THE PENDULUM

Divya and Sankar Krishnan, Pericleans in residence and guests of the Periclean Scholars class of 2012, partnered with Assistant Professor of Political Science Jason Kirk to comprise Thursday's panel on poverty in India.

India is growing rapidly in the global economic scene, yet it is home to some of the most impoverished people living. India survived last year's economic dip without losing a single bank, but its cities are quickly filling with slums. The rural poor of India are migrating into the cities in a last-ditch effort to find work.

"There are many Indias," said Divya Krishnan, a Periclean in Residence and guest of the 2012 Periclean Scholars class

According to Krishnan and her husband Sankar, India is home to more than 1.3 billion people divided by languages, belief systems and levels of income among other factors.

"The broad message is that on the overall level, India is doing well," said Sankar.

Krishman and Sankar gave statistics that implied India's economy is more than healthy. It is rapidly on the rise, they said.

The panel suggested India's government has not been as productive as possible for its people. It discussed work programs that the government has created to attempt to ensure laborers 15 days of employment per month.

Much like the country itself, the solutions to its national issues are far from one-dimensional," Chas Smith, a junior at Elon and a Periclean Scholar said. "We think of India as one foreign, exotic state, but it is much more complex than we can imagine."

Every panelist agreed there isn't one solution, one answer or right opinion. India must explore options that are as diverse as its people in order to fix its rampant issue with poverty.