India a devloping country

The development project in India is nowhere near complete – indeed it has barely begun. It is still a poor country: per capita income iremains below $2,000 (£1,206) at actual exchange rates, and there is still widespread destitution. Development is supposed to involve job creation, with more workers in formal employment in large units, but that has not happened.
Manufacturing still counts for less than one-fifth of both output and employment. More than half of all workers languish in low productivity agriculture, while another quarter or so are in low grade services. About 95% of all workers are in informal employment, and roughly half are self-employed. What's more, the recognised and paid participation of women in working life has actually been declining in a period of rapid income growth.
This basic failure helps to explain several other failures of the development project so far: the persistence of widespread hunger and very poor nutrition indicators; the inadequate provision of basic needs like housing, electricity and other essential infrastructure; the poor state of health facilities for most people; and the slow expansion of education. Growing inequalities do mean that a rising middle class is emerging, but this should not blind us to the lack of fulfilment of basic social and economic rights for the bulk of people.
India is developing at a breakneck pace. Literally. Over the past decade, India has added local roads and highways that prioritise the speed and efficiency of vehicles with no consideration for human safety. The World Health Organisation reports that the death rate in road crashes in India has been consistently rising. Approximately 134,000 people died in traffic crashes in 2010, about half of whom were pedestrians, bicyclists, and riders of two- and three-wheelers; as many as four times this number were injured.
While the safety standards of automobiles are an issue, a lack of consideration for all road users by traffic engineers and planners is largely to blame. Cars are a tiny fraction of all road users in India, but we continue to design roads without sidewalks and crosswalks in dense urban areas, and avoid providing traffic signals altogether to promote "free-flow" of cars. New development patterns such as suburban, gated residential communities continue to feed this reliance on cars. And in cities like Kolkata, cyclists are now banned from most city streets during business hours.
Until India begins to value the lives and needs of all its road users, and move away from its current middle-class aspiration of car ownership, in my opinion, India's growth is backwards and inequitable.
The question of whether or not India is a developed or developing country is not so simple that it can be measured by the yardstick of the number of billionaires or a mission to the moon. To understand the real India, we need to look at many other indicators, such as health and education too. I think the level of development in a country is directly proportionate to the way we choose to treat our children, elderly and the disabled.
As far as India is concerned, we might score very highly in terms of growth of physical infrastructure, but most of the public places are inaccessible to people with disabilities. As per the 2011 census, India has about 2.7 million people with disabilities, and only a handful of those enjoy education and/or employment. We are spending less than 4% of our GDP on important areas of education and health. Almost 12% of our children (between 5 and 15 years) are identified as child labour, and we have about 2.4 million people living with HIV/Aids.
Almost 25% of my fellow Indians are poor – in the same India where millions use smartphones. Within India, there are many different countries. One is high-flying and tech-savvy, [with people] driving flashy cars in and out of top-starred hotels and clubs. Another is white-collared middle class. And another is still struggling to survive. There is no doubt that in some areas we are a developed country and, as far as people with disability are concerned, we have created facilities and a support system. But in many areas we still have long way to go. Now I leave it to you to decide whether you perceive India as developing or not!
John Stuart Mill wrote in The History of [British] India: "The condition of women is one of the most remarkable circumstances in the manner of nations. Among rude people the women are generally degraded, among civilised people they are exalted." If the stories of rape and torture of women in India that have hit the headlines recently are anything to go by, then can we consider India to be a developing (civilised?) country?
However, if we reflect upon what the Mill quote invites – the "exaltation of women" as a discourse legitimising the colonial occupation of India – then we might also question the whole notion of "developing country". While no one can deny the problems that women face in India – from the skewed sex ratio in favour of males to violence in their everyday lives – it is also important to note that this violence is experienced by women across the world.
The figures from the World Health Organisation show that the differences between the developed
world and the developing are less than what we would expect, especially where we take war and the breakdown of public order into account. So, why elide these two politicised discourses – development and women's status? Why not instead focus on the struggles being waged every day in India against the banality of violence and for dignified and productive lives?
Even after 66 years of independence, India is still labelled as a developing country. I think as a nation, we have miles to go. The nation is undergoing this unearthing surge of political, cultural and social change. In the past, issues around which political parties used to build their campaigns essentially surrounded the promise of basic necessities.
Now, these have evolved to focus on the "safety of women" and "corruption", among other [themes]. Corruption has mired growth to a great extent, and past and present governments have so far been unsuccessful in finding a permanent solution. The young Indian faces challenges stretching from a poorly administered education system to the lowest average wage rates in the world.
The youth of India today lives in a society defined by multiple languages, religions, ethnicities and political thought, among other things. Yet they define their own generation, which is starkly different from their fathers and grandfathers. This puts them in a unique position to take their country towards positive growth and development.
In the past few years, the country has seen anti-corruption campaigners battle parliament for the formation of better laws, huge mass protests and angst over the state's failure to prevent the increase in rape incidents, and historical changes in political power in the capital. The forthcoming elections hold much promise in terms of prime ministerial candidates strategising to lure young voters to the polling booths, promises to change the nation, and constant conjecture over the ideological revolution in the Indian political diaspora.

Why India is still under-developing-