Recent World Bank Report on Indian Economy and Development Issues

The World Bank has just published a new report on India titled “India Development Policy Review” with a focus on challenges facing the country.

The review notes that while India’s economy is booming, its healthcare, education, water, power and transport – appear to be deteriorating.

Also, large segments of the populationare are being left behind.

Some of the findings of the report are as follows:

-India’s full immunization rates have fallen over the past five years.

-A typical doctor at a Primary Health Center in Delhi is less competent than a counterpart in Tanzania, and substantially less so than one in Indonesia.

-Almost 2/3rd of children in government primary schools cannot read a simple story, and half of them cannot solve simple numerical problems.

-While India’s prosperous states have poverty rates that are comparable with the richer Latin American countries, the poorest states are mired at Sub-Saharan African levels of poverty. And, the gap is growing.

-While the services sector booms, agricultural productivity is declining, constraining the growth of the rural economy.

-Recent growth has generated very little formal sector employment. Of a total labor force of roughly 390 million in 2003, only 8 million were employed in organized private sector.

We will make an independent assessment of various issues raised and recommendations made in the report as we go along -- your participation is very much requested.