The nation betrayed ─ Why a rich nation India remained poor?

According to Planning Commission of India, 3 out of every 10 Indians live below 

poverty line earning  less than 50 cents a day!

“He is a barbarian and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.” This popular quotation from George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra, suits India’s politicians more than anybody else. I am constantly embroiled in a battle with myself trying to find answer to the question, why a rich nation, India, remained poor? By saying that, I am not exaggerating the facts here. India is culturally, emotionally, scientifically, and intellectually a rich nation. Before, anybody else, Indians invented the numerical zero [1]. Apparently, Sanskrit, the ancient and classical language of India is believed to be the oldest and most systematic languages of the world. According to Forbes magazine (July 1987), Sanskrit is the most convenient language for computer software programming. Indians or persons of Indian origin have won Nobel Prizes for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Economics, Literature, and Peace. Yet, this nation remained poor. Why? The answer to this question must lie with India’s politicians. They had completely let down 1.2 billion odd Indians. They are responsible for the sad state of affairs that the country is in today even after sixty-six years of self-rule ever since India gained its independence at the stroke of the midnight hour on August 15, 1947 from Great Britain [2]. Before drawing any conclusions, I thought I would examine some of the key statistical evidence on human development and the good governance, the two critical aspects of any nation’s progress. 

The other day, I stumbled upon a news report on the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Report 2013, which ranks India at 136 out of 186 countries measured using the Human Development Index (HDI) [3, 4]. Put into perspective ─ this is below Ghana (135), a younger sub-Saharan-African nation, which received independence in 1957 much later than India, and has been marked by military coups  and frequent government overthrows ─ and just above the war-ravaged Cambodia (138). What an irony! Here comes another startling fact. According to a recent report released by the Planning Commission of India, three out of every ten Indians are living below the poverty line earning less than 50 cents a day. The study is based on the monthly per capita expenditure (MCPE) of Rs. 673 for rural areas and Rs. 860 for urban areas [5]. According to some unofficial estimates, as many as 5 out of 10 Indians are living under the poverty line.

Is India world's largest open toilet?

The numbers don't end there. The Census data of 2011 show that more than 40% of Mumbai, 35% of Delhi, and 30% each of Kolkata and Chennai's population lives in slums, the residential areas, where the dwellings are unfit for human habitation by reasons of dilapidation, overcrowding, lack of ventilation, or sanitation. The same census also points out that nearly half of India's 1.2 billion people have no toilet at home and more than 53% defecate in the open. This is more than half of all people in the world who defecate in the open according to Asian Development Bank's (ADB) report on Asian Water Development Outlook 2013 [6], which forced India’s rural development minister, Mr. Jairam Ramesh to brand India as the “world’s largest open toilet,” and he even angered some religious groups by claiming “India has more temples than toilets.” The ADB report goes on to add that about 88% of all diarrheal diseases reported worldwide, caused mainly by the ingestion of pathogens in water, have been attributed to the lack of adequate sanitation and accounts for the death of more children under the age of five than anywhere else in the world. That’s 1.7 million children or almost 5000 child deaths a day in India alone, according to a new report by the UNICEF [7]. These are the deaths caused by the curable diseases, which could have been prevented by the proper planning and timely intervention. Aren't these deaths then caused by our insensitive and uncommitted leaders? Shouldn't they be listed as homicides and the leaders prosecuted? 

Not that I am perplexed, but what is worrying is that every time a new report surfaces replacing the old one, the numbers are staggering and the ranks hitting rock bottom. According to a survey conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a nonprofit organization, more than one-third legislators of the 543-member lower house of Parliament faces criminal charges of rape, sexual abuse, and assault against women pending in courts. More than 200 others from state legislatures are facing similar charges in various lower courts. No surprise then that a recent report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals that since 1971, there has been an increase of 873% in India's rape related crimes, i.e. more than 20% per annum surpassing all the economic and social indicators [8].  

The flood-ravaged temple town of Kedarnath [9] in Uttarakhand on June 18, 2013

after it was hit by the "Himalayan Tsunami," which is believed to have claimed the

lives of more than 10,000 and is a direct offshoot of deforestation caused by the
rampant illegal mining and mindless construction of dams in the most eco-sensitive 
region of Himalayas, according to environmentalists [10]. Image courtesy: Amitabh 
Nath, Aaj Tak/India Today via Wikimedia Commons.

