INDIA'S WEALTH STORY: PROGRESS AND INEQUALITY SINCE INDEPENDENCE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53555/eijhss.v10i1.220Keywords:
inequality, governance, public policy, privatization, indian growth storyAbstract
The study investigates the trajectory of inequality and wealth distribution in India from post-independence to the present. Contrary to the anticipated decline in inequality post-independence, the economic gap persisted and escalated, particularly since the early 2000s. The concentration of wealth has surged significantly between 2014-15 and 2022-23, leading to greater economic disparity than during British colonial times. The paper analyzes the multifaceted factors contributing to the persistence and visibility of inequality in India, including governance, public policy, and privatization. The findings underscore the complex interplay between economic policies and social structures in shaping India's inequality landscape over the decades.
References
Ahmed, N., Anna Marriott, Nafkote Dabi, Megan Lowthers, Max Lawson, Leah Mugehera, Tariq Ahmed, Charlotte Becker, Esmé Berkhout, Kira Boe, Helen Bunting, Tracy Carty, Chuck Collins, Hernan Cortes, Lies Craeynest, Nadia Daar, Sara Duvisac, Patricia Espinoza Revollo, Jonas Gielfeldt, . . . Deborah Hardoon. (2022). Inequality kills. https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/621341/bp-inequality-kills-170122-en.pdf
Ahuja, K. (1991). “Agricultural Labor and Rural Employment." In Indian Agricultural Development since Independence: A Collection of Essays, edited by Dantwala. 2nd rev. ed. New Delhi: Oxford & IBH Publishing.
Annual Report Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) JULY 2022 – JUNE 2023 | Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation | Government of India. (n.d.). https://www.mospi.gov.in/publication/annual-report-periodic-labour-force-survey-plfs-july-2022-june-2023
Balakrishnan, P. (2007, November 10). The Recovery of India: Economic growth in the Nehru era. Economic and Political Weekly. https://www.epw.in/journal/2007/45-46/special-articles/recovery-india-economic-growth-nehru-era.html
Balakrishnan, P. (2010). Understanding Economic Growth. In Understanding Economic Growth (pp.1–39).https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198065470.003.0001
Basu, K. (2015). “China and India: Idiosyncratic Paths to High Growth,” in Uma Kapila (Ed.): Indian Economy Since Independence, New Delhi: Academic Foundation.
Bettelheim, C. (1968). India Independent, Tr. W.A. Caswell, London.
Bhalla, S. (2000). "Behind Poverty: The Qualitative Deterioration of Employment Prospects for Rural Indians." Working paper no. 7. Delhi: Institute for Human Development.
Bharti, N. K., Chancel, L., Piketty, T., Somanchi, A., New York University, Abu Dhabi and World Inequality Lab, Sciences Po, Harvard Kennedy School and World Inequality Lab, & Paris School of Economics and World Inequality Lab. (2024). Income and wealth inequality in India, 1922-2023: The rise of the Billionaire Raj (Working Paper N°2024/09). https://wid.world/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/WorldInequalityLab_WP2024_09_Income-and-Wealth-Inequality-in-India-1922-2023_Final.pdf
Bhattacharjea, A. (2022). Industrial policy in India since independence. ideas.repec.org. https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/inecre/v57y2022i2d10.1007_s41775-022-00154-9.html
Chakraborty, S. (2018). Reflecting on contemporary India’s rising inequality: Does differential rate of return to education matter? Advances in Economics and Business, 6(4), 232–240. https://doi.org/10.13189/aeb.2018.060404
Das, A. & Usami, Y. (2024). "Downturn in Wages in Rural India," Review of Agrarian Studies, 13(2). Available at: http://ras.org.in/downturn_in_wages_in_rural_india
DES, Government of Kerala, India. (n.d.). Growth of factory employment in Kerala 1971-84.https://ecostat.kerala.gov.in/publication-detail/growth-of-factory-employment-in-kerala-1971-84
Dogra, B. (2022, August 11). How tribal people have been losing their land rights steadily for years| Countercurrents. Countercurrents. https://countercurrents.org/2022/08/how-tribal-people-have-been-losing-their-land-rights-steadily-for-years/
Ghosh, A. (2006). Pathways Through Financial Crisis: India. Global Governance, 12(4), 413–429. https://doi.org/10.1163/19426720-01204006
Ghosh, S. (2020). Exploring Gender Segregated Educational Effects on Income Inequality, India: A Time Series analysis. In Springer eBooks (pp. 243–278). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5648-7_14
Gopal, S. (1989) Laying the foundation stone of a women’s college in Allahabad. He was quoting Charles Fourier.in Seminar No. 363, p. 13.
