Darker side of India’s growth story

It is argued that despite global shocks, India stood resilient in the face of challenges and emerged as the world’s fastest-growing major economy in the previous year. Steady growth, coupled with effective inflation containment, has set a positive tone for the economic outlook in the year ahead.

But what is the truth. India ‘s growth estimation is not beyond doubt. The high GDP estimated through output/ product method is much high when compared with GDP estimated through expenditure method. The pompous growth is not reflected through the welfare of people. Inflation may decline due to high base effect but price rise continues erode the purchasing power of people and it is never reversed.

Even in 1980s China ‘s economy was same as Indian economy. But now China’s economy is more than five times bigger than the Indian economy.

The challenges persist. Job creation remains a sore point, with the tech sector experiencing significant layoffs in the previous year. Unemployment rates reached 9.2 per cent in November 2023 and companies continued to announce layoffs even in the final days of the year. Inequality is biggest threat to social stability.
In India about 12 lakh new cancer cases and 9.3 lakh deaths in 2019, becoming the second highest contributor to the disease burden in Asia for that year, according to a new study published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia journal.

The NCRB recorded 1.5 lakh suicide deaths in 2020, against 1.39 lakh in 2019. Between 2020 and 2021, too, there was a 7.1 per cent increase. In 2021, 1.64 lakh people took their own lives, according to the NCRB.
Dr Santosh Kumar Mohapatra