Economies around the world are going through a major transition. In some, this has been slow and incremental, evolving over decades; a few are seeing revolutionary change. As Lenin said, “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” In India, not just decades, but for two centuries before Independence, nothing happened: the economy was stagnant, even regressing now and again. The British made sure that commodity exports were under-priced and, with the Industrial Revolution bypassing us, all manufactured goods were imported. Agriculture, the primary occupation of an overwhelming majority, was at subsistence levels and millions eked out a living just above destitution.
Independent India embarked on a process of planned economic development, but growth was painfully slow for decades. The year 1991 saw, for the first time, radical reforms which laid the base for accelerated growth, especially in the first dozen years of the new millennium. Between 2004 and 2011, the number of absolute poor declined by a massive 138 million; more importantly, according to a UNDP report, as many as 271 million were lifted out of “multi-dimensional poverty” (considered a better and more comprehensive measure than just income) in 10 years from 2005.
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