If Indian economy grows at the rate of 9 % per year for a period of 20 years , then , India will become a highly developed country , and people in India will enjoy a great life ………..
Many people want an answer as simple as this , but neither development of a person depends only on the money in his pocket , nor development of a nation depends solely on its per capita income , gdp or economic development .
So , let’s move ahead and find out the right path which will take India to its destination of overall development .
To explore answer of above question , we will move ahead in a very systematic manner , asking one question after another , coming out with a satisfactory answer to each one , and , finally knowing when and how can India become developed ; and , the questions are as follows …
1. What do we mean by India ?
2. What do we understand by development of a country , and on what basis do we decide the parameters to measure it ?
3. What are the parameters of “overall” development of a country , and what can India do to perform well as per those parameters ?
4. How and when can India become a developed country ?
……
1 . What do we mean by India ?
India is more than just a country of 1.27 billion people spread from Kashmir to Tamilnadu and from Arunachal to Gujarat . Like any other country of the world , India also includes :-
a) Nature – Nature is the basis of survival of every living being ; from our basic needs like food , water , clothes , shelter to high-tech gadgets like laptop and mobile phones, we are highly dependent on nature and its resources .
b) Non-human living beings – Lion , deer , tiger , dog , cat , parrot , peacock , fish , and millions of other birds and animals deserve a high quality life as much as we do .
Just because they can not speak and protest for anything , we should not blindly destroy their natural habitats and spoil their life.
c) Human beings – The most dominant , intelligent , powerful , greedy , ambitious and dangerous living being on the planet . Dangerous , because it sometimes become a threat to well being of the planet earth itself.
Birds and animals can arrange a great life for themselves within the boundaries of nature , but , unlimited desires of human beings knows no limit .
So , except few mentions of nature and other living beings , rest of the article will be devoted to this most dominant ANIMAL…..
2 . What do we understand by development of a country and on what basis do we decide the parameters to measure it ?
There is no universally accepted definition or single parameter to find out the state of a country’s development .
Therefore, in order to explore India’s state of overall development , we have prepared a list of parameters based on following broad categories of development , which are universally considered to be quite important for progress of a country :-
1) Social and cultural development
2) Human development
3) Political development
4) Development of governance system
5) Economic development
6) Condition of nature and natural habitats
3 . What are the parameters of overall development of a country and what can India do to perform well as per those parameters ?
On the basis of six different types of developments mentioned above and few other observations , we have created a detailed list of parameters to get a precise idea of the progress made by India in the direction of overall development .
Here is a brief analysis covering all those major aspects of development , improvement on which will ensure high standards of living for people of India .
If India did progress in all the below mentioned fields , people will enjoy living in a politically , economically , socially , culturally , and environmentally developed country …..
1) QUALITY OF REPRESENTATIVES OF PEOPLE
India need educated , honest and dedicated politicians to lead the country .
In democracy , people intentionally give the entire power in hands of politicians to allow them to make good policies and laws which can help their country grow .
It will happen only if we have politicians who are :-
a) well educated and have sufficient skills needed for the particular role he/she will be playing.
b) civilized citizens not having any criminal background.
c) under regular and strong monitoring of a system working to check any intentional malpractice .
d) under pressure to fulfill all legal and appropriate demands of people.
e) having sufficient authority to make any positive contribution to their country.
In India there are many political leaders, who have a tendency of manipulating the system for personal gains, on a regular basis. To control these people, we need a system which can keep an eye on their activities regularly.
Reality is that arresting few political or administrative leaders is not a permanent solution. To bring a wholistic and long lasting change, complete transformation is important.
It will be a tough and lengthy process for any political leader or party, but it will also be very beneficial for the country.
2) FAIRNESS OF ELECTIONS
Elections of village , block , district , state and central level should be held with complete strictness in presence of ‘neutral’ police force so that incidents of booth capturing , multiple voting , one sided voting can be stopped .
There should be a local intelligence network to ensure that no buying – selling of voters is taking place through cash , liquor or intoxicants ( drugs ) etc.
This will help in stopping widespread voter buying and manipulated voting at any level of election.
