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News- Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit that the phrase “Hindu rate of growth” reflected a colonial mindset..
About Hindu Rate of Growth
It is a term that describes India’s low economic growth rates from the 1950s to the 1980s, which averaged around 3.5%.
Term Coined By: It was coined by economist Raj Krishna in 1978.
Key Features
- It indicates low per-capita GDP growth, which also depends on population growth.
- It remained steady despite changes in governments, wars, famines and crises.
India Outgrew the Hindu Rate of Growth
- GDP growth data shows that India started exceeding the Hindu rate of 3.5% even before the 1991 crisis and reforms.
- While average GDP growth was about 3.4% between 1956 and 1975, it increased to 5.8% during the period from 1981 to 1991.
Criticism
- Colonial Mindset Interpretation: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the phrase reflected a colonial mindset that linked India’s slow growth to the faith and identity of its people and gave the entire civilisation a tag of unproductivity and poverty.
- Disparaging Cultural Stereotype: It was also used disparagingly, with connotations related to supposed attitudes of fatalism and contentedness.
