If Uttar Pradesh were to declare independence, it would be the fifth most populous country in the world. Yet, when you look at the state's per capita income, it ranks nearly at the bottom of the pile on any kind of international list.
Here is the kind of comparisons that I like to draw in my classes to make my pupils aware of the reality of things. Play around with it and let me know about your reactions.
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5 comments:
Dear Sir,
That's an really interesting website through the hyperlink. It seems to me that only Maharastra has made the development which draws one attraction as it has been compared to Singapore. I had never heard of Angola before. Maharastra's net GDP was more than twice of that of West Bengal.
with regards,
Soham Mukhopadhyay
Dear Sir,
What I found interesting in this link was the stark difference of colours of the maps as soon as I switched from GDP to GDP per capita. When we consider GDP, some parts of the map is bright orange and as soon as I switch to GDP per capita, it turns pale and grey. I checked the ranks of the countries in descending order of GDP per capita in Wikipedia (the list prepared by World Bank 2009-10, a slight increase from the 2008 figures given in the map but enough to provide an idea). What I saw was that out of the 30 states and union territories given here, the GDP per capita of 26 are close to those countries which do not even make it to the top 100 of the list (the list consists of 172 countries), and that too with Maharashtra (Sri Lanka) in 99th rank.
Shows how close we are to become an 'emerging superpower'and also the state of affairs in one of the fastest growing economy!
I remember you had used the phrase 'islands of opulence amid oceans of poverty' while teaching us The Man with the Hoe, isn't that the situation here?
Thanks and with regards,
Sayantika
Quite right, Sayantika. Indeed, I had put up this link only to deflate some people who give themselves airs, having convinced themselves that India is going to catch up with the top five countries within a decade or two! Not likely in a century, I'd like them to know.
And I am gratified to know that you remember a passing (though, indeed, telling-) phrase I had uttered in class so long ago, and so appositely too. I wish I had more students like you! That expression, by the way, was first officially used by prime minister Rajiv Gandhi during his first tenure, when he was publicly commenting on the situation that could not be tolerated much longer. Two and a half decades have passed since then, and the ground reality has remained virtually the same: only the inequalities have become even starker, and the greed, arrogance and apathy of the already-well off ten per cent even more gross...
Thank you sir. That's the best compliment I have received as a student!
And indeed, instead of bridging the inequalities, we now have billionaires making it to the Forbes lists and yet, we remain in the bottom half of UN's Human Devepoment Index.
With regards,
Sayantika
Oops, it should be Development, sorry for the typo.
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