India is sitting on its most valuable resource – a large, young population. But according to Akshat Srivastava, founder of Wisdom Hatch, failing to educate and properly channel this demographic can spell doom for the country’s economic aspirations.
Srivastava wrote in a social media post, “We don’t have oil, so we can’t get rich. We don’t have a dictatorial government, so we can’t get rich like China. Fact: Every country has. We have a There is a huge youth population, if you turn them into educated and reel-making freeloaders, we will never get rich.”
Srivastava’s comments highlight a critical juncture in India’s economic journey. Often compared between India and China, the statistics tell a sobering story.
In 1980, India’s GDP per capita was almost twice that of China. Today, China’s GDP per capita, $25,015, is 2.5 times that of India’s $10,123. Similarly, China’s exports, valued at $3.5 trillion, are lower than India’s at $0.78 trillion.
While India has made progress, especially in the last decade, it has lagged far behind in leveraging its human capital. Srivastava’s concerns echo wider fears about the misuse of resources.
“Consumption and economic growth depend on how we educate and mobilize this generation. Right now, we’re not doing enough,” he said.
Srivastava’s concerns echo those of former RBI governor and University of Chicago professor Raghuram Rajan, who has criticized India’s priorities in its economic policy. Rajan recently argued that India’s focus on high-profile projects like semiconductor manufacturing over significant investments in education is misguided. He said India spends more on subsidies for chip manufacturing than its annual budget for higher education.
“This is definitely not the way to become a developed nation,” Rajan said.
