Economy | Karthik Muralidharan: From poverty line to dignity line
The best way for India to become a global power is to sustain annual economic growth rates of above 8 per cent. High growth is also the best way to eliminate poverty, improve citizens’ lives and generate the tax revenues needed to fund an effective social safety system that can support those who fall into poverty and help them bounce back. How can we achieve these high and sustained growth rates?A simple summary of the Indian economy is that the top 10 per cent of the income distribution create firms or secure well-paid jobs. The next 30-40 per cent find employment of varying quality serving the demand created by the top 10 per cent, and the bottom 50-60 per cent (mainly in rural areas) are largely excluded from India’s growth story. They rely on welfare programmes to achieve basic living ...