3) BETTER DISTRIBUTION OF POWER AMONG CENTRAL , STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Adequate distribution of resources and authority among central, state and local governments results in a dispute-free and speedy working system .
India can do so by giving maximum power and independence to the local and state governments , and , at the same time establishing a mechanism to make them accountable and stop them from misusing that powers.
4) POWER OF AN ELECTED GOVERNMENT
Indian government elected by people should be having complete authority to make laws .
At present , even an elected government having complete majority is struggling to get important laws like GST bill passed by the parliament , such situation slows the process of reforms .
We do not need a Rajya Sabha full of the supporters of previous government to stop leaders sent by people from working smoothly .
Either the process of electing members should be reformed or non-political people having expertise in their respective fields should be selected to work in an unbiased manner .
5) JUDICIARY
An independent , strong , efficient , transparent and accountable judicial system capable of catching every ‘big fish’ is needed in India . Our judicial system seems to be quite strong and independent but not efficient , transparent and accountable .
Having different parallel systems for important cases like heavy corruption , terrorism , sexual assault , high profile business world cases etc. and , intelligently dividing the important and ordinary cases between different types of courts will significantly improve our judicial system’s efficiency and credibility .
6) AUDITING , VIGILANCE , AND INVESTIGATION SYSTEM
Most of the well developed countries have a strong mechanism of auditing , vigilance and investigation .
So that they can keep an eye on every single rupee being spent by the government and can catch the collar of every corrupt person from a peon to PM.
We too needs such bodies , not puppets of government on their name .
7) TRANSPARENCY AND FREEDOM OF PRESS
When current status of every single project is open to be viewed by people it becomes difficult to cheat them .
Having an independent and accountable media also creates sufficient pressure on the politicians and bureaucrats to work well .
8) STRENGTH OF PRESSURE GROUPS AND COMMON MEN
There should be a legal platform from where environmentalists , human right activists , political reformers and common persons of the country like auto-driver , school teacher , farmer etc. can raise their voice whenever needed .
That too , without by being beaten by the police for doing a protest .
9) CORRUPTION
Like many other countries of the world India’s biggest problem is … CORRUPTION .
Solution is also very same …….fair and strong system of Monitoring , vigilance , investigation and punishment.
10) FAIRNESS IN RECRUITMENT , PROMOTIONS AND TRANSFERS OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
A completely fair and non-political system of recruitment, promotions and transfers of the government employees will weaken the corrupt bond between politicians and bureaucrats .
Then , for every IPS , IAS or other officer and the politicians it will be a situation of NO GREED ….NO FEAR .
11) ECONOMIC FREEDOM
Allowing the businessmen to use their creativity and develop the flow of economic activities in the country has worked well in many countries ; India can also benefit by doing so .
It is better to allow them to experiment with their ideas and commit errors , instead of preparing a set of rules and forcing them to work within that range of ideas .
12) RED-TAPE AND OVER-REGULATION
Business create maximum jobs in the country , so government should provide administrative, judicial and financial support to the businessmen .
Instead of demotivating them by asking them to get unnecessary licenses and forcing them to follow restrictive regulations .
Many disputes about tax payment running for many years create a negative view about India’s dispute resolution mechanism .
Developing a parallel and speedy judicial system to solve such matters involving billions of rupees will save a lot of money and time of the country and investors will not have to think twice before entering Indian market .
13) EASE OF DOING BUSINESS
India lags behind most of the major countries in the Ease of doing business Index and it highly demotivates foreign investors .
By simplifying land laws , implementing tax reforms , providing administrative support , improving infrastructure , improving quality of electricity supply , providing quality workforce , arranging easy financial support etc . , India can become favourite destination for global investors ; and then a simple rule…
BETTER CONDITIONS ….MORE INVESTMENT….MORE BUSINESS….MORE JOBS….MORE PROSPERITY
14) ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT
By development of business skills in our youngsters we can make them job providers instead of making them job seekers .
By providing high quality 1 or 2 year industrial training to many underemployed or unemployed persons , we can create a pool of quality workforce which will attract global investors due to their high skills and relatively low salaries.
