| Introduction: Highlight PM vision and define developed nation. Body: Challenges before India Conclusion: How is it feasible to make India developed by 2047 |
PM Modi has ambitiously set the target of India being a “developed country” by 2047. There is no international standard to classify the developed or developing country but it is widely assumed that developed countries are high per capita income counties while developing nations have low or medium per capita income. India at present is described as a low-income country by the World Bank with an average income of Indian as $1935 in 2020.
What are the challenges before India?
- Population: India is set to overtake China as the world’s most populous country in 2023 according to ‘The UN State of World Population Report 2022’. A country with such a high population requires immense resources and efficient management for a decent standard of living.
- Hunger: India suffers from the worst form of hunger according to Global Hunger Index 2022 in which India is ranked 107th among 121 countries. India fares worse than its South Asian neighbors and is behind even Rwanda, Burkina Faso, and Sudan on GHI.
- Inequality: As per Oxfam and World Inequality Report, India is among the most inequitable country in the world with 5 percent of Indians having more than 60 percent of the country’s wealth, while the bottom 50 percent of the population possess only 3 percent of the wealth.
- Human Development: India fares poorly in UN Human Development Report 2022 ranking 132 out of 191 nations. The majority of Indians still are deprived of a healthy life, access to education, and a decent standard of living.
- Illiteracy: India still has the world’s largest illiterate population despite immense growth in providing access to education. Millions of unemployed educated people are straddled across the county which can lead to a danger of demographic dividend turning into an unmitigated demographic disaster.
- Agriculture: India needs to make agriculture profit making and increase agri exports. There is an urgent need for investment in agriculture to increase productivity and production to make Indian exports competitive in the world market.
- Exports: India aims to raise the share of its exports in global trade to 3% by 2027 and 10% by 2047 from the current 2.1%, promoting hundred Indian brands as global brands.
Conclusion:
India could achieve the target of developed country status by 2047 but it is a herculean task given our set of problems. India has to focus on various development parameters like income level, health and education standards, quality of life (e.g. access to electricity and safe drinking water), availability of work, levels of poverty and inequality, technological attainments, and gender equality.
India will need structural reforms in the manufacturing, service, and agriculture sector, reforming the tax structure, making MSME competitive, and reducing corruption to make India a $5 trillion economy.