The list goes on and on if one looks at the number of corruption scandals that rocked the country during the past five years alone. The loss to the exchequer due to these scandals runs into billions of dollars. Ironically, even the Transparency International (TI) in its 2012 report of Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranked India 94th out of 176 nations, below its neighboring countries like Sri Lanka and China [11]. Take the case of recent “Himalayan Tsunami” that hit Northern India’s Uttarakhand state, which is believed to have claimed the lives of more than 10000. This man-made disaster could have been averted and so many lives could have been saved, had Indian leaders heeded the repeated warnings of the expert panel report [12] commissioned by the ministry of environment and forests, Government of India and other environmental organizations [13]; and not give in to the whims and fancies of politically influential sand, mining, and construction mafia responsible for the rampant deforestation of this most eco-sensitive region of Himalayas. Henry Kissinger once said, "It’s the 90% of politicians that give the other 10% a bad name," and he was absolutely right. Weren't these politicians who "ruled the roost" and held the country to ransom through endemic misgovernance and pandemic corruption? Aren't these leaders responsible for the sad state of affairs the country is in today? The buck should stop at them. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Well, there is ─ only if all the political parties of India exercise greater wisdom and caution while nominating candidates with clean image and impeccable character for the upcoming parliamentary elections, which are due 10 months from now and give the people of India a much needed choice in determining their fate. It is high time that they do so! 

Reference:

[1] Kaplan, R., & Kaplan, E. (2000). The Nothing that Is: A Natural History of Zero, Oxford, UK; Oxford University Press. 

[2] Prime Minister Nehru Speaks on Indian Independence Day and related Media – History.com (n.d.) History Channel. Retrieved June 23, 2013 from http://www.history.com/speeches/nehru-speaks-on-indian-independence-day#nehru-speaks-onindian-independence-day

[3] 2013 Human Development Report – undp.org (n.d.) UNDP. Retrieved June 23, 2013 from http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/hdr/human-development-report-2013/

[4] Human Development Index (HDI) value – undp.org (n.d.) UNDP. Retrieved June 23, 2013 from http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/indicators/103106.html

[5] Key Indicators of Household Consumer Expenditure in India, 2009-10 – pib.nic.in (n.d.) Press Information Bureau, Government of India. Retrieved June 23, 2013 from http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=73098

[6] Asian Water Development Outlook 2013 – adb.org (n.d.) Asian Development Bank. Retrieved June 23, 2013 from http://www.adb.org/publications/asian-water-development-outlook-2013

[7] Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed – unicef.org (n.d.) UNICEF. Retrieved June 23, 2013 from http://www.unicef.org/videoaudio/PDFs/APR_Progress_Report_2012_final.pdf

[8] National Crime Records Bureau Home Page. (n.d.) NCRB India. Retrieved June 23, 2013 from http://ncrb.gov.in/

[9] The 5000 odd year-old Kedarnath temple was believed to have been built by Pandavas around 3150 B.C. before the start of Kaliyug in  3102 B.C. and later renovated by Shri Adi Shankaracharya during his time around 1000 A.D. See also The Vedic Foundation - vedicfoundation.org (n.d.). Retrieved June 28, 2013 from http://www.thevedicfoundation.org/bhartiya_history/mahabharat.htm
[10] Indian flood deaths blamed on 'mindless' construction - newscientist.com (n.d.) New Scientist. Retrieved on June 29, 2013 from http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23753-indian-flood-deaths-blamed-on-mindless-construction.html?full=true&print=true#.Uc7r-Dsya5w
[11] Corruption Perceptions Index 2012 – transparency.org (n.d.) Transparency International. Retrieved June 24, 2013 from http://www.transparency.org/cpi2012/results

[12]  Assessment of Cumulative Impacts of Hydroelectric Projects on Aquatic and Terrestrial Biodiversity in Alaknanda and Bhagirathi Basins, Uttarakhand - moef.nic.in (n.d.) Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. Retrieved June 23, 2013 from http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/SEA-Hydro-Report-1604.pdf

[13] Comment on IMG (B.K. Chaturvedi) Committee Report on Upper Ganga Hydro and the River – sandrp.in (n.d,) South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People. Retrieved June 23, 2013 from http://sandrp.in/IMG_report_on_Ganga_has_Pro_Hydro_Bias_June2013.pdf