The History of Well-Being in South Asia

Abstract

South Asia comprises the southern extremity of the Eurasian continent. The remoteness of its geographical position separates it from the rest of the world. This region is frequently called the “Indian subcontinent.” India, being the culturally, politically, economically, and linguistically dominant country of this region, is surrounded by Bhutan and Nepal toward its northeastern side, Bangladesh on its eastern side, Sri Lanka to the south, and Pakistan to the northwest. Foreign traders and invaders brought many diverse cultures, religions, and languages to the region. As a consequence, South Asia has become a multilingual, multireligion, multiethnic, and multicultural region. The region is one of the most heterogeneous worldwide because its people belong to multiple tribes and other diverse groups. India itself is a country of extraordinary diversity which, in turn, is an important feature of its identity as one nation. The region has played a dominant role in spreading the philosophical essence of the region’s conceptions of well-being to the larger world community. India (before the emancipation of Pakistan and Bangladesh from India in 1947 and 1971, respectively) had some of the most opulent production and economic export portfolios in the eighteenth century. However, later, and as a result of economic domination by British colonizers, India’s economic grandeur was destroyed, and its rich cultural heritage became part of the archival history.

This chapter summarizes the major historical trends in well-being in the South Asian region since the end of the Second World War. The chapter focuses on all eight of the region’s nations: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. World Bank data as well as data from the annual United Nations Human Development Report confirm that, of all the countries in the South Asian region, Sri Lanka, following decades of internal conflict, has made the greatest progress in all aspects of human development vis-à-vis well-being, whereas war-torn Afghanistan has attained the fewest social gains and, in several sectors, has actually lost ground, rendering the country among the least well-developed worldwide.

The South Asian region as a whole is a developing region that faces huge challenges both from within and from without in dealing with its inherent social, political, economic, and diversity-related social problems. Social indicators collected in this analysis for the region’s countries do not reflect a particularly positive picture of this region; however, efforts in the area of public policy are beginning to show positive results, albeit at a very slow rate of change. It is expected that the situation will improve over time and that the region may once again regain its lost glory. The chapter examines and reports patterns at different points in time for the following domains of well-being: health, education, income and wealth, and subjective well-being. The data, obtained from various sources, are organized to discuss relevant issues and to gauge the trend of well-being in South Asia over the last 60 years.

Where the mind is without fear

and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the World has not been broken up

into fragments by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards protection;

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost

its way into the desert sand of dead habit;

Into that heaven of freedom and goodwill,

Let my country awake.

(Tagore 1920)