TK Arun

By 2047, citizens of a prosperous India would be creative, collaborative, and liberated, embracing a modernity shaped by historical and cultural richness. What is living in the tradition would be celebrated and carried forward, what is rotten would be discarded

Thou shalt develop and grow rich, at least by the centenary of Independence. If this commandment were somehow heeded, and India were to become a high-income country, at least, by 2047, what would be the nature of a citizen of that future, prosperous India?

By the World Bank’s definition, a high-income country is defined by achieving a gross national income per capita of $13,846 or more. The trouble with average incomes is that a high level does not guarantee a comfortable standard of living for the majority: if you have highly unequal distribution of income, a super-rich minority could coexist, albeit in heavily guarded, gated communities, with a disgruntled mass of unemployed and underemployed people, with a per capita income that flatters to deceive. Think Apartheid South Africa.