Environmental, educational and administrative gridlock threaten India’s future

INDIA’S INFRASTRUCTURE is creaking, its health-care system even more so. Poverty and inequality remain omnipresent, and now the economy is struggling. Narendra Modi’s to-do list is long. But there are three issues that, if dealt with, could bring about big improvements. The environment is one. Twelve of the world’s 15 most polluted cities are in India (see chart), and the country ranks 120th of 122 on the global index of water quality. A second is education. As more people move to cities for the first time, it is crucial that they are trained to find jobs in India’s 21st-century economy. A third issue is administration. With its basic structures unchanged since the British Raj, India’s government is undermanned, unevenly deployed and badly equipped to cope.