Everyone knows that despite getting independence during the same time…

In the 70 years since independence, India has made the most progress in improving life expectancy, literacy, but has been slower in improving the level of income, and reducing infant mortality rates when compared to five other nations. On the eve of independence day, we compared the progress India has made in improving income, health, education and in preserving its forests, to five countries–China, Pakistan, Malaysia, South Korea and Brazil. We chose China because it had roughly the same per capita income in 1960 as India did. Even though China and India are constantly compared, until now, China has outperformed India across most wealth and health indicators. We used Pakistan to compare progress in a country that shares the same history and culture, and was formed at the same time as India. India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita (current US dollars)–which is the average income of each citizen and reflects the well being of the population–increased, according to World Bank estimates. But India made slower progress as compared to China, Malaysia, Brazil and South Korea. The GDP per capita is calculated by dividing the country’s GDP by its population. The gap in per capita GDP has increased most between India and China. In 1960, China’s GDP per capita (89.5 dollars) was 9% more than India’s. But now the gap has widened drastically. This widening gap could be attributed to greater increases in productivity of the Chinese labour force and more capital per worker, according to an opinion piece published by The Hindu in January 2015. Among the five countries used for comparison, India’s progress in raising the average life expectancy at birth comes second to that of only China. In 1960, with an average life expectancy of 43 years, China’s position was close to that of India. Whereas, Pakistan’s progress was on par with that of India.