15) DEVELOPMENT OF MANUFACTURING SECTOR
India has a huge consumer base of 127 crore people , if it produce and manufacture every product from matchbox , salt , pen , pencil to mobile , laptop , planes and weapons in India itself , then , there will never be lack of jobs or prosperity in India.
16) HIGH LEVEL OF INDUSTRIALIZATION
India is still considered a semi-industrialized country , by expanding its level of industrialization , it can develop its economy and become a global hub known for high quality of services and goods .
It will also benefit from exporting its goods and services to prosperous nations .
17) TELECOMMUNICATION SECTOR
Increased use of high speed broadband and smart phones can equally benefit public sector, private sector , secluded rural areas , urban households and individuals.
India is going through a mobile phone and internet revolution and has already became 2nd nation after china to have 100 crore mobile users .
From online ticket booking and e-learning of students to computerization of office work , importance of internet is increasing everyday .
India needs to expand its mobile and internet network at a rapid pace and get maximum benefit out of these things.
18) PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
A strong network of roads , highways , expressways as well as passenger , semi high speed , and high speed , passenger and goods trains , connecting all the villages and cities of the country ensuring a convenient movement of goods and passengers will simply act as power boosters for the economy .
A well developed network of airports and seaports is also among the top needs for economic growth at present .
19) BANKING AND FINANCE SECTOR
From farmers , students , small businessmen , and small scale industries to top corporate companies , all need help of strong financial support from some banking institution .
A strong and deep rooted banking system will stop farmers from committing suicide , help students to pursue higher education , promote entrepreneurship among youngsters and help business giants to dream bigger .
Ultimately helping India to become a better country…..
20) USE OF TECHNOLOGY
Is it intelligent to travel by bicycle to cover a distance of 100 km when for a person , car is available and affordable ? definitely , NO .
We should make maximum use of the available technology as long as it is affordable . Some people criticize technology by saying that it destroys employment , but any expert will highly disagree with it .
Technological development has resulted in upliftment of standard of life in many ways , and jobs have not disappeared or reduced , they have just shifted gradually from one field to another .
21) ELECTRICITY GENERATION
India is really struggling to provide sufficient electricity to its increasing population and to meet the increasing demands of consistently developing industrial sector .
It is time to take aggressive steps and use a combination of both renewable and non-renewable resources like hydroelectricity , nuclear energy , coal energy , solar energy etc. to meet the increasing demand .
Otherwise lack of electricity can become a serious hurdle for the pace of India’s economic growth.
22) EDUCATION
Primary schools of rural India are way behind the global norms of good quality education .
Education enables us to understand the world in which we live , and also to earn livelihood.
Unfortunately , India has a huge education system having huge problems like poor teacher to students ratio , un-updated syllabus , conventional teaching methodology , lack of job oriented programs , difference between standard of government and private school etc.
But positive thing is that we have improved a lot from the time of our forefathers and are producing high quality professionals ; we just need to improve the direction and pace of these reforms.
23) HEALTH FACILITIES
Improvement in life style and food habits will make less people ill , and better availability of hospitals and clinics will provide quality treatment to them .
We should not become a country of people who are ‘Money rich but health poor , because health of the body and mind is the ultimate wealth .
24) DEFENCE SYSTEM AND INTERNAL SECURITY
India needs constant and systematic upgradation of the weapons and equipment of its army , navy , and air force .
Improvement in their training standards is also needed to keep them ready to face dual challenge of rival Pakistan and mighty china .
But internal security is as important as security from external threats .
A strong internal security and intelligence network is needed to curb the terror of naxalists, separatists of north-east , and regular criminals like murderers , women molesters , robbers , thugs etc.
25) POSTAL SERVICES
We need a postal service which is deep-rooted and vast , as well as speedy and fast . NO POSTAL DELAYS ….
Use of modern technology in tracking and maintaining data , use of latest vehicles and speedy trains , a network of smooth roads and highways , and presence of postal offices in distant towns and villages , can definitely help in having a much better postal system.
26) EMERGENCY SERVICES
Like USA , India can also develop its ‘100’ emergency dial service to provide medical aid , fire service , police security , etc . within a period of 10-15 minutes at maximum places.
