Rural India has been left behind
The 600 million Indians deprived of the basics in life, live in rural India — and they've been left behind in the economic progress of the nation.
Unless the condition of this vast majority of the population improves, there is little way for the country to realise its potential as a global economic powerhouse.
It is therefore the ability of India's villages to offer fulfilling lives and livelihoods to the people who live there that is integral to India's future as a global super-power.
FROM 'POVERTY' TO 'EMPOWERMENT'
'If India is to achieve its full potential, it must address not just acute poverty but also deprivation in terms of quality of life and access to basic services' - McKinsey Global Institute
Whilst official poverty rates in India fell from 45% of the population in 1994 to 22% in 2017 as we rode the wave of economic reform, it is now an opportune time to set higher aspirations.
There is a desperate need, not just to eradicate poverty, but to ensure that rural families have a level of income that enables them to live a decent quality of life, rather than just bare subsistence.
To do this, income levels need to be sufficient enough to enable them to meet 8 basic household needs: