Impressions from India Part I: Economic Development

The reason I have not been updating the site or Rational Rants recently is because I travelled to India to ten days and got sick for three days after. My experiences on the other side of the world have provided new perspectives and insight about India and its society. By visiting Delhi/New Dehli, Jaipur, and Agra I have learned about the nation’s past, present, future when it comes to economic development, geopolitics, and culture of India.

In terms of its economy and global standing, India’s perception as a future global and economic superpower is undeserved. Despite a GDP growth rate of 9.6%, India has an inflation rate. of 12.4% that erodes the countries growth. Economists look to India’s large middle class market (200 million people) as the reason for India’s success. However, the middle and upper class only consist of 20% of India’s population and 80% of the country lives in poverty. 74% of Indians earn less than two dollars per day. Throughout my travels poverty was a prevalent. Out of all of my travels, India had the most visible and disturbing levels of poverty. People urinate on the streets, live with cows under bridges or makeshift shacks, and attempt to beg and/or pickpocket visitors at every time they leave the hotel. Security guards must blockade every shop and restaurant to prevent robberies and soliciting. Overall, India may not rise to the ranks of a developed country, but the Indian economy is on the rise and can reach the levels of more developed third world nations such as Mexico.

Indirect factors of the economy India also has a multitude of societal issues. With over a billion overpopulation currently plague India. India only has one third of the landmass of the United States, but over three times the amount of people. Problems associated with overpopulation include shortages food and water, the spread of disease, and the over division of farmland. India is the most disease ridden country on the earth. Diseases that have been eliminated in the developed world such as typhoid fever, polio, malaria, and dysentery flourish in India. The poor lack treatment and live in their filth and that supplements the spread of disease. The Indian government needs to instill disease control to provide relative safety for both its people and visitors to improve health and international business.

In order for India to make next step in becoming a developed nations, the Indian people must address the following issues:

1. Overpopulation

2. Suspicion

3. Oversized and Corrupt Government

4. Proximity to enemies/Islamofascism

Overall India is a country in the rise, but it will not reach superpower levels until India reforms its struggles.