No, no, the US and India are quite different. Many miles apart. The US is far, far more advanced than India, and whatever problems the US has with poverty or lack of healthcare are a far cry from the mind-boggling poverty that's pervasive in India. As for those Indian science and tech graduates, I'm all for creating jobs for them in the computer industry -- in India. But it's nuts to think that an Indian government decision not to proceed with a manned space program will somehow cause these scientists to migrate. There's plenty of other private-sector S&T work for them to do.
Creating the framework for a manned space mission (or other space ventures) generates numerous employment opportunities for not only science/Eng graduates(in both the govt & private sectors),but also for people engaged in construction,tranportation & other infrastructure sectors-Besides it will also bring in precious foreign exchange as many nations such as (South Korea,Singapore,Malaysia to name a few) have benefitted from India's space ventures.The spinoffs from India's civilian space programme has helped countless fisherfolk & farmers stay employed due to the benefit that satellite imagery has provided.The same can be said for people engaged in the petroluem & mineral resources sector.
It must be noted that a manned mission is still being debated & not finalised unlike in China,where symbolism matters.
PS-do read up on India's space programme b4 commenting baselessly.
The US is far more advanced than India yes but dont count on it remaining so forever. That gap is narrowing and also remember that we cannot generalize India. There is an India of poor people who dont have food. But there is also an India thats not poor at all and has tremendous aspirations. Its a BIG place. So a democratic govt has to satisfy all its constituencies. The poor need food but the middle classes and scientific community aspire for grand challenges. They all are part of India and there are more people in the middle class today than the poor.
So poverty allieviation is a priority but scientific advancement is also a priority.
India is posturing to demonstrate to Pakistan their technical prowess, this has more to do with defense and perceptions of India's enemies than some quest for scientific knowledge.