Such systems have helped in protecting thousands of life in different countries . It needs some money , but it is a worthy investment .
27) TOURISM
Tourism and its sister sectors provides more than 6% of India’s gdp and more than 7% of its total employment .
Apart from commercial benefits , a well developed tourist market becomes one of the reason of a nation’s unity and also provides it respect in international community.
India has every necessary thing to attract large no. of tourists . It has large no. of popular historical sites like Tajmahal and Ajanta caves , and it also has very diverse form of natural beauty from icy mountains of Kashmir to beautiful water-bodies of Kerala .
28) AGRICULTURE
Most of Indian farmers work very hard but earn less than even Rs. 4-5000/ month .
Few Indian farmers have now became more prosperous and many have started owning bikes and cars .
But even now , a large no. of farmers in India are forced to live a poor and miserable life , due to poor irrigation facilities , poor road connectivity , poor productivity of crops , and increased production cost of crops due to high use of expensive chemical fertilizers .
Steps like better roads in rural areas , timely weather alerts , low interest rate financing , and constant guidance by agricultural specialists etc. can completely transform the scenario of Indian agricultural industry .
We should not forget that even in today’s “modern” India , more than 60% people live in villages and they are primarily dependent on agriculture .
29) WASTE MANAGEMENT
India will never become clean , only by announcing nice-sounding plans .
We will have to develop an effective mechanism to collect and treat degradable , non-degradable , industrial and every other kind of waste , both in rural and urban areas .
30) LOW CRIME RATE
Providing high level of values and ethics to every section of the society will ensure that too many criminals are not produced .
After that a combination of a strong policing network and efficient judicial system will ensure that criminals remain afraid of law .
This will result in low crime rate and make people believe that India is a safe country .
31) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Learning from west and using the technologies developed by them can help India a lot .
But to get an edge over rest of the world , India should pay attention to improve its level of research done in fields of science, mathematics , space technology , medicine , arts , spirituality , philosophy , psychology and every other crucial field .
It has been a clear observation that Creativity and exploration leads to excellence .
32) URBAN PLANNING AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
India 2015 – 127 crore , India 2030 – 152 crore , India 2050 – 169 crore ; and urban population …..ONLY GOING TO INCREASE .
If we failed to prepare our cities , we should be prepared to see their external parts becoming a complete mess .
On the other hand , proper and planned expansion of existing cities can result in benefit of India’s economy as well as improvement in life standard of rural migrants .
To improve the state of our villagers , we can reduce their over-dependence on agriculture by making Indian villages a hub of small scale industries .
Preparing village residents to do small businesses based on agricultural or animal products will provide stable and long term employment which will also be recession – proof to a large extent .
33) POVERTY RATE
If India decided to ignore millions of people struggling to arrange their two time food , to get proper clothes , to protect themselves from bone – trembling cold , life taking rainfall , fainting heat , and , unsafe on road- side footpaths ; and kept boasting of its economic growth rate , then will it ever become a developed country having helpful and progressive citizens .
Put yourself and your family on their place and then , Ask yourself ?
Poverty rate in India 2012 :- 12.4 % ( as per world bank)
Poverty rate in Poland 2012 :- < 0.5 % ( This needs to be the target of India )
34) EMPLOYMENT RATE
In India , a large part of population is suffering with the problem of hidden-unemployment and under-employment .
This can be solved by promoting personal business , small scale industries , providing industry specific training to maximum youngsters , developing rural industries based on agricultural products and animal products like milk, butter , ghee etc.
A balanced combination between high-tech industries and manpower based industries can provide a permanent and stable employment to the large population of India.
35) PER CAPITA INCOME
If level of inequality in India remains low or medium ; then increasing the per capita income to the level of 7-8000$ , up from the current level of 1800$ , will provide India sufficient money needed to have good and sufficient schools, hospitals , police stations , roads , trains , electricity , broadband connectivity , industrial development etc.
Because an undeniable fact is , that to get every single thing from book and medicine to brick and machine , we need money .
Definitely , every 5 year period of 7-8% growth will significantly improve India’s standard of life .
But even after growing consistently at the rate of 9% , India will take around 20 years to have per capita income of 8000 $ (due to a simultaneously increasing population ) .
