Is India doing marvellously well, or is it failing terribly? Depending on whom you speak to, you could pick up either of those answers with some frequency. One story, very popular among a minority of Indians who are doing very well, runs something like this. “After decades of mediocrity and stagnation under ‘Nehruvian socialism’, the Indian economy achieved a spectacular take-off during the last two decades. This take-off, which led to unprecedented improvements in income per head, was driven largely by market initiatives. It involves a significant increase in inequality, but this is a common phenomenon in periods of rapid growth. With enough time, the benefits of fast economic growth will surely reach even the poorest people, and we are firmly on the way to that.� But looking at contemporary India from another angle, one progresscould equally tell the following - more critical - story: “The progress of living standards for common people, as opposed to a favoured minority, has been dreadfully slow – so slow that India’s social indicators are still abysmal.