Source: BMI ity of government expenditure � particularly in education and infrastructure. As a percentage of total public expenditure, education accounts for just --.- in India, putting the country behind Pakistan (--.- ) and Laos (--.- ), and well below the regional mean of --.- . ...From ---- to ----, India enjoyed a steady improvement in Transparency International s Corruption Perceptions Index, but it has stalled in recent years and --------- saw the eruption of a number of high-profile corruption scandals. Question marks over the government s handling of the -G spectrum auction, the ---- Commonwealth Games, the Mumbai property affair, and the latest WikiLeaks expose on alleged cash-for-votes to secure a nuclear deal have all put the government firmly on the back foot. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has been forced to defend his actions, has even singled out corruption as the single greatest threat to the nation s economic prospects. ...However, if recent evidence is anything to go by, India is unlikely to play ball with developed economies without protest.
...UN ---- Human Development report, India s Gini coefficient � a measure of the statistical dispersion of a country s wealth � comes in at --.- (with a value of - representing absolute equality and --- absolute inequality), up from --.- in ----. On the flipside, its human poverty index score has improved to --.-, from --.- in ----. ...If anything, managing economic and social inequalities could become even harder given that India has one of the youngest populations in the world. In our economic analysis we have frequently expressed our optimism regarding the potential of India s youthful population, with the country likely to benefit from an increasing demographic dividend � especially as much of the developed world and regional peers, such as South Korea, start to grey. By the same token, a rapidly increasing youth population � cou- pled with the problem of excess males � could breed further social discontent should the fruits of economic growth fail to trickle down. ...However, such initiatives can only provide a temporary solution and, even then, will impact upon the relatively few and privileged members of those societies. In order to achieve its poverty and equality goals, and create a conducive environment for entrepreneurship and long-term growth, the Indian authorities will have to improve the qual- -- Business Monitor International Ltd www india Q- ---- education a priority
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