall , it is because of the lack of proper Nutrition that our children are dying in such numbers. How many Indices will we keep REJECTING ?
The Next index is the Corruption perception index, which is an indicator of the quality of governance in the country. ; Once again India is languishing at 85th position whereas the same countries which are at the top of HDI have fared better and are the least corrupt.
Finally we arrive at the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY). India occupies 43rd rank on the Annual World Competitiveness Index. The World Competitiveness Yearbook is an annual report published by the Swiss –based International Institute for Management Development (IMD) on the competitiveness of nations since 1989. The World Competitiveness Index is a comprehensive annual report and worldwide reference point on the competitiveness of countries. It provides extensive coverage of 64 economies, measuring different facets of competitiveness. Here we are finding ourselves in the range of 44 to 37th except in 2007 when we occupied 27th position . It measures the prosperity and competitiveness of countries by examining four factors that are subdivided into 340 criteria;
- Economic performance
- Government efficiency
- Business efficiency
- Infrastructure
Now lets come down to specifics instead of Indices ; The Per capita Income. The per capita income of a country determines the average income of a person in a country, a state, or a specific region. India’s Per capita income in 2021 was $2,283 and was Ranked 145th in a list of 193 countries , whereas UK was at 28th position with $44,117. China is at 75th position with $17,192.
Although, India has tipped UK and has become the 5th largest economy by sheer size of GDP but we need to look within. No country can be Governed on the basis of Face Book and Twitter – “ Likes “. India beating the UK is mathematically correct, but there are many other things that need to be kept in mind..
UK’s population in 2021 was 67.3 million whereas India’s population was 1.39 billion. So, If India’s GDP (current prices) during 2021 stood at $3.18 trillion and in comparison, the UK’s GDP was at $3.19 trillion, and this year , India has overtaken UK , it primarily implies that the economic productivity of 1.39 billion Indians is almost equal to 67.3 million Britishers. So, the economy of India might have become bigger than that of the UK in 2022, but the productivity or the average income of an Indian continues to be substantially lower than the average income of a British.
And that is very evident from the Rankings.
Conclusion
These are just a few indicators out of many that I thought of sharing so that we know where we actually stand and how far we have to go.
It is quite likely, that in next 20 years, which is hell of a long time, we may move up the ladder and score better on these parameters. But our optimism must be realistic and we need to ask ourselves;
Is our education system improving for betterment or are we just changing some history books?
Are we doing something towards improving the quality of health care?
Are we doing something to improve the law and order system ?
Are we doing enough to address corruption at the state level ?
Are we doing enough to improve the Skills of our work force ?
Let those who are affected by the Mis Governance take a call , and others who have nothing at stake and have already played their INNINGS can always dream for ; ACCHEY DIN by 2047.