India 'faces significant livelihood challenges in next decade'
22/01/2010
India faces a significant challenge to secure the livelihoods of its population within the next ten years, it has been claimed.
This is highlighted for Diligent Media by Mukul Asher and Azad Singh Bali, respectively a professor and a research associate from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.
They point out that United Nations estimations show that India needs to establish livelihoods for 120 million people during this period – the equivalent of 28 per cent of its populace.
"If India does not grasp this opportunity, the social, political and economic costs in terms of lower living standards will be very high," the pair stated.
Should the country fail to do this, India's ambitions to become a major power and close the gap between its global population share and its global GDP will not be realised, they continued.
In other news this week, the government has failed to promote equal rights for India's disabled population, the Hindu quotes MN Venkatachaliah, former chief justice of India as stating.
Written by Clare Devlin
