Indian Growth Story

Have you ever wondered how India has fared since gaining independence in 1947.

Before one analyses the growth in the past 73 years, I think it is important to understand where India stood in 1947. No one else gave India a chance. It was an experiment that Winston Churchill thought implausible. “India is merely a geographical expression,” he once dismissively barked. “It is no more a single country than the Equator.”

Churchill was rarely right about India. But what other country matches India’s extraordinary mix of ethnic groups, mutually incomprehensible religions, varieties in topographies and climate, and diversity of religions and cultural practices. Add to this the events of 1947 when India was being partitioned and riots were erupting, had many princely states 3 of who were considering not joining, becoming a democracy with high number of poor, highly illiterate and malnourished population!!

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru proclaimed India’s independence from the British Empire. Nehru called it “a moment that comes but rarely in history, when we pass from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.” With that, the country embarked on a remarkable experiment in governance that continues to this day.

Here is a very interesting infographic by Finvista.

Lot has indeed changed in 73 years:

1. Per capita income that has grown high is not adjusted for inflation while GDP is at constant prices
2. Significant improvements have been made in Literacy and life expectancy
3. India has become a Top 5 economy but on per capita basis we are closer to 100!
4. Reached space but malnutrition is yet to be addressed
5. Railways’ network has only doubled in 70+ years

India continues to be a Work In Progress and it should be fun to see how we progress on taking our people along as we march towards 100 years post Independence.

#india@74 #journey #WorkinProgress

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