Usual litany of lies about India&#39;s seven wasted decades as August 15 approaches

Usual litany of lies about India's seven wasted decades as August 15 approaches

By Mohan Guruswamy
Come August 15 we will have the usual litany of lies about seven wasted decades. Were they?
The Indian economy is now the fifth largest in the world measured by nominal GDP and the third largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). Its GDP in 1950 was $30.6 billion. In 2017 India’s GDP was $2.54 trillion or $ 9.69 trillion (PPP). Its industrial sector accounts for 29.02% of its GDP and India now is rightly classified as a newly industrialized country.
When India gained independence in 1947 its population numbered about 340 million. The literacy level then was 12% or about 41 million people. In 2017 India’s population scaled 1.34 billion and literacy level reached 74% or about one billion. That is a huge shift in numbers, and a hugely impressive achievement. Never before in history have so many people moved from one to the other. True our numbers are staggering and hence only one other country can provide a benchmark.
In 1949 China’s population was 540 million and its literacy level was estimated at 20% or 104 million. In 2017 China also has a population of about 1.34 billion and literacy of 85% or 1.14 billion. Both India and China lifted almost a billion people each from ignorance of the word to modest knowledge. China employed a highly mobilized system of government with no restraints on coercion to achieve this, while India did it under a system of voluntary compliance. That is to my mind the biggest achievement of our seventy years of independence.
At the time of independence India’s accounted for only 3% of the world’s GDP or about Rs.2.7 lakh crores. In 2017 India accounts for 8.5% of WGDP (source IMF) or about Rs. 135 lakh crores. India’s GDP this year is bigger than that of its erstwhile colonial master who mulcted the worlds biggest economy in 1700 to beggar status in 1947. More than that India now adds 17% to WGDP growth, giving it a considerable economic heft. What is more important is that internal resources drive a good part of this growth. The savings rate has risen from 8% of GDP to 31% now, and continues to be on an upward trend despite recent setbacks.
India produced about 50 million tons of food grains in 1947 and produces five times that now. Clearly these are big achievements and only the churlish will not give credit where it is due. More importantly famine has been abolished from India. In the last great famine India experienced in 1943, two million people died in Bengal. By contrast in the 1965 famine of Bihar there were no starvation deaths. India has not experienced a famine of that magnitude again.
Where credit is due, much blame is also due. At the time of independence the incidence of poverty in India was about 80% or about 250 million. When poverty numbers began to be counted seriously in 1956 Prof. BS Minhas of the Planning Commission estimated that 65% or 215 million Indians were poor (Rs.220 per year). In 2017 the number of people below that same poverty line of 2200 calories a day is about 269 million, though the incidence has fallen to about 21.92%.
In 1947 agriculture accounted for 54% of India’s GDP. In 2017 it is at about 13%. But at the time of independence 60% of India depended on agriculture for a living. In 2017 it is about 52% or 650 million people as opposed to about 200 million in 1950. Therein lies the tale of India’s colossal failure to make its tryst with destiny. It still has too many people living off the land. Land is finite, but population is not. By 2050 India will have a population over about 1.7 billion and a good of that population will have to be gainfully employed outside of Agriculture and the rural sector. If India were to be horizontally sliced by income, it can be said to be three overlaid countries. The one below is akin to sub-Sahelian Africa, the one in the middle to the south East Asian neighborhood barring Singapore and the topmost layer enjoying the lifestyles and living standards of a middling European nation.
How did we do in these seven decades of independence? Look around us. Clearly we have done better than most. If you factor the human cost in China, we probably did better than all. In 1947 India chose to be a full democracy and a nation of equals. It ordained itself to have a government by popular choice with an attendant political economy and all the implied pitfalls. Our founding fathers decided that in such a diverse country all aspirations needed to be heard and reconciled. Our giant neighbor to the north chose a system where choices were limited to a few.
About this choice, Robert Frost said it best: “Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Of course we could have done better. But what is better than being a united and optimistic nation?
---
Source: the author's Facebook timeline

Comments

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Health Day ads spark row as NAPi targets Britannia campaign, criticizes celebrity endorsement

By A Representative The advocacy group Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi) has raised concerns over what it describes as misleading advertising of ultra-processed food products (UPFs), particularly those high in sugar, fat and salt, calling for stricter regulations and an end to such promotions across media platforms.

Search This Blog