Context: The recent announcement by Xi Jinping for China to have abolished poverty shines a light on the comparative human developmental challenges in India.
India vs China: An overview
Divergence: India and China were at comparable levels of development and income 40 years ago.
China has 2.7 times India’s per capita income (in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) dollars)
China reached India’s current per capita income and Human Development score 15 years ago.
United Nations index for Sustainable Development Goals (with 17 parameters), India is unlikely to get to China’s current index level for another decade.
Pandemic drag: Even in the pandemic year, China continued to grow despite the negative dip in India and the world.
India’s achievement story
No longer the country with the largest number of absolutely poor people.
Steadily improving score on the Human Development Index.
Economic Survey 2020-21 has pointed out by using a Bare Necessities Index (a composite of water supply, electricity, sanitation, housing, etc.), the picture has improved quite noticeably in recent years.
Concerns and Bottlenecks
Data related issues
2017-18 personal consumption survey withheld on the grounds of reliability, but leaked numbers suggest a decline from the level six years earlier.
Last detailed poverty headcount numbers go back almost a decade.
Loss of momentum: Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) numbers showed a dip in the employment rate even before the pandemic.
Low development indicators than developing peers: Sustainable development goals, India ranked 117 in 2019, below neighbours like Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar.