While the media focuses on economic growth rates, Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen focus on how the popular opinion is biased, making the country look more like oases in the midst of the burning desert sands. It’s about how India’s economy has achieved rapid growth over the years and yet it lacks severely behind in the scale of social indicator of living standards. The authors show how this is true even when compared with countries whom India has been overtaking in terms of economic growth. They draw comparisons of India with Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Sub Saharan African countries whose populations are known to have among the lowest standards of living in the world.
The book discusses various socio-economic facts since the British colonial era.The empirical research reveals some appalling facts about India. If you want to learn about per capita income, distribution of income, poverty, nutritional standards, life expectancy, infant mortality etc. The book also discusses the government's’ role and the measures which have contributed to the development or the lack of it.