The statistics below cover the Nehru Dynasty and UPA I and II.

Since 2014, things have started to get better, albeit slowly.

Millions of Indians were doomed to abject poverty as a result of Nehru’s economic policies.

A third of the worlds destitute reside here, making us the poorest country. According to estimates from the World Bank, 33% of Indians live below the US$1.25 per day international poverty level, while 69% of Indians live on less than $2 per day. According to IMF statistics for 2011, India ranks 129th out of 183 nations in terms of GDP per capita. India’s per capita income is just over half what it is in Sri Lanka, approximately a sixth of what it is in Malaysia, and a third of what it is in Jamaica. Although things have been getting better, decades have been wasted on Nehruvian economic policies that only served to perpetuate poverty.

 

According to Darryl D’Monte in the Hindustan Times story “Living off the Land, “…Oxford University and the UN Development Programme brought out a ‘Multidimensional Poverty Index’ or MPI which replaced the Human Poverty Index. The researchers analysed data from 104 countries with a combined population of 5.2 billion, constituting 78% of the world’s total. It found that about 1.7 billion people in these countries live in multidimensional poverty. If income alone is taken into account, at less than $1.25 a day, a standard measure throughout the world, this amounts to 1.3 billion. The startling fact that emerges from this analysis, which made headlines throughout the world, is that using the MPI, just eight Indian states have more poor people than the 26 poorest African countries combined. These sub-Saharan countries—like Ethiopia —are considered the worst-off in the world, with pictures of starving children there becoming symptomatic of a deep malaise.”

 

The Mercer Quality of Life Study ranks 49 cities globally for 2012. No Indian city qualifies. There are 50 cities listed in the 2012 Mercer City Infrastructure Ranking. There are no Indian cities on the list. The 25 dirtiest cities in the world include New Delhi and Mumbai, which are mostly joined by African cities.

Sukinda and Vapi, two cities in India, are the third- and fourth-most polluted cities in the world, respectively. Even the most hallowed of our rivers and waterways become filthy every year. The holy rivers have been turned into sewage systems. The Ganga’s waters are clear and sparkling when they emerge from Gangotri, with a BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) of 0 and a DO (Dispersed Oxygen) of greater than 10. Water with a BOD concentration of less than 2 mg per litre can be ingested directly; water with a BOD concentration of 2 to 3 mg per litre can be consumed, but only after treatment; and water with a BOD concentration of more than 3 mg per litre is inappropriate for even bathing.

BOD levels in the Ganga-Yamuna water at Sangam in Allahabad are 7.3 mg per litre! Very unfit, not even for bathing!

 

According to a ToI report titled “A pitcherful of poison: India’s water issues set to get worse,” India comes in at 120th place overall out of 122 nations when it comes to the quality of its drinkable water. India is probably going to experience water stress by the year 2020. In India, about 50% of the communities still lack a supply of safe drinking water. 1.95 lac of India’s 1.42 million villages are impacted by chemical water contamination. Each year, 37.7 million people suffer from waterborne illnesses. A lack of fluoride in the water puts about 66 million people in 20 Indian states in danger. Fluorosis affects about 6 million children under the age of 14 in both dental and non-skeletal forms. Children in the Jhabua district frequently have bone abnormalities. The other major killer present in groundwater, arsenic, poses a threat to around 10 million people. In certain West Bengal areas, the issue is severe.

Arsenic is present in the Gangetic plains’ deeper aquifers. Nearly every family in UP’s Ballia district has been impacted by the issue, with the majority of people experiencing skin problems.

 

rashes, some have lost limbs, and many are dying slowly from cancer brought on by arsenic. India is the country with the highest prevalence of bacterial pollution, which causes diarrhoea, cholera, and hepatitis.

The UNDP, or United Nations Development Programme, produced the HDI, or Human Development Index, which is a composite statistic combining life expectancy, education, and income indices. India placed 130 out of 187 countries in 2016, even behind Iraq and Egypt!

 

According to the Hunger and Malnutrition (HUNGaMA) report by the Naandi Foundation, 59 per cent of Indian children under the age of five have moderate to severe stunting, and 42 per cent of them are severely or moderately underweight.

According to a different survey published on Mother’s Day, India has the 5th worst Mother-care Index score out of 80 “least developed countries” in the globe.

Our healthcare system has lower infant mortality rates than even the most underdeveloped nations in Africa! The rate is the number of infants under one-year-old who pass away in a particular year for every 1,000 live births. With an infant mortality rate of 46, India ranks 50 out of 221 nations, with rank 1 being the worst. That is, among 221 countries, 171 countries are better off than India. Infant mortality rates in China are 15.62, in Singapore is 2.65, and in India 46.07. According to a survey by the international non-governmental organisation “Save the Children,” India has the largest number of newborns that pass away during the first 24 hours of delivery worldwide. This number is over 400,000 every year.

 

Consider MMR, which measures the annual number of female deaths per 100,000 live births from any cause connected to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management. The MMR covers fatalities that occur during pregnancy, during childbirth, or within 42 days following a miscarriage. India has an MMR of 200 fatalities per 100,000 live births, placing it 52nd out of 183 nations (rank 1 being the worst). MMR for China is 37 while it is only 3 for Singapore.

Consider housing. According to a recent housing census conducted by the government, 53% of Indian households lack toilets, 68% lack access to clean drinking water, 39% lack indoor kitchens, and 70% are one- or two-room structures. Statistics don’t reveal the actual horror. Of course, everyone suffers—men, women, and children—but women suffer the most because they must urinate in the open because there are no toilets, go gather water because there is no water supply at home, and cook without a kitchen.

In India, there are 50,000 slums housing close to 97 million urban poor people, 24% of which are situated next to nallahs and sewers and 12% next to railroad tracks. Also, the number of slums and the slum population are growing as a result of our poor planning and neglect. The children in these slums—our future—are most negatively impacted.

The top 10% of graduates are recruited as teachers in Singapore and Finland, where they are paid on par with engineers.

In India also? the calibre of engineering and management graduates

 

There are a lot of unemployed graduates from colleges. It’s a disaster, our educational system.

India ranks 183 out of 214 countries for literacy, which is lower than several African nations. The Economic Times reported on January 18, 2013: “The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2012) by NGO Pratham shows that the number of Class V students who could not read a Class II level text or solve a simple arithmetic problem has increased. In 2010, 46.3% of kids in this category failed to make the cut and this shot up to 51.8% in 2011 and 53.2% in 2012…In 2010, 29.1% children in Class V could not solve a two-digit subtraction problem without seeking help. This proportion increased to 39% in 2011 and 46.5% in 2012.”

 

When it comes to the drawbacks, the historically dynasty-driven Nehruvian-socialistic-populist-babudomdominated dynastic India rarely disappoints in receiving the highest mark. Thankfully, since the Nehru-Gandhi Dynasty left power in 2014, things have been getting better.

DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.