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Someone named Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister said these words during his speech on Indian independence in 1947. India’s founders hoped that in time India would become a secular nation based on equality with a stable government and economy. Today, India is filled with corruption, including political corruption. India also continues to maintain an antiquated caste system, and ranks as one of the poorest countries in the world. Finally, India has the highest illiteracy rate in the world. Fortunately, India has managed to become a fully democratic nation; however, India is still a developing nation in turmoil. There is no one single definition of a developed nation, however there are many ways to measure the status of a nation. One such measure is the Human Development Index (HDI), created by the United Nations, which will be used to measure India’s development status for this essay. The UN definition consists of three components: life expectancy, knowledge, and standard of living. According to the UN’s HDI, India ranks #132, which is classified as a medium human development nation. In my opinion, India in its present state does not have the capacity to achieve its goal of becoming a developed nation as defined by the United Nation’s HDI.

One of the most difficult issues to overcome in India is corruption. Bribery is an everyday occurrence and affects many aspects of life. Jobs, electricity, water, gas, and education are all hard to come by. Therefore, the citizens feel compelled to offer money to those who might help the get what they need. In the article “India Gets By,” Varun Bhandari tried to get a state-run utility company to turn the power back on in an apartment building for two weeks. He was later told that for five dollars they would be able to turn it back on “in two minutes.” Corruption and bribery also continue to feed caste discrimination.

Although India’s constitution outlawed caste discrimination in 1950, it still exists today. Sukhmani Singh, a 16 year-old Indian student, says that the “whole thing [has come down to] whom you know.” She tells of an instance of bribery at her school. Sukhmani says she has seen “special favors granted to fellow students from families with financial or political clout.” One of the biggest corruption-related problems, however, has to do with school admissions. Sukhmani goes on to say that “parents will do just about anything to set their children on the right path to success by placing them in the “right” school.” This feeds the continuation of the caste system, because those born into a lower caste don’t have the money, connections, or ability to compete for the limited space in schools. The lack of access to education results in a high rate of illiteracy and poverty. In fact, there are 424 million illiterate people in India according to “India at a crossroads.” The article goes on to say that 35 percent of India’s population lives below the poverty line. The illiteracy and poverty resulting from caste discrimination are two barriers that keep India from achieving the “developed” nation status as defined by the HDI. Although India is lacking in two of the three components of the HDI (knowledge and standard of living), the third component, life expectancy, increased at an impressive rate. In 1930, the average life expectancy was 32 years old. By 1978, this number increased to 52. Finally, by 1995, the average life expectancy had reached 62 years old, almost double what it was 65 years earlier in 1930 (India at Fifty).

In conclusion, India in its current state does not have the ability to reach its goal of becoming a developed nation. India has made impressive progress in one of the three aspects of a developed nation as defined by the HDI. The life expectancy of India has increased dramatically over the past 65 years (life expectancy). However, the illiteracy rate is the highest in the world with 424 million illiterate people (knowledge). India doesn’t have the ability to teach and employ this massive number of people in the short run, and this is preventing India from becoming a fully developed nation. Finally, 35 percent of Indians live below the poverty line (standard of living). Therefore, in my opinion India in its current state will not achieve its goal of becoming a fully developed nation.

Works Consulted

“Human Development Reports.” HDR.UNDP.org. 18 Dec. 2008. United Nations Development Programme. 18 Feb. 2009 .

“Modern History Sourcebook: 
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964): 
Speech On the Granting of Indian Independence, August 14, 1947.” Fordham.edu. Oct. 1998. Fordham University. 18 Feb. 2009 .