Despite Consistent experience of high growth, India still goes with the lowest indicators of human development. Examine the issues that make balanced and inclusive development elusive.
Approach · directive: “examine”
What it asks · Explain why fast GDP growth has not brought proportionate gains in health, education and living standards, and identify what makes growth uneven and exclusionary.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Establish the paradox: sustained high growth alongside low human development indicators
- Examine the issues that make balanced and inclusive development elusive: economic, social, regional and governance dimensions
Open with · India ranked 130th of 189 countries on UNDP's Human Development Index in 2018 and 129th in the 2019 report, well below what its growth rate would suggest.
Cover
- Low public spending: health and education outlays lag stated targets (2.5 per cent of GDP for health by 2025 in the National Health Policy 2017; 6 per cent of GDP for education, reaffirmed in NEP 2020), both still unmet, pushing families towards costly private services.
- Weak job creation: growth led by capital-intensive industry and skill-intensive services leaves most workers in low-productivity farm and informal work.
- Regional and social gaps: southern and western States outperform Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha; Scheduled Castes and Tribes, women and the rural poor lag.
- Health and nutrition deficits: stunting, anaemia and preventable maternal and child deaths persist, and weak primary care and sanitation reduce learning and productivity.
- Learning and skills: poor school quality (as shown by ASER surveys), dropouts and skill mismatch weaken human capital formation.
- Governance and delivery: leakages, weak local institutions and poor monitoring dilute schemes, and access to land, credit and markets remains unequal.
- Way forward: raise and target public spending, strengthen primary health and school learning, focus on aspirational districts, promote labour-intensive manufacturing and empower panchayats.
Close with · Growth is necessary but not sufficient; balanced, inclusive development needs higher and better-targeted investment in people, especially in lagging regions and among excluded groups.
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2019, GS Paper II — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 230 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
India ranked 130th of 189 countries on UNDP's Human Development Index in 2018 (129th in the 2019 report), far below what its growth rate would suggest: output has risen without matching gains in health and learning.
Why development stays uneven
- Low investment in people: health spending lags the 2.5 per cent of GDP target of the National Health Policy 2017 and education the 6 per cent target reaffirmed in NEP 2020, so families pay for private services.
- Jobless pattern of growth: capital-intensive industry and skill-intensive services create few jobs, leaving most workers in low-productivity farming and informal work.
- Regional divides: southern and western States outperform Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, so national averages hide lagging regions.
- Social exclusion: Scheduled Castes and Tribes, women and the rural poor have weaker access to land, credit, markets and schooling.
- Health and nutrition deficits: stunting, anaemia and preventable maternal and child deaths persist where primary care and sanitation are weak.
- Learning crisis: ASER surveys show poor foundational learning, dropouts and skill mismatch, wasting the demographic dividend.
- Delivery failures: leakages, weak local institutions and poor monitoring dilute schemes meant for the excluded.
Way forward
- Raise and target social spending, strengthen primary health and school learning, promote labour-intensive manufacturing, empower panchayats and focus on aspirational districts.
Growth is necessary but not sufficient; inclusive development needs sustained investment in people, especially in lagging States and excluded groups.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.