Insights from Whole numbers and Half Truths

Insights from Whole numbers and Half Truths

“Without data you are just another person with an opinion”. There is no dearth of opinions – right and wrong, but there is a severe dearth of people wanted to get to the truth by looking dispassionately at the data and deriving insights from it. The book: “Whole numbers and Half Truths” by Rukmini S. published earlier this year is an attempt by a data journalist to look at India through its numbers. As the book cover mentions, “This is a timely and original intervention in the conversation on data, and with it, India”.

The book covers a huge canvass: the unreliability of crime statistics, the real conservatism and at times the fundamentalist value system that forms the core of our value system, an understanding of democracy in India, our eating preferences, the myths around the concept of middle-class India, the changing demography and flawed understanding around urbanisation and migration.

The book helps the reader to understand in a crisp and factual manner the real India and does well to blow out some of myths that we hold so dearly.

At another level the book helps to expose some of the coverups, the attempts to silence the uncomfortable truths and the lack of transparency in sharing the data. The book closes with the following comments, “Data has been transformational for India. We need to build a future with better data that’s more widely available and easier to understand. Without it, we are in the danger of being hollowed out”.

Some of the pearls of the insight in the book. Many of these would be discomfortable to read, but are the harsh truths:

·     Indian sample demonstrated a lower commitment to democratic principles than most other major countries. India along with Pakistan and Russia featured below the global average on the importance accorded to democracy.

·     Indian respondents had an even lower regard than other countries in South Asia for civil rights that protect people’s liberty against oppression.

·     Close to half the respondents with a college education or more supported restrictions on freedom of expression.

·     Indians generally stick to their own religious group when it comes to their friends. It was true for all religions.

·     In a large national survey, 85% of people said that marriage between two people of different religions wasn’t acceptable.

·     Indians largely believe that women should be subservient to their husbands.

·     Voter turnout in India is high. In 2019 it was about 67% as much as the US elections in November 2020. But the female voter turnout was higher than the male for the first time in the general elections in 2019.

·     It is very difficult for a Muslim candidate to win in Lok Sabha election if the constituency had fewer than 20 percent Muslims. The odds went down to one in a hundred in 2019.

·     Despite its frequent portrayals as a vegetarian country, India is no more than one-quarter to one-third vegetarian. Vegetarianism is confined to a handful of states – Rajasthan, Haryana, and Gujarat.

·     India is a very religious country. 84% of Indians mention that religion is very important in their lives. It is far more religious than Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Israel, Latin America, and United States.

·     Most people make very little money. Only 4 per cent of the people pay income tax. Just 40 lakh people in the entire country report a taxable salary of more than Rs. 10 lakhs a year. On a per capita basis, only the top 2 per cent of the country would have a household income of over Rs. 8 lakhs.

·     Just 3 percent of Indians (in the early 2010s) owned all of five basic consumer goods – motor vehicle, TV, refrigerator, cooler or AC, and a computer or a laptop.

·     Delhi is the richest state followed by Kerala; people in these states spend over Rs. 4000 per month on average. The poorest 5 percent of Indians spend 58 of every hundred rupees on food, while the riches 5 percent spend just 37 of every hundred rupees on food.

·     The employment of women is abysmally low. Just 9 countries in the world, including Syria and Iraq, have a smaller proportion of working women than India. If Bihar was a separate country, it would have the lowest share of working women in the world.

·     Over half of all those in the workforce are self-employed, another quarter work as casual labor, and the remaining are salaried workers.

·     India is a young country. The median age is now over twenty-eight. India’s population is stabilizing. India’s total fertility rate (TFR) is inching close to 2.1, meaning that every woman has 2.1 children on average.

·     Just 31 of every hundred Indians live in a city. Of these 22 live in big cities of more than 100,000 population and just nine live in a small town (of fewer than 100,000 population).

·     Hindi is by far the most widely spoken language in India and growing. In 2011 it was spoken by 44 out of every hundred Indians.

·     India just has 6 hospitals for every 10,000 people, against the global threshold of 18 beds for every 10,000 people.

·     And last but not the least, Indians are the shortest people in height in the world.

The book has been an eye opener for me, and as the year draws to close, its a good reminder that real data speaks better than falsehoods and fake news being spread in the social media.

Indrani Chakraborty

Social Impact Catalyst | HR & Comms Specialist | Stanford Seed | ESG

2y

What an insightful read. Thanks for sharing this book review. Indeed data is telling and it is time we Indians followed data to form our opinions over hyperbole!

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