Not measure for measure - The Hindu 1 of 3 http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/lead-article-not-measure-for-m... » Not measure for measure Uday Balakrishnan With a plethora of government departments and international organisations putting out so much statistical d often contradicting one another, it is the government’s duty to clear the air with up-to-date and coherent stati and economic indicators Purchasing Power Parity or PPP has validated a long held surmise that the poorer countries are are made out to be nor the richer ones as well off as they seem. A nominal GDP ranking puts Ind a PPP one pushes it up to third, behind the United States and China. The Big Mac Index of The E corroborates. Travelling to expensive parts of the world from our country brings this home to us A 2011 issue of The Economist published a controversial piece — “Comparing Indian states and countries: An Indian Summary” — which purported to show that for all its size and population, Pradesh was roughly just that of Qatar, and Maharashtra’s no bigger than Singapore’s, while tha larger than Angola’s — all very confusing and probably wrong when in PPP terms, India as a wh the world. So, where do we stand and what standard should one pitch for to measure ourselves a world? A land of opportunities We would be wise to guardedly settle for PPP. The world too has done likewise. India, like those similarly placed countries, does have an economy worth several times larger than its nominal G has not gone unnoticed where it matters, especially in the boardrooms of multinationals or corp indefatigably seek to “add an inch to every Indiaman’s shirt tail”. Some strong endorsement for management guru, the late C.K. Prahalad. Unsurprisingly, for companies like Suzuki and Honda their largest market for cars and two-wheelers and Vodafone, despite an unresolved retrospectiv much here to stay. India of course enjoys the sheer strength of numbers. Everything that happen to necessarily be on a gargantuan scale — invariably in several millions. It takes an outsider to m make us conscious of it. But the scale exists! After China, India has more mobile owners than any other co revolution has just hit us big and India is more likely than not second largest market for that too. India is also one of two lar manufacturers. The country continues its run as one of two la and a third of wheat as well as fruits and milk. Of course we k in agro and dairy products, we are still way behind much sma likely to get “there” thanks to developments in science techno segments India is sitting on the cusp of an opportunity. If the surprised us, managed right, the future growth in agriculture E-commerce is another area we mistakenly thought we had lo were despairing at the success of Alibaba in China, we now se coming into e-retailing. It is not for nothing that Japan’s SoftB heavily in Snapdeal; Ratan Tata, ever ready to spot an emergi on it much earlier. The best known of India’s e-retailers, Flipkart, has attracted significant inves Amazon, even as it threatens to leave, is expanding its footprint here. India, it turns out, is a glas rather than half-empty and emptying. 3/10/2015 11:01 AM Not measure for measure - The Hindu 2 of 3 http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/lead-article-not-measure-for-m... Social indicators and evidence But before we start rejoicing we need to reconcile flattering national economic indicators with so ones. India’s ranking in the UNDP’s Human Development Report (2011) is 134. In gender inequ marginally better but still a rotten 129th out of 187 countries. Then on the ease of doing busines 134th, pretty much at the bottom of the heap. So things are that horrible. Or are they only being terrible? Given the scale of poverty in India, it is very difficult not to make these rankings stick and lot of Mukesh Ambani’s massive residence in Mumbai coexists with a sea of slums nearby. Get out of m airports, and most especially Mumbai, and one is confronted with every kind of misery one can traffic lights and the poor of India come knocking on your car window. The better off in our cou islands of relative calm defended by the very kind drawn from the ranks of those it seeks to keep know, visuals, even powerful ones, do not so much reflect reality as point out the shocking that w deliberately disregard. Statewide indices for the world The country as a whole is nowhere as bad as these indices show but together they do bring out th only because we have been inept at better stating our strengths while unfailingly adept at invitin weaknesses. The question to ask is “should India be taken as a country at all for such indicators populous than the whole of Africa and roughly equal to Europe and the Americas combined on t better way of being compared — clearly, it is absurd to rank the country alongside say Lesotho o first has a population of less than three million and the other two. Singapore, for all its achievem of Bengaluru and its suburbs. Apart from the absurdity of comparing apples with ladoos, such indices, as The Economist notes name”. It can, as it states, also “spread like wildfire on the web”. India needs to proof itself again with some convincing measures of its own that attract rather than turn away potential investors without tweaking. A start can be made by leaving the country’s PPP ranking alone while more ef and deploying region-wise as well as State-wise indices for everything, from gender inequality to as well as infrastructure and migration. Internal rankings of States, as what a leading Indian magazine brings out annually, is so much l back, that the game changer will be when the country configures the rankings for global consum particularly important now when States are competing with each other for investments. This sh governments sit up and take note that governance matters. Chhattisgarh is an early mover here. the print and television media with advertisements that project it as an investment destination o visionary Chief Minister as its efficient CEO. States with poor social indices will strive to match the better off ones, creating a virtuous circle. Then, there is something called shaming that every avoid. Migrant labour The debt the richer parts of the country owe to its poorer places is one of the dirty secrets we har at the vacant eyes of an emaciated young security guard in Kochi or the young woman at a const material up precarious ladders in Bengaluru, and you immediately connect to their homes far aw Millions are spilling out of India’s poorer States to run services in the better off ones. Mumbai w without migrant workers and Kerala — the entire State — would come to a grinding halt if the ne Assam and Bengal as well as U.P., Odisha and Bihar were to en-masse go elsewhere. The Govern therefore do well to bring out an annual State-wise status report on migrant labour detailing wh the jobs they do and how much they contribute to State economies rather than ungratefully trea This should cool rampant xenophobia of the kind the Shiva Sena promotes and make us gratefu 3/10/2015 11:01 AM Not measure for measure - The Hindu 3 of 3 http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/lead-article-not-measure-for-m... We now learn that the government is about to release the religious mix of the country as brough census. Leaks indicate that the number of Muslims has gone up marginally, but where? In its m where along with a majority of Hindus, most lead ultra squalid lives and are crying to get better message, that the Muslims even in very backward parts constitute the underclass, cannot be ove course some migration from Bangladesh into Assam and West Bengal cannot be discounted. We need statistics we can trust and be informed. Unfortunately, with a plethora of agencies, gov and international organisations putting out so much statistical data in the public space, often co another, we have very little chance of being properly informed. It is the government’s duty to cle up-to-date and coherent statistical data linking social and economic indicators. Only this can lea public understanding and reaction than one which suggests that Hinduism is in danger or Musl having more children. In the noise, one can ignore that fertility rates have fallen among the Mus could derive the benefits of economic development through education, their numbers will fall ju especially deserves to be widely known. In context, statistics can lead to better understandings; they can kill. (Dr. Uday Balakrishnan is at the Centre for Contemporary Studies, Indian Institute of Science Keywords: Purchasing Power Parity, Indian economy, economic growth, nominal GDP, gross do ranking, migrant labour 3/10/2015 11:01 AM