Why India Is Not Progressing?

We are an independent country for more than 60 years but still since that day have failed to produced a significant discovery in the field of science in comparison with the rest of the world.

Scientific development is one of the main parameters to judge the growth of a country. Does this mean we are non progressive? Unfortunately, the answer is a big yes. Here are some facts about India in comparison with the world.

Now the question is who is responsibe for the development of a country? The answer is rather simple .... it's us. We oursleves are lagging behind compared to our copatriots of other countries.

It's true we need to shoulder a part of this blame but what if we are not in a position to contribute? In 2018, about 20% of the Indian population was below the poverty line. This doesn't tell the entire story. More than 70% people lie marginally above this line and to make it worse they don't receive facilities from the government that people below poverty line do. To cap it up, their condition is worse.

India's per capita income lies in the range of INR110000 a year. This doesn't even amount to Rs. 10000 a month. If you set apart everything else, the cost of education in a standard school ( I'm not even talking about the best) is around Rs. 50000 per year for each child. The figure increases exponentially as talk about better schools and higher classes. In Kolkata, one of India's big 4 cities, a survey conducted show that less than 5% of the city's population earn more than the amount specified by the per capita income. The situation grows worse in the rural areas.

With industrialisation of education and the advent of professional instutions that prepare children for board exams, college entrance exams and government job exams who charge around Rs. 50000 a year on the average, the situation becomes worse.

To learn you must pay. So if you cannot pay you cannot learn. So quality learning is being restricted to 5% of the population.

One might argue about scholarships for the meritorious students. Sorry to say but statistical measurements are based on average value- not the best nor the worst. So a average kid with a rich dad has the opportunity to improve which is denied to the middle class and the poor.

Top instituitions like IITs, IIMs charge so much fees for higher education that students are doomed with hefty education loans. You carry this burden on your shoulder while studying while another doesn't. Its an unfair race where 2 people compete- one runs freely and one with a heavy backpack. Even if the second racer is 10 times faster, he is doomed to lose.

Scholarships are given on basis of caste and not economy. Same goes for reservations in higher education and jobs. I had a guy in my college who was exempted Rs 70000 tution fees a year despite his family earned more than Rs 30 lakhs a year and bought every new I-phone model that came out. But the same was denied to a boy with no caste reservations despite his father being a labour in a jute mill who barely made Rs 100 a day.

In a nutshell, the rich gets to be educated and become richer while the poor goes down the poverty line.

I hope that someday someone will come up with a solution for this. We need everyone to learn and grow for our country's progress.