The India of 2004-05 was more egalitarian than the India of 1997. That’s the message between the lines in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) human development reports (HDRs) for these years.Before taking this as proof that concerns over rising inequality are misplaced, take a look at this graph compiled by the authors of the Indian Economy Blog:
(The most recent statistic on inequality are not included in the graph, but, at 36.8, would fall just above the last value plotted on the graph.) As is apparent from the graph, the Gini coefficient for 1997 was an outlier and thus comparison between 1997 and the most recent value doesn't make too much sense. (For a more comprehensive overview of how inequality in India has changed since economic liberalization, click here.) The Livemint article mentions this fact, but it is buried deep in the sixth paragraph of the article.
I'm usually very impressed by Livemint's coverage of economic issues which makes me wonder: is this just a case of sloppy reporting or of intentional bias?
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