Some 680 million people, or 56% of India, live below MGI’s Empowerment Line and lack acceptable minimum standards of living; the Empowerment Gap is 4% of GDP in value terms (about 7 times the official poverty gap)
From 2005 to 2012, 75% of the improvement in living standards was due to rising incomes, the rest due to government spending; to reduce the gap faster, India needs more productive jobs and higher effectiveness of government spending (e.g., 85 million people below the official poverty line could have been lifted to minimum living standards just by improving delivery of public services)
Almost 40% of the Empowerment Gap comes from health care, drinking water and sanitation; in addition, hunger is a major issue for the poorest segments, and housing for the urban vulnerable
Apart from lacking the means, Indians also lack access to 46% of the basic services they need, with significant variations in the pattern of access deprivation across districts
A path of Stalled Reforms would leave 36% of India below the Empowerment Line and 12% below the Poverty Line in 2022, but the path of Inclusive Reforms can bring these down to 7% and 1% respectively – while achieving fiscal consolidation and reducing access deficit in basic services to 17%, from 46% currently. Raising government spending on subsidies alone delivers just 8% of the total impact. 4 themes are critical
Non-farm jobs deliver >50% of impact; 115 million jobs are needed (38 million more than Stalled Reforms) through 6 broad-ranging reforms and investments in 70-100 job creation engines
Agricultural yield growth delivers ~20% of impact, needing 9 farm sector initiatives and investment rebalancing towards rural infrastructure, research and extension
Public spending on basic services should grow at 7% p.a. in real terms and share of health, water and sanitation to rise from 20% to nearly 50%
Government spending effectiveness must improve from 50% to 75%, by working with private and social sector, community involvement and tight monitoring using technology
Six themes are essential to improve governance across the board (raise institutional capacity and strengthen external accountability)