So , let’s enjoy the growth , but keep waiting to see India becoming a highly developed country .
36) WORKING CONDITIONS
Better working conditions like a strictly implemented 40 – 45 working hour / week system , mandatory breaks of 30 – 40 minutes after every 4 hours of work , availability of clean drinking water and clean toilets for both ladies and gents , limited overtimes , respectful behaviour with the employees , fair promotion policy , ban on child labour , compulsory maternity leave , 30 -40 paid or unpaid leaves in an year etc. can significantly improve quality of life for people and also increase their productivity .
Apart from , saving them from becoming Money rich , Time poor .
It is a bigger challenge to implement these reforms in unorganized sector due to their unsystematic nature .
37) HOUSING OCCUPANCY RATE AND QUALITY
It is not an issue for many people living in urban areas , as most of us are living in a house having rooms with doors , kitchen , bathroom , toilet etc.
But for millions of Indians it is still a dream , either they have a house made of iron sheets, wooden structures and mud , or , they have nothing but sky as their roof .
Few temporary arrangements by government or people can provide instant help , but education and employment will uproot this problem completely.
38) CLEANLINESS
Heaps of garbage spread open on the roads is very common in India’s small towns .
Everywhere in the world , India is infamous for its dirty railway tracks , heaps of garbage visible everywhere , and the most ‘dangerous’ thing , people relieving themselves at roadsides , near railway tracks , and where not !
Solution :– Charge-free and clean public toilets , a vast waste collection and treatment mechanism , and awareness among people about importance of hygiene.
39) PUBLIC SANITATION FACILITIES
It is a common scenario to see Indian people urinating in some secluded corner , sometimes , even when a public toilet is present somewhere around that place . None of us likes it , but why does it happen at such a large level ?
It is due to the dirty condition of most of the public toilets and lack of regular water supply in them .
If Indian governments arrange sufficient and well maintained public toilets , then we will not come across such uncomfortable scenes .
Indians are not fond of doing all this in open , but they are forced to do so due to lack of proper facilities.
40) WELL PROTECTED NATURE AND NATURAL HABITATS
Water we drink , food we eat , clothes we wear , houses in which we live, laptops and mobile phones we have , and every single thing that human being has used , is using and will ever use ; was , is being , and will be borrowed from nature .
It is our responsibility and necessity to take care of nature and natural habitats .
Why ? Because Nature can survive without us , but we cannot survive without nature .
41) PROSPERITY OF ARTS AND CULTURE
Indian parents of middle class will take their children on remand , if they talked about becoming a singer, actor, dancer, writer, poet etc. .
For them , there is no world beyond doctors , engineers and government employees , but from ancient India itself to modern Europe, every prosperous country and region has always given high importance to growth of arts , literature and cultural activities , Why ?
Because an Engineer can make a person travel in Bullet train , but an Artist can bring a smile on his face and tears in his eyes .
42) EXCELLENCE IN SPORTS
Importance of sports is not limited to winning medals in any reputed tournament .
It is about motivating people to live a healthy lifestyle and entertain themselves at the same time by playing football , badminton , cricket or by doing swimming , sprinting , weightlifting , etc .
But India’s performance in international tournaments definitely disappoints every Indian .
A country of 1.27 billion people and a country having world’s 3rd largest economy deserves and is capable of , winning more than just 5-6 medals in Olympic .
If we identify children at an early age , train them well , provide them job security , make a pool of best 300-400 players and provide them highly competitive training , then , Nothing can stop our players from winning 40-50 medals in Olympic and performing well in major tournaments like world championships and world cups.
But even more important is the contribution of sports in providing high quality of health and fitness to people of a nation , they will not fall ill frequently , will have stronger bodies and will live a longer and better life.
43) DEVELOPMENT OF CINEMA
Development of institutes providing quality training to actors , musicians , directors , costume designers , cinematographers , etc. will ensure that movies and serials of good standard are made in India , which can entertain people as well as send a positive message.
Development of regional cinema will allow people living across the country to know and understand the diverse culture of our country .
