Indian History, Research Paper Example

As expected, the differences between the country profiles of India, as featured on the World Bank webpage and the UNDP webpage respectively, demonstrate different points of emphasis with regards to what the concept of growth entails. For example, the UNDP country profile dedicates an entire section to qualitative data concerning gender in India, whereas similar information is missing from the World Bank webpage. Furthermore, in sections which are shared by both country profiles, substantial difference in information is also present: in the case of education, the UNDP provides more detailed analysis of India’s education system, including data concerning the student-teacher ratio and the dropout rate of students, whereas similar information is absent from the World Bank webpage. In this regard, the respective profiles, while presenting valuable data concerning India, are also relevant to the extent that they reflect the ideological commitments of the respective organizations in terms of how they define the concept of “development.” The World Bank is more concerned with a specific vision of economic development, whereas the UNDP webpage can be said to incorporate a more heterogeneous concept of development, which is not limited to economic development.

Nevertheless, both webpages are valuable in identifying key potential concerns for India’s development in the future. Whereas the data reflects encouraging growth in areas such as a steady decline in the mortality rate (a key index of developed countries) and an increase in school enrollment (another key index of developed countries), arguably India’s greatest development problem is related to its population density. Namely, these numbers have increased steadily since 1990, from a figure of 40.7 in 1990 to a figure of 56.0 in 2014. One of the reasons why population density can be considered a significant problem for Indian development is the sense in which population density is a symptom of other developmental problems. For example, population density in a certain area suggests that economic opportunities, such as easier possibility for employment, exist in specific areas. Hence, many Indians leave the countryside for the urban environment, with the potential for economic success. This places, for example, a high pressure on urban centers to adequately deal with the radically increased population. Urban centers must become more dynamic, on a social and economic level, so as to satisfy the basic needs of its population, as well as so as to satisfy basic rights of the population, such as the right to education. In essence, urban populations must continually develop so as to meet the developments and increases in the demographics of these sites.

Another concerning aspect of this statistic is that it may be symptomatic of the lack of a diverse economy. For example, the movement towards urban centers suggests that the agricultural industries and the countryside are not viable for the Indian population. This is troubling for numerous reasons. Firstly, the Indian populace is constantly increasing. If its agricultural sector decreases, while the population increases, this will entail that India will be more reliable on exports so as to feed its population. The goal of autarky, in other words, a type of self-sufficiency, will be unrealizable. This will, in turn, negatively effect the sovereignty of the country as a whole. Secondly, this suggests that the economy of India is not diverse enough, which is troubling for growth. Namely, increasing population density suggests that job opportunities are only available in certain areas. Certain areas include certain industries. A lower population density would mean that people live in different places in the country and thus, in consequence, have different occupations, which entails a diverse economy. A diverse economy leads to both sovereignty and the potentiality for growth.

Works Cited

United Nations Development Programme. “India.” Retrieved 22 September, 2015 at http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/IND

World Bank. “India.” Retrieved 22 September, 2015 at http://databank.worldbank.org/data/views/reports/ReportWidgetCustom.aspx?Report_Name=CountryProfile&Id=b450fd57