India needs to address problems like malnutrition to become a developed nation and also focus on its most important asset of human capital, former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has said. Speaking at an interactive session on a book co-authored by him at the Indian School of Business (ISB) here on Sunday, he asked how the country can become a developed one when malnutrition is prevalent.
“We are fixated with becoming a developed, rich country by 2047. I use this as an example to say, you must be joking about becoming a developed rich country by 2047 with 35% malnutrition today,” he said. The children who are suffering from malnutrition now would join the labour force 10 years from now, he said.
He also stressed on nurturing the human capital in the country by offering appropriate training on a large scale. “In order to get the medium term right, we have to focus on India’s most important asset, its human capital.