New Delhi-Silencing Critics

was falling fairly rapidly. As a consequence, the mortality differential between sub-groups has increased over time.
The high mortality levels among weak groups and the stagnation even in the average levels in the 1970s raise important questions. The authors of the article referred to pose the issue as a tug-of-war between technology and poverty. They contend that medical technology which played an important rule in the 1950s and 1960s has finally come up against the barrier of slow growth and increasing inequality (which shifts "the composition of population towards higher mortality sub-groups"). These are surmises and further analysis at a much greater disaggregated level than attempted in the paper will be required for more insights.