Growth, Equity and Demographic Dividend in India S. N. Nandy HARSAC, CCS Haryana Agricultural University Campus, Hisar 125004, Haryana. E-mail: nandy.sn@gmail.com Abstract: India is second largest country in terms of human population and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It has a dynamic demography and demographic parameters are varied widely among states. The economic growth of India is also not equitable; few states are having moderate level of socio-economic development, while most of the states are lagging behind for decades. State and district level secondary data on selected demographic parameters has been collected and compiled to map the distribution across state/districts. By and large, there is a direct relationship between economic growth and human development among districts. The anticipated ‘dividend’ due to the large youth population is hard to realize as huge number of non-working population is exist in economically active age group. The dependency ratio is one of the prime factor of demographic dividend, is very high among north Indian states, particularly in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Though several states are showing a positive demographic progression, such as lower decadal population growth rate, infant mortality and fertility rate, etc. but a large number of non-working populations is dependent on lesser number of economically active people across the states. So the young and rapidly growing population of India could be treated as a potential demographic dividend if the huge idle manpower is employed efficiently. Keywords: Demographic Dividend, Dependency Ratio, Economic Growth, Poverty Index, HDI INTRODUCTION In economic context, a dividend is the proportional distribution of earned profit or surplus (of a corporation) to all the stakeholders (shareholders) as reward. But in human ecology a demographic dividend is the economic growth potential which is outcome of decline in birth & death rates, and subsequent change in the age structure of the population. The change in demographic age structure is towards more economically active (younger generation) age group than the older age group population. And the INDIAN DEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW Vol. 3, No. 1, 2022, 123-135 © ESI India. All Right Reserved URL : www.esijournals.com Article History Received : 22 January 2022 Revised : 11 March 2022 Accepted : 13 April 2022 Published : 18 June 2022 Citation Nandy, S. N. (2022). Growth, Equity and Demographic Dividend in India. Indian Development Policy Review, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 123-135.