Disparities

It is quite ironical to see in this country, where stress is laid on equality, the amount of disparity and the gap between the rich and the poor.

This fact can be attributed, in part, to an inadequate government policy outlook with respect to the income distribution. Most government policies are aimed at damage control and no consideration is given to building a more stable long term social atmosphere. 

Apart from a defective government policy regime, there is also a problem of implementation. Most policies in India are implemented in an unbalanced way. The progressive taxation system, for instance, in India is clearly aimed at reducing the wealth of the rich rather than uplifting the poor. However, this argument can be considered valid only under the light of the wide spread corruption prevalent in the Indian economy.

Policy decisions need to be made from time-to-time as there are changes in the economy. A check on corruption however requires a long run strategy due to its vast expanse in India. There is a need to realize the web of corruption in the system and develop policies to get around the long term defects till they are alleviated completely.

'India Shining' is an ideology, a status proudly proclaimed by the leaders of this country. Yet, the status of Indian people in many areas is seen to be even lower than the basic standards of humanity. There is much data to support this statement in form of various human development and social indices which categorize India lower even than the underdeveloped countries of the world. Thus, it is hard to actually reach a consensus on how shining India actually is, but it definitely seems to have an optimistic approach.

(Written in 2007)