With the growth in technology and development in international economy, there are some challenges for developing countries like India to stand in the game.
India is at a tipping point, both in terms of economic growth and in the human development of its more than one billion citizens. The country is the sixth largest economy in the world, with a GDP of $2.6 trillion in 2017. Its GDP growth rate for 2019 is projected to be almost 7.5%, as it continues to be a major engine of global economic growth. It does this while being the world’s largest democracy and the world’s second most populous nation, with nearly 1.35 billion people spread across hundreds of thousands of large urban centres, small towns and rural clusters.
The World Economic Forum’s Insight Report, “Future of Consumption in Fast-Growth Consumer Markets: India”, in collaboration with Bain & Company, paints a vision anchored in rising incomes and a broad-based pattern of growth and benefit-sharing. India is growing its middle class and lifting nearly 25 million households out of poverty.
According to the World Economic Forum’s report “The Future of Jobs 2018”, more than half of Indian workers will require reskilling by 2022 to meet the talent demands of the future. They will each require an extra 100 days of learning, on average.
There are four dimensions to the challenge of employment skills. First, the education system focuses on gaining conceptual knowledge, rather than tangible skills which ensure employability. Second, there are more jobs in the informal economy than in the formal economy (80% vs 20%). Third, there are state-level and regional disparities within India in terms of employment opportunities. And fourth, India has one of the lowest participation rates of working age women in the labour force - about 25%.
By 2030, 40% of Indians will be urban residents. However, there will also be more than 5,000 small urban towns (50,000-100,000 persons each) and more than 50,000 developed rural towns (5,000-10,000 persons each) with similar income profiles, where aspirations are fast converging with those of urban India. The figure below illustrates urban-rural population distribution in India in 2005, 2018, and 2030 projected.
Three critical “access” barriers currently constrain the aspirations of those living in rural areas in India. First, constrained physical connectivity (e.g. access to all-weather roads and electricity); second, lack of digital connectivity (e.g. access to the internet); and third, limited financial inclusion (e.g. access to commercial banks and bank accounts).
As India marches forward, it faces new challenges in health and sustainable living, even as it has achieved key health targets such as polio eradication. Cities grappling with alarming rates of congestion and pollution, together with an unhealthy population, could significantly dampen the benefits of India’s demographic dividend and urban growth, and lead to a fast deterioration in the quality of life of its citizens.
Two key challenges must be solved to improve the quality of health and urban liveability for India’s citizens at the macro level. First, while improving overall access to and affordability of healthcare services, it will be crucial to address the advent of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which currently account for 63% of all deaths in India. NCDs are on the rise, owing to unhealthy food and lifestyle choices, across both urban and rural areas, and across income segments. Second, the impending crises in air and water pollution, waste management and urban congestion must be urgently solved.
As the country enters a new era of envisioned growth, now is the time for all Indians to come together as one and address the most pressing societal challenges facing the country today: skilling and job creation, the socioeconomic inclusion of rural India, and the building of a healthy and sustainable future for every citizen.