44) QUALITY OF FAMILY LIFE
Except for those who live in Himalaya , normal people need to have a good family life to have a great life .
Mutual respect , mutual understanding , no unnecessary interference , support and guidance in difficult times , and being responsible on our part , can help us to live a beautiful life with our grandparents , parents , siblings , husband , wife, and children .
Imagine a person who has an MBA degree , is earning 1 crore per year , has a big and costly car , wears shiny clothes but has no one in his family to talk to him well . Then , he will be called a rich person , having sadness in his heart and living a gloomy and lonely life .
Money is important but not more than love and affection .
45) WELL BEING OF OLD CITIZENS
Old people need high level of care and attention , getting timely medical facilities is very crucial for them .
Probably a more important thing , there place is not in old age homes , but in the house of their own children and grand-children and in their hearts .
46) STRONG VALUES AND ETHICS
A group of individuals having high level of values and ethics like compassion , kindness , honesty , courage , helpfulness , modesty , patriotism , humanity , logical thinking , hard-work , acceptance etc. leads to creation of a civilized society and such a society leads to creation of a united , strong , developed and highly respected country.
Economic development can make us powerful but our set of values and ethics will decide whether we will use that power to torture and frighten small and weak nations or to help them to develop themselves .
47) CONSUMPTION OF INTOXICANTS (ALCOHOL AND DRUGS)
Drug addiction and excessive alcohol consumption has destroyed the lives of many individuals and families in different parts of the world .
‘DEVDAS’ can earn lot of claps and whistles for his style and dialogues on big screen , but in reality , his life can become nothing but a TRAGEDY , because alcohol puts a very negative impact on the body and mind of a person .
An alcoholic Person’s life can become an absolute misery , if he fails to control himself from falling in a hopeless and weak state of mind .
Government and society should take steps to stop youngsters and children from falling in the trap of alcohol and drugs , and , also try to bring out the people already trapped in these things .
48) GENDER BASED DISCRIMINATION
Any discrimination done with females or people of third gender does not make sense .
As they can do almost everything that men can do from becoming teachers , engineers , doctors , scientists , astronauts , players , artist , and politicians , to doing something that men cannot do . Men cannot carry a child in their stomach for 9 months .
India will never be able to call itself a developed country if dowry , female foeticide ,widow discrimination , seclusion of people of third gender and many other social evils having their roots in gender discrimination continued .
49) PROGRESSIVE SOCIETY AND CITIZENS
Citizens who are open minded enough to accept new and better traditions , who do not believe in superstitions , who are ready to leave behind those old traditions , rules or rituals which have lost their importance and have became a burden on them , will create a fresh and progressive society in which there is no discrimination on the basis of race , religion , caste or gender and all are treated equally as human beings .
50) EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY
Equality of opportunity for everyone means a situation when children of a rickshaw- driver and children of prime minister of the country have to go through same procedure to achieve something .
Both of them get equal facilities and chances to achieve it , none of them has an edge over other , one who becomes more capable will go ahead .
It is difficult and probably unnecessary to do so in some fields , but it can be ensured in many other fields by maintaining high level of strictness and transparency , and that will be A TRUE DEMOCRACY .
51) FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND BELIEF
Giving every person right and freedom to express his/her views about gender , caste , religion , politics , society , cinema , science , spirituality and any other matter , without allowing anyone to unnecessarily hurt sentiments of an individual or a group of people , will lead to rise of new and progressive ideas .
This in turn will change our life positively and help us in becoming more mature , knowledgeable and intelligent.
As long a a person is not harming someone else directly or indirectly , he/she should be allowed to follow any belief system that he/she likes .
52) COMMUNAL HARMONY
When we can stay together happily , why should we fight with each other ?
Best thing for India will be to have people who have just One caste – Indian and One religion -Humanity . But even by having some acceptance and respect for those who have an opinion or belief different from us , India will become a peaceful and prosperous country .
A country , where followers of all religions ( Hindu , Muslim , Sikh , christian , etc. ) live like family members .
53) NATIONAL UNITY
Like every country , India too have issues like separatism in north-east and Jammu & Kashmir .
