Apparently, we should be proud that India has the highest statue in the world – taller than anything the US and China possess. Poor Sardar Patel – his memory invoked in such a schoolboy way. A giant leader, with all his strengths and weaknesses, represented by a monstrous metal emblem of rising India.

As we think about the tallest statue in the world, we should also remember the other rankings we own. Here are some health snapshots. India’s life expectancy, in one estimate, is low enough to put us at 164th out of 224 nations – in our region only Pakistan ranks worse. In 2016, India had the highest incidence of tuberculosis and the largest number of cases of multi-drug resistant TB. Three years ago, India and Nigeria accounted for 40% of under-5 diarrhoeal deaths. Plus, 60% of new leprosy cases globally are in India.

Despite stellar economic growth over the past 20 years, the Global Hunger Index ranked India 103rd out of 119 countries. In 2017, we recorded the highest number of malnutrition cases. Not surprisingly, we also have the highest number of stunted children in the world. On average, Indian men are short in stature: we rank 90th out of 101 countries for which there was data in 2016.

India is an environmental disaster. Fourteen out of the 15 most polluted cities in the world were in our country. In 2018, two million premature deaths in India were attributed to pollution, a quarter of the world’s premature deaths in this category. India also has the highest number of children under the age of 5 dying from the effects of pollution. According to the Environmental Performance Index, India ranks 177th out of 180 countries.

Our water situation is parlous. We have the highest freshwater withdrawal in the world. By 2050, India’s per capita water availability will be a frightening 1140 cubic metres. This means we will just be above the water scarcity threshold of 1000 cubic metres. In 1950, India’s per capita water availability was 5000 cubic metres.

If India could count on a vibrant educational system, the picture wouldn’t be all gloomy. Unfortunately, in 2018, India was ranked 115th out of 158 countries in the World Human Capital Index (a finding promptly and predictably rejected by a brittle government). We fell 12 places in one year: in 2017, we had ranked 103rd. In 2017, we were placed lower than Nepal and Sri Lanka (though, small mercies, higher than Bangladesh and Pakistan). We often like to boast about our computers and IT sectors. The ICT Development Index recently put India at 134th place amongst 176 countries.

Let’s complete this melancholy rendering with two political rankings. The Global Impunity Index, which measures the dangers for journalists, noted that India was 14th out of 14 countries with the worst record. This placed India in the same abysmal league as Somalia, Syria (war-torn, terror-ridden Syria), Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Worse, on the Rule of Law Index, democratic India was 62nd out of 113 nations – and below neophyte democratic Nepal!

These are just some of the indicators of the quality of life of an average Indian. The real picture is much worse. The next time the prime minister tapes his Mann ki Baat broadcasts, an act of truly good governance and statesmanship would be to tell us where the ordinary Indian really stands in the world.

This government and its predecessors have failed ordinary Indians, year after year. Our governors don’t tell us the truth about our condition and allow us to be distracted by statues and Sabarimalas. It is laughable to talk about a rising India given our sad, scabrous state. Sardar Patel would not be impressed by the unity he helped engineer. Sixty eight years after his death, he would be appalled by today’s India.