AN ASSESSMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ADVANTAGED AND DISADVANTAGED GROUP

Abstract

The economic development is the prime drive of prosperous human life. Traditionally, Indian society is represented by glaring inequality among different social groups. Traditionally, Scheduled Castes (SC) is considered one of the most economically disadvantaged social groups in Indian society, on the other hand, High-Castes having the privilege of economic prosperity in their life. The present study is an attempt to analyze the economic status of advantaged i.e. High Castes and disadvantaged group i.e. Scheduled Castes across India. This research paper is a quantitative work based on primary data surveyed from eight states across India. The principal component analysis has been done for assessing the levels of economic development of the households. A PCA score has been computed from different economic variables to analyse the spatial pattern of economic development by using geo-spatial technology. Comparative spatial analysis of economic status for both social groups reveals that there is a large spatial disparity in the level of economic development across India. However, the economic statuses of privileged high castes are too much better in comparison to disadvantaged across the spatial disparity.