But finding tactical solutions for these issues , can help India to solve them , and to save people of these areas from becoming a victim of power crazy people dreaming to enjoy political might in these states or regions after dividing them.
Peaceful ways of solving disputes test our patience and mental strength , but then this quote also has some weight …. More sweat in peace , less blood in war .
54) FOREIGN RELATIONS
India should develop extensive and strong economic and strategic relationships with all major countries of the world like USA , European countries , Russia , China, Japan , Australia etc.
So that , we can get maximum benefit from free trade and globalized economy , and can also make strong allies to support us in tough times .
It is also sensible to make sincere efforts to develop friendship with our neighbouring nations Pakistan , Bangladesh , Bhutan etc.
As it has been rightly said by someone that We can not choose our neighbours , but we can choose the way we deal with them .
Now , the last one ……
4 ) How and when can India become a developed country ?
A developed India is only 15-20 years of consistent growth away from us .
After a very long and detailed analysis of India and its development , parameters of development mentioned above can be clearly divided into two parts :-
a) Those for which we need money and financial resources :- like employment , poverty eradication , houses , roads , trains , broadband services , hospitals , electricity , police stations , etc.
To achieve status of a developed country as per our growth in these sectors , it is good to assume that when our country will achieve the level of per capita income of 7-8000 $ with a normal level of inequality , it will have sufficient resources and facilities for calling itself a developed country .
(on the basis of state of development of the countries like Russia , Azerbaijan ,Turkmenistan , Bulgaria , Brazil , China , Belarus etc.)
At present , India’s per capita income is 1820$ (October 2015) , let’s consider two scenarios to reach at the level of 8000$ per capita income (as per present value of dollars and with present medium level of inequality in India ) :-
1) High growth scenario – If India grew at the rate of 9 % for a period of 20 years , then India’s per capita income will be 8200$ ( estimating population in 2036 to be around 158 crore ) .
2) Present growth scenario – If India continued its present trend of growing at the rate of 7.5% per year , for next 24 years , then its per capita income will be 8100 $ ( estimating population in 2040 to be around 162 crore ) .
After looking at above analysis , we can clearly understand that even though we can enjoy the fruits of growth of India from now itself , a developed India is at least 20 -25 years away from us.
b) Those which are related to law or policy making and thinking or mentality :- like gender equality , communal harmony , progressiveness of society , quality of people’s representatives , accountability of judiciary , equality of opportunity etc.
These factors completely depend on efforts initiated by people and politicians .
If notable efforts are made and sincerity is shown , then most of the major negative elements of Indian culture , society , governance systems , judiciary etc. can be removed within a period of 15-20 years .
( It has been a common observation that economically developed countries where people are well educated and have access to knowledge of different point of views and opinions about important issues , have more transparent systems , more open culture , and absence of significant gender discrimination or communal violence .
Therefore they have relatively more developed societies , cultures and belief systems ) .
Few people may complain that 15-20 years is a very long time .
But reality is that laws and governance systems can be changed significantly within 4-5 years , but it take a much longer time to change the mindset and opinions of society and people about any crucial issue , be it religion , caste , gender , politics or anything else .
We must also remember that any significant change in society or culture will occur in 15-20 years , only if sincere and regular efforts are made at every level , otherwise we will have to wait even longer , till when ? no one knows !
Truth is not very exciting every time ,but it always has some powerful message hidden behind it.
Let’s hope that Indian economy keep growing at the rate of 7.5 % per year for a long time and Indian society and people make some sincere efforts to improve its social and cultural values , then ,
‘Most probably’ India will become a sufficiently developed country by 2035 or 2040 having very high level of economic , social , cultural , human , and environmental development .
We are leaving you with some more data to get a deeper idea of present state of development of India in different fields :-
For the numbers presented in the next part of this article , we have used latest reliable data available on the websites of prominent national and international organisations or agencies like WHO , World bank , United nations , National crime records bureau , Transparency international etc.
( We have tried to be very careful while using data and statistics , still , if you find any considerable flaw in them , kindly let us know through comments , we will correct things as soon as possible.)
Be ready to see few zig-zag lines in next part of article (it’s really difficult to manage them) .
