Learning on ScreenIndian Miracle, The
- Synopsis
- The new India has a high-tech, highly-skilled economy growing at an incredible nine per cent a year. Its universities are churning out thousands of highly qualified science and computer graduates working in software, biotechnology and engineering firms in metropolitan India. Yet underneath the glittering surface of the boom lie some ugly realties of modern day India. The film follows a well-known Indian journalist who questions the social stability of the economic giant. In urban centres there are still millions of homeless who live on the pavement as they have for the last thirty years.
In rural areas, where three quarters of the population live, the poverty is more hidden. Farmers are deeply in debt because they cannot overcome the imbalance between the high cost of farming and the low minimum prices the government sets for their crops. Hundreds of thousands of desperate farmers have been driven to suicide. M.S. Swaminathan, the founder of India’s original Green Revolution predicts a violent uprising if millions of farmers become landless.
Another volatile issue is the widespread discrimination against the Muslim minority which numbers 150 million. Hindu nationalism is on the rise and Muslims struggle for employment and are excluded from buying property. And within the Hindu society the caste system remains a barrier separating the rich and the poor. Despite the government’s attempt at affirmative action in education and employment, the age-old discrimination against the untouchables or dalits continues. They are condemned to a life of servitude. India’s economy is powering ahead. The ultra rich live behind electrified fences in self-contained communities away from the degradation, poverty and despair of the rest of India. - Language
- English
- Country
- Great Britain
- Year of release
- 2008
- Year of production
- 2008
- Subjects
- Development studies; Economics; Geography; Social sciences
- Keywords
- economic geography; India; social geography; social issues; economic development
Distribution Formats
- Type
- DVD
- Format
- Region 1
- Price
- $295.00
- Availability
- Sale
- Duration/Size
- 49 minutes
- Year
- 2009
- Type
- VHS
- Format
- NTSC
- Price
- $295.00
- Availability
- Sale
- Duration/Size
- 489 minutes
- Year
- 2009
Distributor
- Name
Filmakers Library
- info@filmakers.com
- Web
- http://www.filmakers.com/ External site opens in new window
- Phone
- +1 212 808 4980
- Fax
- +1 212 808 4983
- Address
- 124 East 40th Street
New York
NY 10016
USA - Notes
- A well-established distributor of issue-oriented documentaries on social science and arts-related topics, made by American independents as well as filmmakers from all over the world. Sale on video or DVD.
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