Decoding Inequality: Comparative Assessment of Social Outcomes

How has economic growth/development and/or how much of economic growth has translated into the well-being of population (measured in terms of education, health, and women’s empowerment) in India when compared to its neighbours, namely, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal—forms the nub of this book. This research question becomes all the more significant when viewed against the ‘soaring economic growth rates since the economic liberalization of 1991’ (p. 30), halted only by the twin shocks of demonetization in 2016 and the pandemic in 2021, after which, Bangladesh in particular, overtook India on both economic growth and HDI scores.