The ascendency of India as an economic world power

Health is wealth- we all are familiar with this proverb. For Indian children, health is just malnourishment. Half of Indian children are suffering from malnourishment in one way or another. This terrible figure has come out from a survey carried out by Indian government. Malnourishment is not the only worry for Indian children. Infant mortality rate is still high compared to developed countries.

Business Week reported:

With about 46 percent of children malnourished -- a negligible improvement over the last survey, conducted in 1998-99 -- India is in the same league with nations like Burkina Faso and Cambodia. In China, Asia's other rising economic power and the country India often compares itself with, only 8 percent of children are underweight.

The improved infant mortality rate -- down to 57 per 1,000 births from 68 in the previous survey -- remains dramatically lower in Western nations. In the United States, for instance, it is seven per 1,000 births.

Health in the countryside lagged far behind cities in every category where a comparison was offered. The rural infant mortality rate, for example, was 62 per 1,000 births, compared to 42 in urban areas.

I know that Indian government officials are very busy with celebrating high economic growth, increasing FDI and success in outsourcing. So, they should not be bothered about malnourishment and high child mortality. Economic growth should justify everything. There is just one problem- Children are the future of tomorrow.