… is, if you ask me, a question that we should ask ourselves, rather than have this question be answered for us by somebody else.
What I mean by that is that I could tell you what I think of the results, or I could point you to articles written by others that tell you what they think of the results. But the results are out there for us to analyze, easily available and fairly readable in terms of accessibility.
Here is the India fact sheet, and here is where you can access data split by states.
I would recommend that you not take the easy way out, by reading what other folks have written. Sit instead, with these reports, and take a look at the big picture – the all India level data. Then begin with the Indian state that you call home, and check how it is doing. Compare India’s performance and your state’s performance with some states that you think ought to do well, and some that you think might be relative laggards on health parameters.
See if the data matches your intuition. And if it doesn’t, ask if you should suspect the data or your intuition (or both!). Begin to build, no matter how long it takes, a picture of India’s health status in your head.
Ask questions about India’s population, its split by gender, ask about our obesity rates and split those up by states. Ask about whether men are doing better than women on some parameters, and if so which – and eventually, why. Ask if there are major changes between the 4th and the 5th round, and ask if the rate of improvement between the 4th and the 5th is different from the rate of improvement between the 3rd and the 4th. Then ask if these numbers are comparable at all, given that there is a difference of ten years in the latter case, but only 5 in the former.
Try to come up with a list of ten points at the all-India level that seem noteworthy to you. And once you’re done with the list, then take a look at what the newspapers and columnists and op-eds are saying.
Is the story that you have come up with similar to theirs? If not, why? Might it be because they’ve done a better job in highlighting relevant material, or might it because they’re biased in some ways? Do you think they’re biased because of what they’ve written in the past, or because their interpretation of NFHS-5 differs from yours, or both? What is the probability that you are biased against them, rather than they being biased while writing whatever it is that they have written? How can one tell, really?
The bottom-line is this: if you consider yourself a student of economics, don’t form your opinions and biases by mirroring and mimicking the opinions and biases of folks you like. Begin with the data, form your own opinions, and then test them against those of others. Defend your ideas and conclusions by pitting them against those of others, and by engaging in respectful debate.
It’s a good way to study our country! 🙂
Update: Please take a look at this excellent Twitter thread about the history of NFHS. H/T: Sumita Kale.