India’s rapid economic expansion is accompanied by an increasingly concentrated distribution of wealth, raising fresh questions over how fheadline GDP figures reflect the economic reality of ordinary Indians. A two yearold social-media post by former bureaucrat Anil Swarup , founder chairman of Nexus of Good , has resurrected a debate over the gap between India’s aggregate economic size and the wealth held by its richest citizens. Swarup argues that looking only at GDP per capita can obscure the extent to which wealth is concentrated among a small section of the population.
I have visited deserts in India, one of them being the Rann of Kutch , which is home to the rare wild ass. It has an ecosystem of its own. The vast expanse of the Rann is mostly barren, with wild asses moving around in groups. There are a few bushes and scattered patches of water bodies. I have travelled across the Rann not once, but half a dozen times.