The growth models of India and China are an important subject of contemporary debate. Will India catch up with China? Will its messy, multi-party, multi-ethnic democracy hobble it economic rise? Are sections of Indian population being tempted by authoritarian China’s faster economic growth? These are some of the most argued questions of our times.
Amartya Sen, renowned economist and Nobel laureate, discussed in the opinion pages of The New York Times why India is likely to trail China in terms of growth and development indicators.
“The hope that India might overtake China one day in economic growth now seems a distant one. But that comparison is not what should worry Indians most. The far greater gap between India and China is in the provision of essential public services â€" a failing that depresses living standards and is a persistent drag on growth,†Sen rote.
“India may be the world’s largest producer of generic medicine, but its health care system is an unregulated mess. The poor have to rely on low-quality â€" and sometimes exploitative â€" private medical care, because there isn’t enough decent public care. While China devotes 2.7 percent of its gross domestic product to government spending on health care, India allots 1.2 percent,†he added.
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