Government of India. (n.d.). LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT. In CHAPTER 32. https://mospi.gov.in/sites/default/files/Statistical_year_book_india_chapters/Labour%20%26%20Employment-writeup.pdf
Government of India (2006). Towards faster and more inclusive growth, an approach to the 11th five year plan. Technical report, Planning Commission, New Delhi.
Habib, I(2006). Indian Economy, 1858-1914. Tulika Books. https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Indian_Economy_1858_1914.html?id=P-jsAAAAMAAJ
Hatti, N., Hari, K. S., & LUNDUNIVERSITY. (2015). Poverty and inequality in India: an exploratory analysis. Social Science Spectrum, 1–4, 249–261. https://lucris.lub.lu.se/ws/portalfiles/portal/30000651/35_125_1_PB.pdf
Julián, L., & Lo, C. J. (2020). Income gaps: Education and inequality. Economics and Business Review/the Poznań University of Economics Review, 6 (20)(4), 27–50. https://doi.org/10.18559/ebr.2020.4.3
Justice, C. F. S. (2023, May 9). Women’s land rights in India: What’s missing from our land laws? | IDR. India Development Review. https://idronline.org/article/gender/womens-land-rights-in-india-whats-missing-from-our-land-laws/
Kulshreshtha, A. C. (2016). On contribution of women in domestic product of Indian economy. In Statistics and Applications (Vols. 14–14, Issue Nos. 1 & 2, pp. 111–130).https://ssca.org.in/media/8_2016_Contribution_of_Women_in_Domestic_Product_of_Indian__Economy_W3w0Ptb.pdf
Lama, M. (n.d.). “Internal displacement in India: causes, protection and dilemma”, Forced Migration Review 8, Pg. 24. http://www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR08/fmr8.9.pdf.
Mahapatra, L. K. (1999) “Testing the Risks and Reconstruction Model on India’s Resettlement Experiences.” Pg 193, In Michael Cernea (ed) The Economics of Involuntary Resettlement: Questions and Challenges (Washington, DC: World Bank, 1999).
Mazumdar, D. & Sarkar, S. (2008). Globalization, Labor Markets and Inequality in India. New York: Routeledge.
Mazumdar, D., Sarkar, S., & Mehta, B. S. (2017). Inequality in India–I. Economic and Political Weekly, 52(30), 47–56. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26695796
Mukherjee, A. (2013). The service sector in India. Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2282311
Muni, S. D. (2009). India’s foreign policy the democracy dimension. https://doi.org/10.1017/upo9788175968530
Nagaraj, R. (1997). What has happened since 1991? Assessment of India's economic reforms. Economic and political Weekly, 2869-2879.
National Register of Large Dams for India cited in WCD Case Study; WCD Report Dams and Development: A New Framework for Decision-Making 2000, p.10
Piketty, L. C. &. T. (2019). Indian income inequality, 1922‐2015: From British Raj to billionaire Raj? https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/revinw/v65y2019is1ps33-s62.html
Rani, U., Krishnakumar, J., & Bigotta, M. (2017). Accounting for income inequality: empirical evidence from India. Indian Economic Review/Indian Economic Review, 52(1–2), 193–229. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41775-017-0012-9
Rodrik, D., & Subramanian, A. (2004). From “Hindu Growth” to Productivity Surge: The Mystery of the Indian Growth Transition. https://doi.org/10.3386/w10376
Rosset, P., Patel, R., & Courville, M. (2006). Promised land: Competing Visions of Agrarian Reform. Food First Books.
Shepperdson, S and Simmons, C.(1988). The Indian National Congress and the Political Economy of India 1885-1947. Aldershot: 1998. https://search.worldcat.org/title/indian-national-congress-and-the-political-economy-of-india-1885-1985/oclc/17104641
Shukla, V., & Mishra, U. S. (2020). Expansion in Education and Its Impact on Income Inequality: Cross-sectional Evidence from India. Indian Journal of Labour Economics/Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 63(2), 331–362. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41027-020-00221-w
Singh, S. (2015). Education and skill development. 5(3):213-222.
Vakulabharanam, V., Motiram, S. (2011) Political economy of agrarian distress in India since the 1990s. Routledge. 117-142. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203829608
World Bank. (2023). Inequality and Shared Prosperity. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/isp/overview