INDIA’S PROGRESS AS PER SOME IMPORTANT
PARAMETERS OF DEVELOPMENT
PARAMETER OF PERFORMANCE GLOBAL STANDARD OF A YEAR
DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA RANKING DEVELOPED NATION *
Social progress 53.06 / 100 101 / 133 77.38 ( ITALY) 2015
Peace index 2.504 143 / 162 1.568 ( QATAR) 2015
Political instability 79.4 68 / 178 42.6 ( SLOVAKIA) 2015
Sex ratio (f/m) 934.7/ 1000 192 / 201 1058.1 /1000 (MALAYSIA) 2015
Employed females (15+) 27% 193 / 209 56% ( U.K.) 2014
Domestic Violence 35 – 40 % NA < 20-25 % (EUROPE) 2013
Drugs related deaths 6.8 / million 108 / 172 2.4 / million (S. KOREA) 2014
Homicide rate 35 / million NA 8 / million (SPAIN) 2012
Suicide rate 211 / million 11 /224 38 / million (GREECE) 2012
Poverty rate 9.6 % NA < 0.5 % ( POLAND) 2015
Use of toilets 56 % NA 100 % ( THAILAND ) 2015
Drinking water 94% NA 100% (TURKEY) 2015
Employment rate 61.7 % 33 / 44 75.3 % (NORWAY) 2014
Child labour 4.35 million (1.67%) NA < 0.0001 % ( USA ) 2011
Work hours / week 45 – 60 NA 35 – 40 ( AUSTRALIA) 2015
Per capita income 1688 $ 140 / 186 12662 $ (POLAND) 2015
Strong democracy 7.74 / 10 35 / 167 8.05 / 10 (USA) 2015
Press freedom index 40.34 140 / 180 14.45 (CYPRUS) 2014
Economic freedom 54.6 / 100 128 / 178 71.2 / 100 ( AUSTRIA) 2016
Corruption Index 38/ 100 76 / 167 75 / 100 ( JAPAN ) 2015
Ease of doing business 54.68 / 100 130 / 189 83.67 / 100 ( H.KONG) 2016
FDI 34 billion $ 9th highest 129 billion $ ( CHINA) 2014
Literacy rate 74.04% 124 / 160 99.7 % ( RUSSIA ) 2011
Education spending 3.83 % of gdp 143 / 194 6.4 % (FRANCE) 2012
Health spending $ 61 / capita NA $ 3598 / capita (U.K.) 2013
Life expectancy 66 years 141 / 194 80 years (CHILE) 2013
Infant mortality 41.81 / 1000 NA 3.55 / 1000 (ISRAEL) 2015
Maternity mortality 167/ 1 lakh NA 9 / 1 lakh ( MALTA) 2013
Hospital beds 13 / 10,000 NA 33.2 / 10,000 (NORWAY) 2015
Doctors 7.02 / 10,000 NA 24.29 /10,000 (OMAN) 2012
Road density 383 km/ 1 lakh NA 1532 km /1 lakh (FRANCE) 2014
Railway density 5.18 km /1 lakh NA 44.56 km /1 lakh (FRANCE) 2014
Mobile phones/ 100 79.39 NA 130 + (U.K.) 2015
Smartphone owners 59.2% 10 /47 36.2% (RUSSIA) 2015
Broadband users 9.53 % NA 30 % + (JAPAN ) 2015
4 mbps+ connections 14% of all 51 /55 93 % (THAILAND) 2015
Electricity /1 lakh persons 95 GWh NA 835 GWh (JAPAN) 2014
ATMs / 1 lakh persons 18.07 NA 126.11 (ISRAEL) 2014
No. of tourists (millions) 7.68 NA 39.8 (TURKEY) 2014
Cereals per hectare (ton) 2.96 NA 7.34 (U.S.) 2013
Per hectare rice (ton) 3.3 NA 10.8 (AUSTRALIA ) 2010
Per hectare pulses (kg) 689 NA 1,567 (CHINA) 2010
Per hectare wheat (ton) 2.8 NA 8.9 (NETHERLANDS) 2010
Per hectare fresh vegetables(ton) 13.4 NA 76.8 (USA) 2010