India as a country is a contradiction of sorts. No doubt it has come a long way in terms of growth over the past many years and is holding its own in the global arena. Many statesmen have acclaimed India as a responsible, rising power, inviting it to take a seat at the top table of world affairs. GDP growth at 8.5% has put it along China as one of the world's fastest growing economies. With a population of around 1.2 bn, there is huge scope for the domestic consumption theme to play out over the next many years. And there are opportunities galore in retail, education and infrastructure. India also boasts of being among the top nations having the highest number of millionaires in the world. India Inc. has also done its bit to put India on the global map and companies especially in the IT, auto and pharma space have continued to expand their footprint abroad.

But while the accolades are plenty, one cannot ignore the brickbats either. And these in recent times have taken the ugly shape of high inflation and mounting corruption. Moreover, questions persist as to whether the government will be able to transform the lives of millions of poor in the country. With no long term reforms in place, large sections of the Indian population continue to be hampered by rising prices and erosion in purchasing power. The UPA government came to power with reforms being its main agenda and resulting scams and scandals have tied its hands as a result of which it has been busy trying to tidy up its own affairs rather than focus on developmental activities. Recent attempts to define the poverty line have only been met with rising criticism and have highlighted the government's inability to grasp the ground reality. Indeed, GDP growth in the long term is quite meaningless if it does not improve the standard of living of its citizens and i nstead increases income inequality.

The latter especially is dangerous and could lead to more insurgencies or revolutions of the kind that were witnessed in the Arab world. Of course, all is not bleak and India's growth rates are still much better than that of the developed world which is grappling with prolonged recession. Moreover, some of India's current problems have been there in the past as well and the Indian economy has been able to grow at a fast rate inspite of it. However, times are changing, intolerance among citizens has increased and the government has to step up its pace on the structural reform front in a bid to diminish the income equality divide.
By J Mulraj