Good governance is not a final product. It represents a continuous quest and an endless effort. The quest is for mass prosperity and liberal democracy, and the effort is towards sustaining and upgrading whatever level of good governance has been accomplished. Whereas the desirable contents of mass prosperity and liberal democracy are subjects of perennial though familiar debates, an author can save the time of readers by communicating candidly his own preferences and priorities.
In 2001, more than half a century after the achievement of independence, India cannot claim to have reached the attainable level of good governance, although it deserves credit for attempts to accomplish it. These attempts are partly unsuccessful, partly successful. The lack of success is most apparent in the area of poverty alleviation as also promotion of education and health.
More than 50% of the people live below the poverty line income of USS 1 a day, which is calculated on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) estimates valid for 1985. Whereas this is enough to underline the deplorable state of governance in India, disparity in the real per capita gross domestic product (GDP) between the poorest 20% (viz. PPP $ 527) and the richest 20% (viz. PPP $ 2,641) estimated for the period 1980-94 makes the situation all the more deplorable. Add to all this the facts that the adult literacy rate (as of 1995) is 48%, that 19% of the people (as of 1990-96) are without access to safe water, 15% (as of 1990-95) without access to health services, 71% (as of 1990-96) to sanitation, and that 38% of children (as of 1995) do not reach grade V, and it becomes easy to realise how far India remains from even a moderately high level of good governance. To write all this is not to suggest that successive ruling circles in India have no achievements to their credit. After all, India has been able to banish major epidemics and famines, In accordance with India's official poverty line definition, based on food-energy (calorie) intake, currently, around one-third of the people live below the poverty line. Yet, during 1967-97, for instance, although India's population doubled, the average real per capita GDP (in PPP S), too, doubled. During the same period, there was a 50% reduction in the infant mortality rate. Per capita food production rose by 23% during 1980-93. During 1960-94, the crude death rate came down from 21 per 1,000 to 10. Public expenditure on health rose by more than 250% in the period from 1960 to 1990. In terms of GNP, public expenditure on education went up by 61% during 1970-93. In the same period, the rate of adult literacy rose from 34% to 51%. Female enrolment in primary schools increased from 56% to 90% during 1970-92. Remarkably, India's expenditure on education and health has been calculated at 50% more than that on defence. During 1980-95. gross enrolment in primary schools went up from 83% to 100%, in secondary schools from 30% to 49%; as to female pupils receiving primary education, the number went up from 39% in 1980 to 43% in 1994, whereas in secondary general education this number went up from 32% to 38% in the same period.
Hindu (935)
Agriculture (118)
Ancient (1086)
Archaeology (753)
Architecture (563)
Art & Culture (910)
Biography (702)
Buddhist (544)
Cookery (167)
Emperor & Queen (565)
Islam (242)
Jainism (307)
Literary (896)
Mahatma Gandhi (372)
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist