Indias Political Economy - Assignment Example

Econ 337 3 Question 2 The of poverty and social well-being in India in the recent years is attributed to the domestic aspects such as inequality, political aspects and environment. This illustrates how strict accountability has marred the country’s democratic governance. The implication is that India’s political economy has been instrumental in shaping the recent state of affairs. For instance, the global integration of India and China is not reflected on the common masses that still live in poverty (Bardhan 24). The majority of the citizens are below the expected income capita level, which makes them prone to be unproductive. It emerges that the new reforms in the 80’s led to the reduction of poverty and inequality due to the foreign trade and investment strategies. However, the rural areas were also recovering from the poverty cycle as influenced by the spurt in agricultural growth. The political economy played an instrumental part through the land redistributions that ensured every family had an agricultural venture. As a result, the internal aspects enabled the country to improve on its economic objectives rather than the presumed global integration. Similarly, the domestic public investment policies, especially in education, infrastructure and agricultural research propelled the growth and rural poverty reduction. The state of poverty and well being in India were spurred by the social indicators in employment opportunities, gender inequality and maternal health had registered improvements (Bardhan 26). The country was ensuring that the citizens would be productive by taking advantage of the social developments in the important sectors. The resultant impacts were that the Indians introduced strategies that empowered everyone to venture into economical businesses in the region. Although poverty and social well-being remains to be a priority of the government, the economic growth tends to alleviate the imbalance. This implies that reforms encouraging domestic investments are making the local citizens to come up with business ideas that the government can help to finance for prosperity. The reasoning behind Bardhan arguments is that global integration only facilitated increase in spending. The improvements in social indicators and social well-being were factors that promoted global integration because the country was now ready to consider various opportunities (Bardhan 30). This implies that, without the domestic reforms and investments, global integration could not be achieved. However, the slow pace in some sectors was due to the lack of attention to the essential requirements of the poor and the women. This arose when the government failed to promote participatory development and the utilization of the public resources. The democratic system has enabled India to address some of the poverty and inequality challenges by giving everyone equal opportunities. This is because the deep inequalities tend to restrict public discussion, restricting it to the lives and the distress of the relatively wealthy. The end of the colonial suppression enabled India to work on its development strategies, which enabled it to be among the leading economies. It is appropriate that the self-rule influenced the domestic spending and expansion of the rural areas to access vital business inputs. For instance, Bardhan indicates that the agricultural production hit the highest rank when the government supplied farm inputs to the rural farmers (Bardhan 48). The persistent famines struck after the government decided to support the local farmers disappeared at that time. This meant that famine and starvation were reduced and the people had to concentrate on productive areas, such as managing of businesses. The country’s investment policy contributed to the raising of the GDP and the attraction of investment in foreign ventures. It is apparent the reduction of poverty and the improvement of social well-being were instrumental in the realization of the Indian’s dream. As a result, the country has been increasing its capita income, especially through the facilitation of business opportunities. Question 1 Indian development had slowed down in the late 70’s and the government needed to placate the contending dominant groups of the middle class and the poor. This era marked the emergence of the middle class who were potential investors having migrated from the Europe and the US. The middle class community also introduced technological adoption for industrial productions. This implies that the country had to start competing against other Asian states in the region (Bardhan 57). The other exposed group comprised of the poor and peasant farmers. They were still using the traditional farming methods, which did not give maximum productivity. The dominant groups were the government’s priority towards restoring the economic stability of the country. In this regard, the government initiated avenues that could support all groups to reach their potentials of improving the economy (Drèze and Sen 13). The development of social indicators like education and infrastructure was instrumental in uplifting the living standards of the poor. The middle class was growing at a faster rate and this was proving important for the development of India. India’s economic development focused on rapid industrialization to deliver capital and intermediate goods. However, the low domestic savings rate, weak capital market and promising local entrepreneurship were still below average because of the high population (Bardhan 63). This meant that the fiscal incentives and physical controls were introduced to enhance traditional labor intensive methods of production. Considering this, the poor were educated on adopting the latest technology in their farms and others were offered credit facilities to venture into businesses. The focus was to slash down the high rate of farmers still using the traditional production methods. The interest of the middle class group was to secure government tenders and improve their economic status. The group was back from Abroad and came to secure job vacancies, but realized the jobs were limited. This forced them to start entrepreneurial activities and sharing of ideas with other elites. The middle class group later developed after the government’s introduction of incentives to support their activities (Bardhan 70). Alternatively, the interest of the peasant group was to advance their production methods to incorporate export trade. This is because they invested in government projects that could enable achieve their objectives. For instance, the peasant farmers used irrigation methods to boost their farming activities in the different seasonal variations. As a result, the peasant farmers also joined the middle class as they could reap decent gains from export activities. This was facilitated by the irrigation schemes and delivery of farm inputs. The government’s policies advanced these interests by offering financial and advisory incentives to the groups. For instance, the new graduates were offered financial loans to start small businesses and acquire equipment for industrial development (Drèze and Sen 19). It is apparent that the middle class mainly comprised of the learned citizens who were coming back from the foreign countries. This facilitated the work force industry with skilled labor and innovative applications in the industries. The industrial revolution was also an essential aspect that led to the faster growth of the economy because it opened up new markets for export trades (Bardhan 77). The governments also entered into trade agreements to enable the farmers get markets for their products. The regional integration with the neighboring countries was a step towards enhancing productivity through sharing of ideas and technology. India boasts of a growing economy that recovered from poor government and political infighting that affected development. The social and political reforms are among the elements that led to the fast development of industries and individual businesses (Bardhan 79). This is because the state of poverty and well being in India were spurred by the social indicators in employment opportunities, gender inequality and maternal health had registered improvements. Works Cited Bardhan, Pranab K. Awakening Giants, Feet of Clay: Assessing the Economic Rise of China and India. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 2013. Print. Drèze, Jean, and Amartya Sen. An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions. , 2014. Print. Read More