An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions
Dreze & Sen - Princeton University Press - 2013
When India became independent in 1947 after two centuries of colonial rule,
it immediately adopted a firmly democratic political system, with multiple
parties, freedom of speech, and extensive political rights. The famines of the
British era disappeared, and steady economic growth replaced the economic
stagnation of the Raj. The growth of the Indian economy quickened further over
the last three decades and became the second fastest among large economies.
Despite a recent dip, it is still one of the highest in the world.
Maintaining rapid as well as environmentally sustainable growth remains an
important and achievable goal for India. In An Uncertain Glory, two of
India's leading economists argue that the country's main problems lie in the
lack of attention paid to the essential needs of the people, especially of the
poor, and often of women. There have been major failures both to foster
participatory growth and to make good use of the public resources generated by
economic growth to enhance people's living conditions. There is also a continued
inadequacy of social services such as schooling and medical care as well as of
physical services such as safe water, electricity, drainage, transportation, and
sanitation. In the long run, even the feasibility of high economic growth is
threatened by the underdevelopment of social and physical infrastructure and the
neglect of human capabilities, in contrast with the Asian approach of
simultaneous pursuit of economic growth and human development, as pioneered by
Japan, South Korea, and China.
In a democratic system, which India has great reason to value, addressing
these failures requires not only significant policy rethinking by the
government, but also a clearer public understanding of the abysmal extent of
social and economic deprivations in the country. The deep inequalities in Indian
society tend to constrict public discussion, confining it largely to the lives
and concerns of the relatively affluent. Drèze and Sen present a powerful
analysis of these deprivations and inequalities as well as the possibility of
change through democratic practice
