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Hopefly, The Avian Migrant will stisma-
late futur research in inking migration and
breeding: Theres much tobe gained by lok
ing at migration as part ofthe entre annual
life cyele rather than a separate, though fasi-
rating, behavior,
Aeerence
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SOCIAL ScieNce
AToo-Soft Critique
of India’s Growth
Andrew Robinson
‘Mayo published Mother India (2) n0-
rious polemic against India and Indians
‘hat gave satisfaction o British colonialist,
‘and American racists while naturally infuriat-
ing mos Indians, Mahatma Gandhi famously
‘commented thatthe book was “cleverly and
‘powerfully writen” but seemed like “the
report of a drain inspector”
\who concludes with some t
urmph: “the drains are India.”
“Although Mother India
is largely forgoten (except
by older Indians), its ghost
seems to inhibit 4n Uncer- [apa
tain Glory, an indictment of
the Indian state by econo- [im
‘mists Jean Drize (Allahabad
University) and Nobel la
reate Amartya Sen (Harvard
University) After three decades of trawling
the data compiled by central and state gov-
femments, Indian nongovernmental organi-
Zations, and intemational bodies, these long-
time collaborators (2) know-—possibly better
than any other commentators—how Indian
governments since the 1980s have filed the
vast majority of Taans, especially in health
care, education, poverty reduction, and the
justice system. They bluntly acknowledge
inthe preface, “The history of world devel
I: 1927, American journalist Katherine
oe
sy. et soem
iene set
road
opment offers few other examples, if any,
of an evonomy growing so fast for so long
‘with such limited results in terms of reducing
human deprvations” As they are at pains
demonstrate the benefits of economic growth
have been more widely shared even in India's
neighbor Bangladesh, let alone in rapidly
rowing China
Here area few of their many shocking
facts: According to the 2011 Indian census,
fully 50 percent of households lack tiles.
‘Among the 132 countries for which eompa-
‘ble data are avaiable, ar pollution in India
‘ranks highest. Due to teacher indifference
‘and absenteeism among teachers and stu-
‘dents, the teaching time in north Indian rural
‘government schools is about 50 days per yea.
‘Although the celebrated Nalanda Univesity
‘was established six centuries before Europe's
oldest universities, no Indian university is
among the word's top 200. In 2009-10, 30%
‘ofthe Indian population (350 million peo
ple) were living befow the
official (very low) poverty
line, Meanwhile, 30% of the
members of Parliament in
12009 had eriminal charges,
including murder, pending
against them,
‘The authors, Indian citi-
zens, belong tothe relatively
small group that has ben-
cfited from India's impres-
sive economie growth ofthe
past two decades. Seemingly in order not to
challenge this wealthy group's interests or
‘offend is sensitivities, the book as a whole
shies away from trenchant criticism, Instead,
itpullsmostofitspunches and too often takes
refuge in academic equivocation and statist-
cal manipulation, thereby forfeiting much of
itsundoubted potential influence
For example, the chapter “Accountabil
ity and Corruption” avoids mentioning any
corrupt politician, government oficial, busi-
nessman, or inttution by name—despite
the legion of well-established cases (a hand
ful of which have ended i jai). Noteven the
Coverage critique Arua Riis
lack comedy Peel Live sties
media and politcal responses to
farmer suds,
Bofors arms scandal ofthe late
1980s that undermined and sank
the Congress government led by
Rajiv Gandhi—a scandal asreso-
‘nant for India as Watergate i for
the United States—ates a men-
tion. Nor does the enticorrption
campaigner Anna Hazare, who
‘ranstxed the Indian government
‘and media through much of 2011-12 wit his
‘Gandhi-syle publi ass whether effectively
to be determined). And itis
Support” without mentioning India's well.
publicized farmer suicides. Between 1995
and 2012, overa quarer-million Indian far
rs (according to conservative official figures)
committed suicide in despair at their indebt-
edness created by the deve toward corporate
farming: “the largest wave of suicides in his-
tory” (3), notes P Sainath, an award-winning
journalist admired by Sen, Also absent in an
‘nesting chapter on cast and is continuing
dominance, “The Grip of Inequality.” isthe
‘controversial Mayawati former chet minis-
ter ofthe key northern stat of Uttar Pradesh,
who inthe 1990s transformed Indian elec-
{oral politics as leader ofthe low-caste
Dalits (former Untouchables).
[As forthe contradictions of Indien sci-
‘ence and technology, they to are neglected
Inpartcular, many excellent Indian stents
openly acknowledge that they can success-
{ally conduct original research in Europe and
‘he United States but not in their home coun-
try, largely because of political interference
and hierarchical aitudes, Of the four Nobel
‘prizes awarded to Indian-bor scientists, only
‘one—that given to physicist C. V; Raman,
in colonial times—was for research done
in India, Sen himself felt obliged to leave
1980s India and work in western universities
in onde to achieve success and recognition
‘This hoary Indian intellectual phenomenon,
jgnored in An Uncertain Glory, is among the
‘most debilitating problems that bedevil he
subcontinen’s social and eultural—rather
than merely economic—development that
réze and Sen earnestly desire
eterences
1. Cys en lu, ace Ne
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Saal Opto bn Pon Be 195
2 Reape nat ae
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SEPTEMBER 2013. VOL341
SCIENCE www sciencemag.org
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