As i said in some other posts I wrote a thesis for my poli-science elective regarding poverty and hunger in India, I got an A- on it so I must share it with you guys
I will paste some of what i wrote in my eassy. As this is an academic essay therefore all sources i quoted are scholarly,research based and credible:
-According to World Bank in 2005 around 86.2 percent of Indians are living on the poverty line and 44.2 percent of those are living below poverty line (Van Dijk, 2006, para. 51, table. 04).
-Furthermore Poverty is deepest among scheduled castes and tribes in the countrys rural areas. Indias poorest people include 50 per cent of members of scheduled tribes and 40 per cent of people in scheduled castes. These individuals are mostly located in Indias eastern regions of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and West Bengal. Not surprisingly these areas also have the most of the fifth of India's population that suffers from chronic hunger (The Hindu , 2004, para. 05).
-According to United Nations agency International Fund for Agricultural Development two thirds of Indias population lives in rural areas and three out of four of these individuals live in poverty (United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development, 2007, para. 03).
-Indeed a 2005 study by Transparency International (TI) India found that more than half of those surveyed had firsthand experience of paying bribe or peddling influence to get a job done in a public office. (Bhawan, Nagar, 2005, para. 37).
-World Banks research indicate that Indias Agricultural sector, which account for 18.6% of Indias GDP and employed 60% of the total workforce has been constantly on the decline since late 90s (Worldbank, n.d, para. 02).
-The industrial sector which accounts for 27.6% of the GDP and employ 17% of the total workforce has been stagnant since the 1990s (Gordon, Poonam, 2003, para. 05).
-Research states that while more while activity has shifted to services, employment creation in services has lagged far behind (Gordon, Poonam, 2003, para. 27).
-Decline in agriculture and industry may prove to be a dangerous development in the long run because countries like India and china were able to withstand the 1980s global debt crisis unlike most other third world countries thanks in part due to their self-sufficiency in food and capital goods (pg. 654. para 05). Thanks in part to globalization India will most likely lose this self-sufficiency if current trends continue.
My 2cents: comparing India and china is like comparing apples and oranges, literally. What is lost in the forum discussion is the fact that over 2 billion people combined live in crushing poverty and chronic hunger. I suggest everybody here not eat and drink for 24 hours just to feel how it feels like, poverty is indeed a terrible thing